Bell Ringer
“So far as man thinks, he is free. Thought
takes man out of servitude into freedom.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
• What does he mean?
• How does this pertain post
revolutionary America?
American Romanticism
1800 - 1860
&
American Renaissance/Transcendentalism
1840 - 1860
Historical Context
• Expansion of magazines, newspapers, and
book publishing
• Slavery debates
• Industrial Revolution
• “Old ways” were not working anymore
Major Concepts
• Connection to God through nature; not
necessarily through traditional Christian
dogma
• Nature over civilization
• Imagination over science
• Feeling over reason
• Allowed people to re-imagine
the American past
Style
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Poetry
Short stories
Novels
Essays
Groups
• The Pessimists
• The Optimists
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William Cullen Bryant
Emily Dickinson
Walt Whitman
Robert Frost
- Edgar Allan Poe
- Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Herman Melville
• The Transcendentalists
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Henry David Thoreau
William Cullen Bryant
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Poet
Editor of New York Evening Post
Lawyer
Spent five years translating
Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey
• “Thanatopisis” was his first
published work.
Bell Ringer
Based on what we have read of “Thanatopsis,”
what is Bryant’s take on death? Please support
your answer. The poem is on page 191.
Thanotopsis
• Notes Sheets
• Finish poem
• Discuss
Washington Irving
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Author and Historian
Legitimate writer
Among first famous Am. Writers
“Legend of Sleepy Hollow”
Created “Gotham”
Created phrase “almighty dollar.”
Pseudonym: Diedrich Knickerbocker
Half piece of paper. Hug a tree.
Sit quietly.
November 22, 2011
Mood
• The overall feeling or atmosphere of a story,
play or poem.
– What is the mood of this story? Why?
Bell Ringer
What would a Puritan’s idea of Thanksgiving be?
What about a Romantic’s idea?
Please support both answers.
Hand your homework
up and over.
Allegory
• A symbolical narrative
Examples:
Lord of the Flies –
Discusses how culture created by man fails
Lion King Tells the story of Hamlet
The Devil and Tom Walker –
??? – Get into groups and figure it out…
Group Work
• Please read the criticism. From this criticism,
please discuss and write answers to the
following questions on a separate sheet:
– Irving’s view on culture
– History surrounding the story
– What could TDATW be an allegory for?
– What is a criticism of TDATW?
Bell Ringer
Today’s author belongs to the Optimist subgroup of American Romantic writers. What
can we expect from this person’s writing?
Emily Dickinson
• Introvert
• Most famous poetry was published
after she died
• Heavily edited
• Unaltered versions published in
1955
• Lived in seclusion
– Best writing
Style
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Short lines
Typically lack titles
Unconventional capitalization and punctuation.
Specific Themes
Assignment (Due tomorrow)
• Full Group:
– “Because I could not stop for death”
• Small Groups:
– “If you were coming in the fall” Both versions
• What are some differences brought forth by the edits?
– “Apparently with no surprise”
• What is the tone of this poem? Support your answer.
• Individually:
– “I heard a fly buzz – when I died”
• What do you expect from the moment when we cannot “see to see”
(last moment before death)?
– Follow these prompts:
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Please supply a summary (at least one sentence) for each poem.
What are common themes across all of Dickinson’s poetry?
List 2 literary devices (and examples of each) that Dickinson uses.
Do you like Dickinson’s poetry? Why or why not?
Bell Ringer
What are some buzz words that Emily Dickinson
uses to imply her tone? Please supply three
examples from yesterday’s poems.
Yes, please answer in complete sentences.
Homework out, please.
Dickinson
• Let’s chat.
• Please refer to your hw.
Assignment (Due tomorrow)
• Full Group:
– “Because I could not stop for death”
• Small Groups:
– “If you were coming in the fall” Both versions
• What are some differences brought forth by the edits?
– “Apparently with no surprise”
• What is the tone of this poem? Support your answer.
• Individually:
– “I heard a fly buzz – when I died”
• What do you expect from the moment when we cannot “see to see”
(last moment before death)?
– Follow these prompts:
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Please supply a summary (at least one sentence) for each poem.
What are common themes across all of Dickinson’s poetry?
List 2 literary devices (and examples of each) that Dickinson uses.
Do you like Dickinson’s poetry? Why or why not?
I’ve got a fever…
All our times have come
Here but now they're gone
Seasons don't fear the reaper
Nor do the wind, the sun or
the rain..we can be like they
are
Come on baby...don't fear the
reaper
Baby take my hand...don't fear
the reaper
We'll be able to fly...don't fear
the reaper
Baby I'm your man...
Valentine is done
Here but now they're gone
Romeo and Juliet
Are together in
eternity...Romeo and Juliet
40,000 men and women
everyday...Like Romeo and
Juliet
40,000 men and women
everyday...Redefine happiness
Another 40,000 coming
everyday...We can be like they
are
Come on baby...don't fear the reaper
Baby take my hand...don't fear the reaper
We'll be able to fly...don't fear the reaper
Baby I'm your man...
Love of two is one
Here but now they're gone
Came the last night of sadness
And it was clear she couldn't go on
Then the door was open and the wind
appeared
The candles blew then disappeared
The curtains flew then he appeared...saying
don't be afraid
Come on baby...and she had no fear
And she ran to him...then they started to fly
They looked backward and said goodbye...she
had become like they are
She had taken his hand...she had become like
they are
Come on baby...don't fear the reaper
Bell Ringer
This is my letter to the world,
That never wrote to me,—
The simple news that Nature told,
With tender majesty.
Her message is committed
To hands I cannot see -For love of her -- sweet -- countrymen,
Judge tenderly -- of me.
