Romantic Era Literature Study

Which Romantic-era work contrasts different leadership styles through characters such as Ahab and Bulkington

Moby-Dick

In which Romantic-era novel does a narrator named Ishmael serve as a thoughtful foil to a monomaniacal sea captain

Moby-Dick

Which Romantic-era work features a white whale that becomes a symbol of the ultimate, unknowable challenge

Moby-Dick

In which Romantic-era work does Captain Ahab embody dictatorial leadership and obsessive vengeance

Moby-Dick

Which Romantic-era novel can be read as an American allegory, portraying the nation as a ship of state on a destructive course

Moby-Dick

Which Romantic-era story follows a man into a dark forest where he witnesses the apparent corruption of his entire pious community

Young Goodman Brown

In which Romantic-era tale do pink ribbons and a nighttime forest gathering symbolize the loss of faith and innocence

Young Goodman Brown

Which Romantic-era work uses an encounter with a mysterious traveler to question whether anyone is truly righteous

Young Goodman Brown

Which Romantic-era novel explores the tension between wilderness and settlement on the early American frontier

The Pioneers

In which Romantic-era work does the conflict between hunting practices and conservation highlight humanity’s impact on nature

The Pioneers

Which Romantic-era work portrays frontier life as a negotiation among law, property, and the natural environment

The Pioneers

Which Romantic-era essay argues that individuals must trust their own inner voice rather than conform to society’s expectations

Self-Reliance

In which Romantic-era essay does the author criticize "foolish consistency" and celebrate nonconformity

Self-Reliance

Which Romantic-era work insists that imitation is suicide and that each person must discover their unique path

Self-Reliance

Which Romantic-era essay describes the speaker becoming a "transparent eyeball" while communing with the natural world

Nature

In which Romantic-era work is nature presented as a direct path to experiencing the divine, beyond organized religion

Nature

Which Romantic-era essay claims that in the woods we return to reason and faith, feeling part of something larger than ourselves

Nature

Which Romantic-era essay argues that citizens should refuse to obey unjust laws and accept the consequences

Civil Disobedience

In which Romantic-era work does the author describe government as a machine and urge individuals to be the counter-friction

Civil Disobedience

Which Romantic-era essay was inspired by the author’s refusal to pay a poll tax in protest of slavery and war

Civil Disobedience

Which Romantic-era work reflects on simple, deliberate living beside a pond in the woods

Walden

In which Romantic-era book does the author claim that "the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation"

Walden

Which Romantic-era work criticizes materialism and urges readers to simplify their lives

Walden

Which Romantic-era poem celebrates the self while also claiming a deep connection with all people and things

Song of Myself

In which Romantic-era poem does the speaker use long catalogs of people and places to express democratic equality

Song of Myself

Which Romantic-era poem presents a speaker who "contains multitudes" and refuses to be reduced to one fixed identity

Song of Myself

Which Romantic-era poem portrays mechanics, boatmen, and other workers each singing their own song of pride

I Hear America Singing

In which Romantic-era poem does the speaker present America as a chorus of individual laborers’ voices

I Hear America Singing

Which Romantic-era poem celebrates ordinary American workers as the foundation of the nation’s identity

I Hear America Singing