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Puritans, Romantics and Transcendentalists

Puritans, Romantics and Transcendentalists. Puritanism. “Puritanism. The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.” H.L. Mencken Major Ideas: Persecuted in England for going against the Protestant church/government Sought to “purify” the church.

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Puritans, Romantics and Transcendentalists

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  1. Puritans, Romantics and Transcendentalists

  2. Puritanism • “Puritanism. The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.” H.L. Mencken • Major Ideas: • Persecuted in England for going against the Protestant church/government • Sought to “purify” the church. • Religion was an individual, personal, and internal experience. • The individual’s relationship with God was not determined by a member of the clergy or the government. • Believed that all humans were damned, but that some were meant to be saved. • Fate was pre-determined-- one couldn’t “save” oneself, but if one led a good life, one would be able to see the “signs” that meant one were saved • Only God’s grace was an individual’s salvation. • Contract-based government—beginnings of democracy (Salem Witch Trials) • Business was an important part of community, as was education

  3. PuritanWriting • Bible=model as people searched for connections between their lives and biblical events • Each individual’s life was a spiritual journey, so recorded in diaries and historical documents describing the workings of God. • Known for plain style of writing emphasizing clarity and avoiding complicated figures of speech

  4. Puritan Writers • Anne Bradstreet • William Bradford • Mary Rowlandson • Reverend Jonathan Edwards

  5. Salem Witch Trials

  6. The First Thanksgiving

  7. The Romantics

  8. Transcendentalism: Developed in the 1830s both in connection with, and in opposition to Romanticism Transcendentalism refers to the idea that in finding God, the universe, and the self/soul, one must transcend typical human experience in the physical world Marked by a “return” to nature, and trust in intuition rather than deliberate rationality and intellectualism

  9. Transcendentalism • Believed that self-reliance and individualism must outweigh external authority, and self-improvement leads to social improvement • Worked to find the “permanent reality that underlies physical appearance” • Optimism about the potential of individual lives and the universe

  10. Transcendentalist Humor

  11. Famous Transcendentalists • Ralph Waldo Emerson AKA Lead Transcendentalist • Henry David Thoreau AKA neighbor and friend to L.T. • Margret Fuller AKA one of the first major feminist writers in the US • Amos Bronson Alcott AKA father to Louisa May Alcott

  12. Henry David Thoreau • 1817-1862, born in Concord, MA. • Went to Harvard, very well-read, but many felt he squandered his talents and connections (including Emerson) • Influenced by Emerson • Went “into the woods” to journey inwards in a T. fashion. Built a small cabin on Emerson’s land two miles from town. Lived there for three years, writing, thinking, and studying life

  13. Thoreau • Wrote “Resistance to Civil Government” while on Walden Pond after being arrested for not paying poll tax (supported Mexican-American War) because he felt it extended slavery. • Died in 1862. Apparently asked on his deathbed if he’s made peace with God (by his aunt). His reply: “I didn’t know that we had ever quarreled.”

  14. Walden Pond

  15. Thoreau

  16. “Resistance to Civil Government” • Response to being jailed for one night for not paying poll tax • Discusses the role of the individual in society and to his/her government • Employs rhetoric devices of: ethos, logos, pathos • Inspired authors and thinkers like MLK and Gandhi around passive/non-violent resistance

  17. Ethos, Logos, Pathos • Ethos is appeal based on the character of the speaker or moral or widely accepted values and/or standards • Logos is appeal based on logic or reason; it uses facts, examples, and well-reasoned arguments. • Pathos: is an appeal based on emotion and language and anecdotes that arouse strong feelings. • http://www.rpi.edu/dept/llc/webclass/web/project1/group4/

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