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Romanticism

Fall 2007—AP AmLit. Romanticism. Some of my definitions are taken from Wikipedia and assorted textbooks in my office. A Disclaimer . originated in Western Europe in the late 1700s You’ll study all about that movement next year.

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Romanticism

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  1. Fall 2007—AP AmLit Romanticism

  2. Some of my definitions are taken from Wikipedia and assorted textbooks in my office. A Disclaimer

  3. originated in Western Europe in the late 1700s You’ll study all about that movement next year. In America, Romanticism began in NY with the Knickerbockers, our first group of “American” authors It then spread through fiction and poetry The Origins

  4. Named for a character that appeared in a book by Irving. Pants became “knickers” because they looked like the pants from the books illustrations Yes, the basketball team is also named after them The Knickerbockers

  5. Washington Irving—1st American author of short fiction; 1st to gain international fame for fiction William Cullen Bryant—1st poet of nature James Fenimore Cooper—1st novelist (Last of the Mohicans) The Knickerbockers

  6. After the knickerbockers, the literary focus of the country shifted to New England • Nathaniel Hawthorne became famous for novels like The Scarlet Letter and his mysterious short stories • Edgar Allan Poe achieved fame for being generally creepy • Herman Melville wrote the first spectacular American novel—Moby-Dick New england authors

  7. It is a literature of the heart, rather than the head • It is a reaction against the analytical, logical, emotionless style of the founders and colonialists • It stresses strong emotion as an aesthetic experience • It captures the awe we feel in confronting the mystery of nature Why romanticism

  8. The name comes from the word romance, which has nothing to do with love and everything to do with literature • Romances were originally the stories of Rome—emotional experiences often involving supernatural beings • In English history, romances became stories in which knights saved ladies from dragons and wizards and whatnot • The Enlightenment (middle 1700s) emphasized reason over experience More romanticism

  9. The Romantics sought to return to the primacy of emotional experience as the reason for literature • Romantics believed in knowledge through intuition—you just know that you know • Romantics placed an emphasis on the commmon man and the worth of the individual over society • They revered and were awed by nature—to them, it was always symbolic of the human spirit—beautiful, unpredictable, and often untameable More romanticism

  10. The language becomes simpler and more common—easier to read The typical romantic story is highly imaginative, symbolic, and idealistic Most deal with real moral situations (except Poe) All stories are highly supernatural More romanticism

  11. Responsible for 2 characters that are often referenced today: Rip van Winkle and Ichabod Crane Actually stole stories Traveled the US countryside talking to immigrants His “stories” are just Dutch, German, Irish, etc. legends written down Washington irving

  12. Had a grandfather who was a judge at the Salem witch trials So embarrassed, he changed the spelling of the family name Most noted for The Scarlet Letter A running theme: exploration of sin, guilt, and hypocrisy Obsessed with Puritan history Hawthorne

  13. Cooper

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