Romanticism
Assignments: English 10
 Vocabulary
Unit 2 due Nov. 22
 Paragraph written chronological order
due Tuesday, Nov. 9.
 Quiz on organizational patterns on
Nov. 12
American Romanticism
 1800-1860
What led to the Romantic period?
coursesite.uhcl.edu
The Industrial Revolution
The Industrial
Revolution occurs
in the Mid-1700s.
 In the US, mills are
opened and women
and children go to
work.

Industrial Revolution, cont.
The steamboat and
the railroad change
transportation
forever.
 Greater
infrastructure
brings together
different parts of
the country.

The Mills and Factories
http://www.laugalaekjarskoli.
is/verk/NaAm2/Lowell.html
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire
victims 1911
Working Conditions
Lowell’s Factories:
 A. Up at 4:30, off
work at 7:00 pm,
in bed at the
boarding house at
10:00 pm
 B. Required to go
to church; no male
visitors.

C. Boarding house
rooms held up to 6
girls
 D. Average age
was 24; some as
young as 10 years
old.

http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu
/dept/americanstudies/lavende
r/graphics/ttable.jpg
The Civil War
The Civil War
Northern states relied on manufacturing.
 Southern states relied on farming,
specifically on cotton and slave labor.

Age of Reform

Prisons and Mental
Institutions
Treatment of
Mentally Ill
1840s
Prison
Reform
1850s
Age of Reform
Women’s
Suffrage
1912
Ending
Slavery
American Romanticism
Based largely on optimism
Optimism: Half empty or half full?
Optimism—the glass is half full. US
citizens felt optimistic for many
reasons:
 The
little colonies beat the big British
Empire.
 Everyone can succeed. Andrew
Jackson—not an upper-class guy—
becomes president in 1828.
 Reform movements are common.
Idealism and Transcendentalism
Idealism—philosophy based on idea that
evidence of the divine is not found in the
outer world as much as the inner world of
the individual. This philosophy originated
in Germany.
 Transcend—to move above or beyond.
 Transcendentalism—philosophy based on
the idea that one moves beyond the
physical to the spiritual through
awareness. Intuition, introspection, and
self-trust. Many American Romantic
writers were also Transcendentalists.

Romanticism
A period of Literature from 1800-1860.
 Not a Valentine’s Day idea.
 Not an organized cultural movement, but
romantic writers did share two things:
 1. They valued feeling and emotion over
intellect.
 2. They believed in the basic goodness
and equality of all human beings.

Romanticism
Transcendentalism
Optimism and Individualism
Kinship with Nature
Reform movements
Spiritual
renewal
The Power
of Darkness
Wilderness
Madness
Disease, death
Supernatural
The “Big” Romantic Ideas
 Optimism
and Individualism
 Kinship with Nature
 The Power of Darkness (fascination
with disease, madness, death,evil,
the supernatural, and the destructive
qualities of nature)
Important Romantic Writers:
 Ralph
Waldo Emerson
 Margaret
 Henry
Fuller
David Thoreau
Walt
Whitman
“Dark” Romantic Writers
Edgar Allan Poe
 Washington Irving
 Nathaniel
Hawthorne

Romanticism Unit: Honors





Monday Night: Read Emerson, from SelfReliance, pages 178-179 (take notes) and 183184 and answer # 8, “Connect” with at least 1
full paragraphs, typed or written neatly. Due on
Tuesday.
Tuesday: In class: Questions on page 184.
Begin Fuller, page 193. Take notes, 193-194.
HW: Finish reading Fuller and answer questions
1, 2,3, & 4 with complete sentences.
Wednesday: In class, finish Fuller. Review.
Thursday: Holiday
Friday: Quiz on Fuller and Emerson. Begin
Fireside Poets.
Due Dates: Honors
 Unit
2, Vocabulary Book due Nov. 19
 Major Works Data Sheet due
November 29.
 Computer lab November 29 & 30
(tentative plan)
 PowerPoint Presentations on
December 1,2 & 3.
 Nine Weeks Test: Week of Dec. 13