American Romanticism 1800-1860 An Introduction
Make five predictions about the stories we will read during the Romanticism Unit. Consider predicting: plot, conflict, character, setting Romantic Predictions
At its most extreme, Rationalism grew into an elitist following. Things that were not provable by science were believed by Rationalists to not exist. This included things like emotions. Link to Rationalism
While Ben Franklin idealized his journey to Philadelphia in 1771 as a journey of self-realization and success, Romantic thinkers didn t see it this way. Romantic Charles Brockden Brown described a very different Philadelphia in his novel Arthur Mervyn written in 1799. A young farm boy finds Philadelphia full of disease, corruption and evil. The city is painted as an industrial hell. Romantics loathe city life
The Romantics valued feeling and intuition over reason. vs Rationalists vs Romantics Head vs Heart
During the American Industrial Revolution, people were starting to realize the limits of reason. Romantics believed imagination was able to discover truths that a rational mind could not reach. Romantics believed that truth could be found through pure, raw emotion. Romantic Values
Romantics did not reject logic and rationalism. Romantics did emphasize the felt experience and intuition for the purpose of art. Romantic Values
Romantics thought poetry was the highest embodiment of imagination, the most creative thing one could do. Romantics often contrasted poetry with science. They saw science as stripping things of their emotional truths. Romantic Edgar Allen Poe called science a vulture with wings of dull realities which preyed upon the hearts of poets. Romantic Poetry
Therefore, Romantics saw industrial cities as places filled with disease, corruption, shifting morals, and death.
In the 1800s, the United States was growing west. In 1803, the United States sealed the Louisiana Purchase, purchasing all the land between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. Westward Ho!
Expanding United States boundaries even further, the gold rush of 1849 pushed Americans into California and Alaska. Go West Young Man!
Romanticism played in to the United States expansion. Romantics wanted to rise above the dull realities of science and cities. They did this by seeking exotic settings, such as a more natural past or in a world removed from the sooty, grimy, industrialized cities. Romantic Escapism
Romantics often write of journeys to the countryside, which they associated with independence, moral clarity, and healthful living.
Romantics also reflected on the natural world until the dull realities fell away to reveal underlying beauty and truth. A typical Romantic poem would find a poet reflecting on a natural object, such as a feather or a stone, and realizing a deep insight about life. Truth in Nature
The Romantic period started in Europe, but it was the first period in which Americans truly developed their own style. American Romantics had a sense of limitless frontier that inspired them in different ways than the European writers. American Romanticism
Europeans saw Americans as uncivilized and uneducated, but Americans played this stereotype to their advantage. Romantic writers developed a uniquely American Hero: Young or youthful Innocent or pure of purpose Has a sense of honor based on high moral principles (not society s rules) Loves nature and avoids town life; Skillful frontiersman Quests for some higher truth in the natural world American Hero
Rationalist Hero Worldly Sophisticated Educated Bent on making a place for himself in civilization Romantic Hero Youthful Innocent Intuitive Close to nature
Romantics were hopelessly critical of women. To male writers, women were seen to represent civilization and domestication; two things that romantic men resisted at all costs. What about women?
Romantics were hopelessly uneasy on women. To male writers, women were seen to represent civilization and domestication; two things that romantic men resisted at all costs. What about women?
True or False? Romantic Predictions
Romantic Story
There once was a young man. The young man decided to take a journey to because. Romantic Story
Add a sentence about something that the young man will leave behind. Explain why. Romantic Story
Add a sentence or two about something the young man finds when he gets there. What does it cause him to think about? Romantic Story
Add a sentence about something the young man learns from the thing he finds. Romantic Story
Write a resolution about what the young man has learned and how he will live life from now on. Romantic Story
Transcendentalism A branch of Romanticism
Romantics valued intuition and feelings over reason. Romantics shunned city life. Romantics believed they could find truth via nature. The Romantic hero was intuitive, pure of intention, youthful, innocent, and close to nature. Romanticism Recap
Back to Basics A group of American Romantics called themselves Transcendentalists. Transcendentalists got their name from the word transcend, which means to get beyond or to overcome. Transcendentalists believed in the power of the self to transcend the physical world and their human selves to understand important truths about the self, God, and other important matters.
Transcendentalists, like Romantics, believe in communing with nature in order to understand pure emotion, God, and their true selves. Transcendentalists value alone time with nature, away from the distractions of civilization and industrialization. One with Nature
Transcendentalists value relying on themselves and seeking spiritual truth over blind conformity to authority, customs, and traditions. Self-Reliance
Transcendentalists are similar to the men on today s TV show Mountain Men. Note the beards Take notes in the box provided over things you SEE or HEAR that are similar to transcendentalist beliefs and values. Mountain Men
Transcendentalists have unique spiritual beliefs that centered on the idea of the Over Soul (or Divine Soul). All people and everything in nature are reflections of the Over Soul. The Over Soul contains everything and is present in everything. All experiences and emotions, the entire range of what comprises life, is the stuff of the Over Soul. The Over Soul
All people have access to the Over Soul through their intuition and by seeking understanding.
