American Romantic Period and Nathaniel Hawthorne

Vocabulary flashcards covering the key characteristics, historical context, authors, and works of the American Romantic Period and Nathaniel Hawthorne.

American Romantic Period (1830-1870)

A period starting in 1820 marked by rapid expansion and growth in the United States that fueled intuition, imagination, and individualism in literature.

Five Characteristics of American Romantic Literature

Imagination, Individuality, Nature as a source of Spirituality, Looking to the past for wisdom, and Seeing the common man as a hero.

Medieval Romance

A Tale or Ballad of Chivalric adventure and individual Heroism, from which the American Romantic Period took its name.

'Age of Reason' (1700-1789)

The historical era and value system that Romantic writers saw themselves as revolting against.

Washington Irving

The writer regarded as the father of American Literature.

Nature (in American Romanticism)

The realm where Romantics believed they could achieve a high level of insight and information about the world around them (finding god in Nature).

American Renaissance

A term coined by F. O. Matthiessen in his 1941 book of the same name to describe the American Romantic period and its writers.

Two Categories of American Renaissance Writers

The Dark Romantics and Transcendentalist.

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804 - 1864)

An American novelist and short story writer who was among the first American Romantic authors.

Fanshowe (1828)

Nathaniel Hawthorne's first published work, a novel that he later tried to suppress because he felt it was not equal to the standard of his later work.