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American Renaissance

Roughly mid-nineteenth century

…a loosely used term to describe a time period around 1850 – 1855 when The United States of America produced many of its “masterpieces” --

American Renaissance ~ mid 19th Century

Thoreau’s Walden (1854) Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter (1850)

Melville’s Moby Dick (1851) Dickinson’s poetry Whitman’s Leaves of Grass (1855)

AUTHORS AND WORKS

Walt Whitman 1819 -- 1892

Born May 31, 1819 ~ grew up in New York State, second of nine children At age of twelve, learned the printer's trade & fell in love with the written

word Largely self-taught -- read voraciously Worked as a printer in New York City At age of 17, became a teacher in the one-room school houses of Long Island 1841 ~ became a journalist & founded a weekly paper -- Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1848 ~ left Daily Eagle to become editor of the New Orleans Crescent In New Orleans, experienced at first hand the viciousness of slavery 1845 ~ returned to Brooklyn & founded a "free soil" newspaper: Brooklyn

Freeman 1855 ~ self-published first edition of Leaves of Grass  Sent a copy to Emerson in July of 1855. During Civil War, Whitman vowed to live a "purged" and "cleansed" life Did freelance journalism and visited the wounded at New York-area hospitals 1862 ~ traveled to Washington, D.C. to care for his wounded brother Decided to stay in D.C. and work in the hospitals -- stayed for 11 years. Struggled to support himself through most of his life 1882 Leaves of Grass gave him enough money to buy a home in Camden.

Whitman’s life

verse that does not follow a fixed, metrical pattern; it does not have a set rhyme or rhythm

Example: “Fog” by Carl Sandburg

It sits lookingOver harbor and cityOn silent haunchesAnd then moves on.

Free Verse

repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, sentences, or verses

(Merriam-Webster.com)

Example from Dickens’ “Tale of Two Cities” ~It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us…

Anaphora

repetition of the same consonant ~ especially at the end of stressed syllables without similarity in vowels

Example from Owen’s “Arms and the Boy”Let the boy try along this bayonet bladeHow cold steel is, and keen with hunger bloodBlue with all malice, like a madman’s flash;And thinly drawn with famishing for flesh

Consonance

use of words that begin with the same sound near one another

Examples: Bubbling brookGurgling gooseMoving mouth

Alliteration

Why might Whitman be considered a Transcendentalist?

What is anaphora, alliteration, consonance, and free verse?

What time period are we discussing?

Whitman

Emily Dickinson 1830 -- 1886

Born 1830, daughter to a U.S. congressman, privileged Massachusetts household

Haunted by “the menace of death” – her words Wrote +/- 800 poems between 1858 - 1865 Known as a recluse; stayed in her room When seen, only wearing white Known as “Poet of Paradox; Paradox of a Poet” Wrote hymnal-sounding poems and religious

reconciliation Published a dozen poems in her lifetime After her death, her sister discovered 1800 poems

Emily Dickinson ~

As a group, you will: (*note: any group member could be asked to do any of the following)

1) Read the poem aloud2) Describe your visual 3) Be prepared to define terms4) Descriptively & informatively, finish these

two sentences: “In this poem, Ms. Dickinson is telling us

about…” “She is telling us through her use of…”

Mini-Dickinson Poem Presentations(think “Young Goodman Brown”-ish)

1. Is this poem about life and death? Explain your answer with the text.

2. “Thanatopsis” is an elegy. What is an elegy? What elements of “Thanatopsis” meet those conventions? (per instructions, mark on poem)

3. This poem was written in the early 19th century when art was dominated by untamed landscapes, views of the skies, and vistas. How would you draw this poem? What visual landscape does it create? Describe in a paragraph or draw and diagram.

Thanatopsis Thanos = Death; Opsis = Seeing