A Growing Nation

1. A Growing Nation Review

2. Historical Background • Developments that aged the nation • Industrial revolution • Population explosion • Civil War • Economic Growth • Louisiana Purchase doubled the population • New states and old states were bound together by new developments in transportation. • The “American Voice” developed • Bold, independent, idiosyncratic, and above all focused on the quest of the individual to define him or herself

3. The Devil and Tom Walker • Written by Washington Irving • First American writer to achieve an international reputation • Based on the Faust Legend • Opening descriptions prepare reader for Tom to find dangerous and frightening things lurking in the swamp. • All deals with the Devil involve trading one’s soul • Great men who made deals with the Devil are represented by trees with their names carved into them • These trees are diseased implying the men they represent are corrupt and flawed.

4. The Devil and Tom Walker continued • Tom initially refuses to make the deal because he needs time to think • He then refuses as a tactic to spite his wife • She insists he does it; he refuses to sell his soul to make her happy • After his wife disappears, he makes the deal out of what seems like gratitude for the Devil killing his wife • Tom begins to regret the deal as he gets older • Starts attending church • Becomes a religious hypocrite • Carries Bibles with him everywhere he goes • Is dragged to hell by the Devil when three things happen all at once: • He forgets his Bible • To says “The devil take me” • A thunderstorm appears

5. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow • Lost both of his wives and a child • One of the Fireside Poets • The most popular American poet during his lifetime • The Psalm of Life • Overall message is that life is just the first step in a long journey • Our physical bodies go away, but the soul is eternal • We must work to inspire our “shipwrecked brothers” • Fellow human beings who need help or assistance • We leave our legacy, our mark in the world to inspire others • Footprints on the sands of time

6. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow • The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls” • Poem talks about the death of a traveler in accepting terms • Symbolizes the cyclical nature of life and death

7. William Cullen Bryant • 19 years old when he wrote Thanatopsis • Title means “a view or vision of death” • After we die, our bodies become part of nature • Sees death as something not to be feared, but instead approaches it in a trusting manner • We should approach death like we are going to sleep on a couch, the earth will comfort us • Romantic poet loves his nature

8. Oliver Wendell Holmes • Fireside Poet • Old Ironsides • Nickname for the U.S.S. Constitution • Famous warship used in the War of 1812 • Holmes is arguing that the ship should not be stripped and sold for parts • He believes that national relics should be preserved • If the “harpies” refuse to save it, then they should sink it in the middle of the ocean • The ship and the activities associated with it are cast in a heroic light by the poem

9. Edgar Allan Poe • Known for developing gothic literature • Invented single effect • A theory that said an excellent short story creates a single emotional effect on a person • The Raven • Tracks the descent of the narrator into madness prompted by his solitude and the loss of his lover • The single effect of this poem is created through: • The repetition of words • Five line stanzas • The meter

10. Edgar Allan Poe • Masque of the Red Death • Prince Prospero isolates 1000 of his friends to save them from the plague ravaging his country • The Red Death causes people to bleed out of their pores, lose control of themselves, hallucinate, have sharp pains, dizziness, and kills within 30 minutes. • After 6 months of seclusion, the prince decides to have a masquerade ball. • The ball is held in a suite of seven rooms, each room a different color, and each room representing a different sin or indulgence; guests are instructed to dress in grotesque costumes • In the seventh and final chamber there is a large ebony clock that is a constant reminder of the inevitability of death

11. Masque of the Red Death continued • As the clock strikes midnight a mysterious figure appears at the ball • Prince Prospero is initially horrified by the masked stranger • He then becomes outraged and demands that his guests unmask the stranger so they know who they have to hang for being so offensive • Prospero eventually chases the stranger into the seventh chamber and dies mysteriously

12. The Minister’s Black Veil • Reverend Hooper was a good minister; he was respected, but not very energetic before he began wearing the black veil. • Once he starts wearing the veil he becomes more powerful and forceful. • He especially holds sway over those whose “souls are in agony” • His parishioners are frightened of the veil • The veil becomes a symbol that constantly reminds people of their secret sins. • People struggle with the constant confrontation of the veil which makes them face the truth about themselves

13. Elizabeth, his fiance, leaves him as a result of the veil • He begs her to stay with him • Promises the veil will only separate them during this life • Still refuses to remove the veil • Fights to keep the veil on even on his death bed • This story is a parable • Intended to teach a moral lesson • Hawthorne focused on the dark aspects of people’s souls and was pessimistic about human nature

14. Literary Terms • Romanticism • focused on fantasy, intuition, nature, and exotic settings • Imagination over reason and intuition over fact • Fireside Poets • Group of poets from New England • Longfellow, Holmes, Lowell, Bryant, and Whittier • Gothic Literature • Created by Poe • Blends horror and Romanticism

15. Literary Terms • Stanza • A Group of lines forming the basic recurring metrical unit in a poem • Couplet • Two lines of verse, usually in the same meter and joined by rhyme, forming a unit • Quatrain • A stanza of four lines • Cinquain • A stanza of five lines

16. Literary Terms • Single Effect • A theory that was created by Edgar Allen Poe. Poe believed that an excellent short story creates a single emotional effect on a person.  • The Raven, Masque of The Red Death • Parable • A simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson • The Minister’s Black Veil • Allegory • A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning • Masque of The Red Death

17. Literary Terms • Direct Characterization • The process by which the personality of a fictitious character is revealed by the use of descriptive adjectives or phrases • “…there lived near this place a meager, miserly fellow, name of Tom Walker” • Indirect Characterization • The process by which the personality of a fictitious character through the character’s speech, action, or appearance • What a character says What other characters say about the character What a character doesHow the character dresseswhere a character lives • Omniscient Narrator • The omniscient narrator has a full knowledge of the story's events and of the motives and unspoken thoughts of the various characters. He or she will also be capable of describing events happening simultaneously in different places; all knowing. • The Devil and Tom Walker- “Let us get hold of the property,” he said consolingly to himself, “and we will endeavor to do without the woman.”