American Renaissance

1. American Renaissance Roughly mid-nineteenth century

2. …a loosely used term to describe a time period around 1850 – 1855 when The United States of America produced many of its “masterpieces” -- American Renaissance ~ mid 19th Century

3. Thoreau’s Walden (1854) • Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter (1850) • Melville’s Moby Dick (1851) • Dickinson’s poetry • Whitman’s Leaves of Grass (1855) AUTHORS AND WORKS

4. Walt Whitman 1819 -- 1892

5. Born May 31, 1819 ~ grew up in New York State, second of nine children • At age of twelve, learned the printer's trade& fell in love with the written word • Largely self-taught-- read voraciously • Worked as a printer in New York City • At age of 17, became a teacher in the one-room school houses of Long Island • 1841 ~ became a journalist & founded a weekly paper -- Brooklyn Daily Eagle • 1848~ left Daily Eagle to become editor of the New Orleans Crescent • In New Orleans, experienced at first hand the viciousness of slavery • 1845 ~ returned to Brooklyn & founded a "free soil" newspaper: Brooklyn Freeman • 1855 ~ self-published first edition of Leaves of Grass • Sent a copy to Emerson in July of 1855. • During Civil War, Whitman vowed to live a "purged" and "cleansed" life • Did freelance journalism and visited the wounded at New York-area hospitals • 1862 ~ traveled to Washington, D.C. to care for his wounded brother • Decided to stay in D.C. and work in the hospitals -- stayed for 11 years. • Struggled to support himself through most of his life • 1882 Leaves of Grassgave him enough money to buy a home in Camden. Whitman’s life

7. verse that does not follow a fixed, metrical pattern; it does not have a set rhyme or rhythm Example: “Fog” by Carl Sandburg It sits looking Over harbor and city On silent haunches And then moves on. Free Verse

9. repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, sentences, or verses (Merriam-Webster.com) Example from Dickens’ “Tale of Two Cities” ~ It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity., it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us… Anaphora

10. repetition of the same consonant ~ especially at the end of stressed syllables without similarity in vowels Example from Owen’s “Arms and the Boy” Let the boy try along this bayonet blade How cold steel is, and keen with hunger blood Blue with all malice, like a madman’s flash; And thinly drawn with famishing for flesh Consonance

11. use of words that begin with the same sound near one another Examples: Bubbling brook Gurgling goose Moving mouth Alliteration

12. Emily Dickinson 1830 -- 1886

13. Born 1830, daughter to a U.S. congressman, privileged Massachusetts household • Haunted by “the menace of death” – her words • Wrote +/- 800 poems between 1858 - 1865 • Known as a recluse; stayed in her room • When seen, only wearing white • Poet of Paradox; Paradox of a Poet • “hymn” sounding poems and religious reconciliation • Published a dozen poems in her lifetime • After her death, her sister discovered 1800 poems Emily Dickinson ~

14. Is this poem about life and death? Explain your answer with the text. • “Thanatopsis” is an elegy. What is an elegy? What elements of “Thanatopsis” meet those conventions? (per instructions, mark on poem) • This poem was written in the early 19th century when art was dominated by untamed landscapes, views of the skies, and vistas. How would you draw this poem? What visual landscape does it create? Describe in a paragraph or draw and diagram. ThanatopsisThanos = Death; Opsis = Seeing