Crowd Sourcing is the idea that the more people you ask, the closer to correct the average answer will be. People who answer your questions have to be diverse and answer independently; and the more people asked, the better. Crowd Sourcing = Over Soul? Crowd Sourcing
Last week, people guessed how many tootsie rolls were in the jar. Guesses ranged from - Crowd Sourcing
The average guess was. The true total was. Alone, only ( %) guessed within (above or below) of the right answer. Together, the answers averaged closer than ( %) could guess alone. Crowd Sourcing
Theoretically, the more people that I ask, the closer the average answer will be to the truth. Crowd Sourcing
This is the over soul at work.
Some theorists propose that social media is the grand manifestation of crowd sourcing (a.k.a. the Over Soul?). Granted, in order to be effective, social media users would have to value time alone and in nature.
The Over Soul can be called many things (after all, it should transcend its name). A similar phenomenon is described as the force in Star Wars. The Force
Star Wars Take notes in the box provided over things you SEE or HEAR that are similar to transcendentalist beliefs and values.
Ralph Father of Transcendentalism
Father of Ralph Waldo Emerson is credited with being the father of Transcendentalism. Like a typical transcendentalist, Emerson was skeptical of many ideas of other transcendentalists. Emerson drew attention to transcendentalism by speaking publicly at universities, including Harvard. Transcendentalism
Emerson s transcendental writings and speeches reflected an optimistic outlook on life and God. Like a true romantic, Emerson s view of the world sprang from intuition, not logic. Intuition is our capacity to know things spontaneously, like a gut reaction, rather than using reason. Optimistic Outlook
Emerson believed that even tragic events can be explained on a spiritual level. He believed negative things like death, disease, and disaster are part of the cycle of life and helped people appreciate positive things like life, health, and harmony. It s all good
Emerson maintained that people are capable of evil because they are separated from direct communion with God and do not understand the Over Soul. He believed that if people understand the goodness of themselves, and the power they have to know God directly, then they would realize their part in the Over Soul and therefore do good. Ignorance is evil
Therefore, if someone was doing something for the right reasons, and for true good, then Emerson said the Over Soul would support that and all would end for the best. The Will of the Universe
Life is cyclical in nature; both life and death should be respected. People have the power within themselves to understand and commune with God. transcendentalism Notice how all of the major movements we ve studied so far contribute to these ideas. God s beauty and perfect creation is reflected in nature.
Now that s deep.
there is no bar or wall in the soul, where man, the effect, creases, and God, the cause, begins. For the soul s communion of truth is the highest event in nature. An answer in words is delusive; it is really no answer to the questions you ask. The action of the soul is oftener in that which is felt and left unsaid than in that which is said in any conversation. Every moment when the individual feels himself invaded by [the Over Soul] is memorable. The tone of seeking is one, the tone of having is another. Emerson on the Over Soul
Write the quote. Paraphrase the quote. Explain what Emerson means by this (how it relates to the idea of the Over Soul). Explain what Emerson wants his readers/listeners to do with this idea. Go Deep!
Dark Romantics Exploring the darker side
How is this scene from Snow White different from Transcendentalism? Dark Romanticism in Snow White
I do not oscillate in Emerson s rainbow To one who has weathered Cape Horn as a common sailor what stuff all this is. - Herman Melville Anti- Transcendentalism
Herman Melville, Edgar Allen Poe, and Nathaniel Hawthorne are three prominent Dark Romantic authors. Dark Romantics were still Romantics in that they valued emotion and intuition over reason. The Dark Ones
However, Dark Romantics thought that the Transcendentalists (Emerson and Thoreau) were overly optimistic. Dark Romantics explored the darker side of human emotion and intuition. Common topics for the Dark Romantics were fear, guilt, sin, madness, and the conflict between good and evil. Dark Side
Transcendentalists and Dark Romantics had much in common with the Puritans: they all saw signs and symbols in natural events. (Remember the spiritual significance Anne Bradstreet found in the fire that destroyed her house.) Natural Truths
Dark Romantics felt Emerson had ignored the dark side of these natural truths that stemmed from Puritan roots. According to them, Emerson focused only on the ecstatic and mystical elements of nature. Dark Romantics wanted to explore darker Puritan ideas, such as original sin, the innate wickedness of human nature, and predestination (the idea that most people are doomed to hell). Restoring Balance
Dark Romantics were still drawn to natural settings; however, they felt no obligation to keep things cheery and nice. Behind masks of social respectability, they unflinchingly explored the horrors of evil. Into the fire