American Romanticism

1800-1860 Breakdown of American Romanticism:

Keep in mind that during this period there are several different subgroups that fall into the American

Romanticism. All categories fall under the umbrella of American Romance. Draw the subcategories below:

American Romanticism

2. What does the word “renaissance” mean?

What do you think the American Renaissance means when talking about literature?

American Literature Renaissance:

3. It is a time when America would finally find their place in literature. Romanticism symbolized America's

break away from traditional European literature. Romanticism DOES NOT have to do with our ideology of

being romantic. i.e., love, flowers chocolate, poems, etc.

Why do you think they copied European literature for so long?

Why do you think they started doing their own thing?

For the first time writers journeyed to nature. They let their _______________________________ run free.

Romanticism dared to explore the supernatural.

Americans were able to explore beyond rational thought.

Romanticism was _____________________________. Writers and readers could explore individual

feelings, wild nature and AVOID rational thought, logic, planning, and cultivation.

Through their poetry, short stories, novels, and other works, writers during this period established a

clear_____________________ _______________________.

4. Name all the mid-nineteenth century writers who produced some of the early masterpieces of American

Literature listed on the slide.

James Fenimore Cooper created America's first literary hero Natty Bumpo.

American Romanticism

1800-1860 Characteristics of the American Romanticism: CIRCLE the numbers you don’t understand!

1. Values feeling and intuition over reason

2. Places faith in inner experience and the power of the imagination

3. Shuns the artificiality of civilization and seeks unspoiled nature

4. Prefers youthful innocence to educated sophistication

5. Champions individual freedom and the worth of the individual

6. Contemplates nature’s beauty as a path to spiritual and moral development

7. Looks backward to the wisdom of the past and distrusts progress

8. Finds beauty and truth in exotic locals, the supernatural realm, and the inner world of the imagination

9. Sees poetry as the highest expression of the imagination

10. Finds inspiration in myth, legend, and folk culture

During this time, the emergence of the first American hero in literature appears.

Characteristics of the American Romantic Hero:

1. Is young or possesses youthful qualities

2. Is innocent and pure of purpose

3. Has a sense of honor based not on society’s rules but on some higher principal

4. Has knowledge of people and of life based on deep, intuitive understanding, not on formal learning

5. Loves nature and avoids town life

6. Quests for some higher truth in the natural world

5. How are these characteristics similar or different to the fictional or real heroes of today?

Life and Times of American Romanticism:

1. _____________________________: vast expanse, freedom, no geographic limitations.

2. _____________________________: greater than in Europe because of the presence of frontier.

3. _____________________________: in science, in institutions.

4. _____________________________: immigrants in large numbers arrive to the US.

5. _______________________________________________: polarization of north and south; north

becomes industrialized, south remains agricultural.

Intellectual and Social Life in New England:

New England had long been known for its interest in self-improvement and intellectual inquiry.

New England was a center of many reform movements.

Social causes grew during this time including ideas such as utopian projects.

American Romanticism

1800-1860 6. What is a utopian society?

__________________________________________, a famous writer from this time was a member of one of

the most influential utopian groups.

________________________________ was the name of his utopian society

Name at least 2 of the reforms this writer helped to inspire:

Art in the American Renaissance: Hudson River School:

First group of landscape painters to emerge in the United States after independence from Great Britain.

Flourished between __________________ and _________________.

Many of the artists in the group lived and painted in the Catskill Mountains region of New York State,

particularly along the Hudson River.

Early members of the school include Thomas Cole, Asher B. Durand, Thomas Doughty, and Albert

Bierstadt.

Their work is characterized by meticulous and realistic _______________________________ and a

poetic feeling for ______________________ characteristic of romanticism.

7. What is your impression of the artwork of the Hudson River School?

8. How is the artwork “romantic”? (Remember “romantic” in this context is not about love!)

Exit Slip:

****Do this on your own paper!

If you had to classify yourself as either a rationalist or a romantic, which would you be? Would you be a

practical, ambitious, worldly or an intuitive, feeling driven, close-to-nature romantic?

Which traits of either era do you truly value and think you would like to encourage in your own life?

Explain you answer in a well-thought out PARAGRAPH.