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American Romanticism 1800-1860 . Background Quiz Write the question and your response. 1. What did Romanticism start as a reaction to? 2. Name one of the subgenres (types) of American Romanticism. 3. List one characteristic of American Romanticism.
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Background QuizWrite the question and your response 1. What did Romanticism start as a reaction to? 2. Name one of the subgenres (types) of American Romanticism. 3. List one characteristic of American Romanticism. 4. List one characteristic of the new American hero. 5. List one characteristic of Transcendentalism. BONUS: List one characteristic of Dark Romanticism.
Political and Social Milestones Expansion of the U.S. westward The Industrial Revolution Education and Reform in New England
Romanticism Background • Started in Germany, but moved to America • Developed as a reaction against Rationalism (the ideas held by many of the American Revolutionary writers) • Rationalists believed in using reason and logic to understand the world around them; believed in progress and development; liked the idea of “sophisticated” minds • The American novel started to develop • Created the new American hero • Subgenres within Romanticism: • Transcendentalism • Dark Romantics/ Gothics • Celebrated the imagination • Wanted to escape “dull realities” to “higher truths”
Characteristics of American Romanticism Values feeling and intuition over reason Moves away from cities and goes to nature Youth and innocence over worldly experience Individual freedom and value Values the power of the imagination Finds beauty in exotic locales, the supernatural, and in the imagination Values poetry as the highest expression of the imagination Values myth, legend, and folk culture
The New American Romantic Hero American Romantic literature created this unique person: he was youthful he was innocent he was intuitive he was one with nature he was a loner – uneasy around women he was handsome he was brave he was moral and honorable
Transcendentalism Everything in the world, including human beings, is a reflection of the Divine Soul (God) Look to nature to reveal God People can use their intuition to behold God’s spirit revealed in nature or in their own souls Self-reliance and individualism over conformity and tradition Fight injustice
Dark Romanticism/ Gothicism The Gothic novel had wild, haunted landscapes It had supernatural events in the plot It was often mysterious The Gothic concept had roots in France, Germany, and England Edgar Allan Poe was Dark Romanticism’s great American writer
