Unit Three: From Romanticism to

Realism 1855-1870Page:514-527

Question of the Times: Page 514-515• Answer the following 4 questions in your notebook:

• What issues of beliefs typically cause conflict between citizens? Why?

• Would you ever be willing to risk your life because a flag, a group, or an idea?

• Why do you think people break the rules if they will not be rewarded for it?

• Do you think that writers and artists should deal with life’s realities or take us away from them?

Emerging Realism: Historical Context – Page 516-518• The central influence on literature of this period was the conflict

between the North and South that ended in the Civil War. Although romantic attitudes helped push the nation into war, four years of bitter fighting led to a new realism. • Cultural Divide: • Northern economy based on trade and industry, southern based on

agriculture and slavery• Slavery’s expansion west provoked confrontation

• Lincoln’s election caused the southern states to succeed in forming the Confederate States of America because of his pledge to stop the spread of slavery into the West.

Answer the following in your notebook:• How was the Civil War an expression of romanticism at first? How and

why did that romantic attitude change?

• Why would people idealize or romanticize a war in the early stages?

Ideas of the Ages – Page 519

• Americans in the postwar period embraced notions of freedom and unity. At the same time they lost their taste for romanticism, having been confronted with the harsh reality of war. • Slavery was dead by Lincoln’s bold Emancipation Proclamation and

the Thirteenth amendment to the constitution.

Answer the following in your notebook:• In what sense was the United States “a wiser, more somber nation”

after the Civil War?

• How might one challenge the idea that the United Sates was wiser AFTER the Civil War?

Literature of the Times – Page 520-521• The Civil War was a transitional period for writers of the day.

Groundbreaking poets, former slaves, famous public figures and everyday people all contributed their ideas as the country and its literature moved from romanticism to realism. • Brilliant Mavericks: Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson• Whitman and Dickinson answered Emerson’s call for a national poet• Whitman was gregarious and outspoken; Dickinson was shy and reclusive• Both broke conventional rules of poetry• Dickinson used compressed lines and complex imagery to explore personal

themes• Both poets can be seen as transitional• Whitman known for his free verse writing (Unconfined by formal patterns of

rhyme and meter)

Answer the following in your notebook:• Reread the comment from Ralph Waldo Emerson. What did he was

poetry to do?

• How were Whitman and Dickinson alike? How were they different?

• Using the picture on pg. 521 – The cartoon is one artist representation of Emily Dickinson's reclusive nature. What other personality traits does the artist suggest about Dickinson in the panels?

Literature of the Civil War – Page 522-523• Slave narratives revealed the true nature of slavery and made readers

care.• Diaries and letters gave personal responses to historical events• Public documents influences a large audience• Later on fiction moved toward realism

Answer the following in your notebook:• What would typical readers of the Civil War era learn from a slave

narrative?

• Why are slave narratives important, both in their own time and today?

Connecting Literature History and Culture: Page 524-525• Using the Timeline on page 524 and 525 complete the following

activity.• Each of the four columns (up and down) represents a four year period

between 1866-1870. The three parallel rows (left to right) of the timeline represent events occurring simultaneously. Compare the three rows showing how they help in better understanding the events in literature, history of the time, and culture of the era.• You can do this in chart or written form.

Unit Three Vocabulary

• Pick 10 of the vocabulary words you were provided and complete the following vocabulary visuals in your journal

• Word:• Definition:• Picture• Mnemonic Device: (Something that will help you remember the word)

Example: For the word RHYTHM: Rhythm Helps Your Two Hips Move