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Writing groups flourished in the 1800s, bringing an increased excitement about US settings, US themes, and
US writers.
What literary group (writing good but traditional poetry) enjoyed the most fame?
Fireside Poets
New York became the nation’s biggest city in 1810, but it was dirty, unsafe, overcrowded, and known mockingly as the
Rotten Apple.
In general, Romantics disliked cities, believing them to be...?
killers of creativity.
It would be decades before any real political progress would be made to advance broader equality in the US. However, the early 1800s saw active participation in anti-slavery and women’s rights efforts known as...?
social reform movements.
The US Renaissance was an early 1800s movement involving art, literature, politics, and even thinking The movement was centered in what part of
the country?
New England (Concord, MA for the Transcendentals)
Transcendentals believed that both men and women have knowledge about themselves and the world around them that "transcends" what they can see-hear-taste-touch-feel. Like Light Romantics, they believed spirituality and inspiration came best from...?
nature.
The previous literary era of Rationalism focused on logic and science. The coming literary era of Realism will focus on factual reporting and life’s nitty-gritty reality. However, the Romantic era
focused on...?
“I” words
(like intuition, individualism, imagination)
Dark Romanticism continues to influence the US, seen in the horror genre, graphic novels, music-fashion trends, and the fascination with the criminal process.
We call this reality DR’s...?
contemporary legacy?
Though both are symbolic and nature-focused, the primary difference between Dark Romantics and Light Romantics/Transcendentals
is one of attitude. Their overall perspectives on the world can be simply characterized as...?
Negative vs. Positive
In an unusually downbeat poem, Longfellow reveals his obvious and everlasting grief for his wife, who died tragically before his eyes in a
house fire.
His grief is compared to what geographical feature?
The snowy, cross-shaped ravines on Mount of the Holy Cross
Reflecting the Romantic idea that man is a small part of a greater natural whole, this poem points out that man is fleeting but nature is eternal. What image from the poem best reflects this core idea?
footprints being erased by waves
Longfellow is at his best in “Psalm of Life,” arguing that death is not the end, that the spirit lives on, and that life should be lived to the fullest. This type of positive poem is
known as a...?
carpe diem poem.
Written when he was a teenager and obsessed with a group of English writers known as the Graveyard Poets, Bryant’s poem was originally published without his permission by his father. Because of his young age, Bryant has questionable...?
authority or credibility.
Natty Bumppo is portrayed as almost superhuman. However, his physical gifts and his skill with a rifle are not what make him a true Romantic Hero.
What is Natty’s most obvious romantic hero action?
His noble treatment of a NA enemy.
Tom is a greedy, self- centered, little man. His
wife is a loud, bossy, abusive woman. The Devil is covered in soot with glowing red eyes. All three characters in Irving’s Amercanized folktale are...?
US stereotypes.
Thoreau’s two-year Walden experiment was an attempt to get back to basics. He wanted to reconnect to nature and break the monotony of
everyday life. However, why does he eventually have to leave?
Life at Walden Pond also becomes repetitive.
In Poe’s short story (with elements of both Light and Dark Romanticism), the painter’s wife dies because
she is mistreated, love- sick, soul-stolen or
sacrificed for art.
What is this lack of literary
clarity called?
Ambiguity
Melville’s first novel was popular because it showed a
curious audience a
completely unfamiliar, non- Western world.
However, it was controversial for what conclusion about
Typee culture?
Superior in Some Ways
Hawthorne's tale of Parson Hooper’s mysterious donning of a black veil can be disturbing (and similar to Scarlet Letter). Its purpose is to teach or reveal a moral lesson, a story known as a...?
parable.
A wealthy dilettante who was kicked out of Yale; began his writing career because of a wager with his wife; hugely popular series, The Leatherstocking Tales, introduced the Romantic character of Natty Bumppo.
James Fennimore Cooper
Began writing nature poetry in the 1840s; poet Ralph Waldo Emerson was a mentor and friend; in 1845 began his famous two-year stay at Walden Pond; writings inspired MLK, Jr. and Gandhi
Henry David Thoreau
Teacher who took over as director of his brother’s school for girls; became famous for essays like "The American Scholar“ and then the face of Transcendental movement; lecturer whose hometown of Concord, MA became a famous writer’s colony
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Harvard scholar versed in several languages; made name as a poet with works like Evangeline, Poems on Slavery, and Song of Hiawatha; translated Dante’s Divine
Comedy; honored in England’s Poet’s Corner
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Child prodigy who achieved early fame; influential poet who helped introduce European romanticism to American audiences; influential editor of the NY Evening Post newspaper who championed liberal and abolitionist causes
William Cullen Bryant
1700s German philosopher; considered a central figure of modern philosophy and a key
member of the
Transcendental movement; wrote on the importance of doing good for others
Immanuel Kant
Achieved international fame for stories like "Rip Van Winkle" and "Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” inspired by European folktales; U.S. ambassador to Spain; pushed for stronger copyright laws
before his death
Washington Irving
Born in Boston, hometown is Baltimore; adopted but felt unloved; short-story writer, poet, critic, and editor best known for tales of mystery and horror (and detective stories); died
mysteriously
Edgar Allan Poe
Born in Salem, MA; obsessed with the Puritans and embarrassed of his family connection to the Salem witch trials; changed spelling of name to distance himself
Nathaniel Hawthorne
America’s greatest novelist; early work includes an account of experiences with Polynesian life and his whaling novel; died unappreciated and unremembered
Herman Melville
US’s founding novelist; early Dark Romantic writer, credited with answering the call for distinctively American fiction by transferring European Gothic horror
to New World settings.
Charles Brockden Brown
Note 
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