American Romanticism
American Romanticism. 1800- 1860. Romanticism. What comes to mind when you hear the word? When someone is romantic what personality traits are giving to them?. The Journey. Long distant journey is part of our history
American Romanticism
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Presentation Transcript
American Romanticism 1800- 1860
Romanticism • What comes to mind when you hear the word? • When someone is romantic what personality traits are giving to them?
The Journey • Long distant journey is part of our history • It is a journey away from the corruption of civilization and the limits of rational thought and toward the integrity of nature and freedom of the imagination.
Romanticism • Name given to those schools of thought that value feeling and intuition over reason • Intuition- spontaneity, heart, imagination • Against rationalist- logical planning, civilization
Rise above the dull realities • They searched for exotic settings in the more natural past away from industrial noise • Gothic development = imagination, other world • Frankenstein, Dracula, Poe
Major themes • self-awareness • self-reliance • the belief that self and nature are one • the individual’s moral duty to reform social inequalities and relieve human suffering
Romantics took two Roads • One lead to the exploration of the past and of the exotic realms • The other to the contemplation of the natural world
Characteristics of AM. Romanticism • Values feelings/intuition over logic • Seeks unspoiled nature • Youthful innocence over educated sophistication • Individual freedom and worth of individual
Characteristics • Natures beauty= a path to spiritual and moral development • Looks backward to wisdom of the past and distrusts progress • Beauty and truth in supernatural realms and inner world of imagination
Finds inspiration in myth, legend and folklore • What would some characteristics of the hero be?
American Novel • Coincided with westward expansion • Most Europeans analyzed the Americans as unsophisticated • Cooper- Last of the Mohicans • Truths were found in the wilderness. • Truths were found but not only the sophisticated way
Rip Van Winkle Inferences- an educated guess based on clues in the text and your own knowledge and experience Prediction- an educated guess about what will happen in the future Foreshadow- clues/hints that suggest what will happen next
Rip’s Setting • Setting- the physical, geographical, and historical environment in which the story takes place. Catskills Mountains, NY • Misty mountains, mysterious forest, an old fashion village, distant era • Magical change in the hero
Background • Takes place just before the Revolutionary War, which started in 1775 (before Irving was born) • A made up manuscript by Diedrich Knickerbocker, who studied the Dutch history of New York • Washington Irving is the author. He also wrote the Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Journal • Describe a time you needed to get away from people and be by yourself. Where did you go and what did you think about while you were alone?