-Emily Dickinson
1. How does this poem differ from others by Dickinson?
2. To whom is the “letter” addressed (hint in blue)? Explain.
3. What is her request of her audience (hint in red)? Explain.
4. Please read Independent Reading book upon completion.
Bell Ringer
“The words of my book nothing, the drift of it
everything.”
-Walt Whitman
1. What is the “drift” of a book?
2. How does he feel about his own literature?
3. Please read your IRB when you finish.
Walt Whitman
• “Father of Free Verse”
• “Poet of Democracy”
• Teacher
• Clerk
• Volunteer Nurse during the
American Civil War
• Edited Leaves of Grass from
1850 to his death in 1892
What others have said about
Whitman…
"You cannot really understand America without Walt
Whitman…”
“If you are American, then Walt Whitman is your
imaginative father and mother, even if you have never
composed a line of verse.”
"America's poet... He is America.”
Bell Ringer
Choose an experience from your weekend. Write
a stanza (4-6 lines) as if it were Whitman who
experienced it and wrote about it.
Song of Myself
33
Character
Story
Song of Myself
33
Poetic Device
Alliteration
Imagery
Onomatopoeia
Parallel Structure
Definition of
Poetic Device
Quote
Bell Ringer
Half sheet of paper. Hug a tree.
Bell Ringer
Look back on time with kindly eyes,
He doubtless did his best;
How softly sinks his trembling sun
In human nature’s west!
Was this written by Dickinson or Whitman? What, from
class discussion, helps you be sure of your answer?
Bell Ringer
What do you consider to be the primary difference
between the writing styles of Whitman and
Dickinson?
What do you consider to be the primary similarity
between the two?
Do you take good notes…?
• Let’s find out.
– Quick check for understanding
– 15 points
– Open notes
Bell Ringer
Please have your homework out and be ready for
discussion.
Dark Romantics
(Pessimists)
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Man is “prone to sin and self destruct”
Often write about people’s failure to change
Guilt and suspicion
Apparent facial hair competition
Nathaniel Hawthorne
(1804-1864)
• First works published
anonymously
• Reclusive
• Historical Romance
• Psychological Themes
• Symbolism
• Despised Transcendtalism
Education?
“I was educated (as the phrase is) at Bowdoin
College. I was an idle student, negligent of
college rules and the Procrustean details of
academic life, rather choosing to nurse my
own fancies than to dig into Greek roots and
be numbered among the learned Thebans.”
-Nathaniel Hawthorne
Bell Ringer
What are three key concepts/philosophies that
can be found in most Dark Romantic Writing?
The Minister’s Black Veil
• Groups
• Discuss
Bell Ringer
Nathaniel Hawthorne is known for having
“psychological themes” in his writings. What
is a psychological theme of “The Minister’s
Black Veil?”
Please supply the theme and explain
what it means to us, as readers. What
statement is Hawthorne making
about humans, in general?
Minister’s Black Veil
• Yesterday’s notes
– Dark Romantic?
– Symbols?
– Allegory?
• Worksheet
Bell Ringer
Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is
always just beyond your grasp, but which, if
you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.
-Nathaniel Hawthorne
What does this quote mean? Do you agree or
disagree with Hawthorne? Why or why not?
Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment
• What do all of his friends have in common?
• Discuss each character’s situation.
• What is the experiment?
Character Changes?
Character
Back Story
Colonel Killigrew
Mr. Gascoigne
Mr. Medbourne
Widow Wycherly
Describe the scene after the third round.
Actions After the Second Round
Bell Ringer
Gothic language is an author’s use
of descriptive, dark or grotesque
language to paint an image for his
or her reader.
(Write this down somewhere)
Please supply an example of gothic language from
Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment.
Character Changes?
Character
Back Story
Colonel Killigrew
Mr. Gascoigne
Mr. Medbourne
Widow Wycherly
Describe the scene after the third round.
Actions After the Second Round
Hmmm… Allegory?
• Wrath
• Greed
• Sloth
• Pride
• Lust
• Envy
• Gluttony
Try to figure out how these concepts all fit into Dr.
Heidegger’s Experiment.
Edgar Allan Poe
(1809-1849)
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Master of Psychological Thriller
Poor
Orphaned young
Married his 13 year old cousin
– she died soon after.
• Found dead at age 40 – no one
knows how he died.
Bell Ringer
“I became insane, with long intervals
of horrible sanity.”
-Edgar Allan Poe
What is he saying?
What does it mean to be “sane?”
How do you feel about Poe’s take on sanity? Explain.
Pit and the Pendulum
Bell Ringer
At what point, during The Pit and the Pendulum,
did you feel the most affected by the story?
Basically, what was your “favorite” part? Why
did it affect you?
Once finished, read your IR book.
Pit and the Pendulum
• Go over class/homework
• Imagery
•Poe and the Spanish Inquisition?
The Raven
• Questions
• Survey
• Walken
Bell Ringer
Welcome Back!
Please open your textbooks to pg. 298 and reacquaint
yourself with “The Raven.”
Please write what makes this a dark romantic work.
Also, have your Raven Questions out.
Herman Melville
(1819 - 1891)
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Surveyor on Erie Canal
Cabin Boy
Teacher
Wrote based on Experience
Good buds with Hawthorne
Best known for Moby Dick, or
The Whale
Moby Dick
What do you know?
Bell Ringer
Ahab and Starbuck have a disagreement on
page 332. About what is this disagreement?
How does each feel about it?
*Proposals for IR projects are due Friday
Moby Dick
• What can you infer about Ahab, as a character, when he
says, “Talk not to me of blasphemy, man. I’d strike the
sun if it insulted me” on page 333.
• What does the whale represent?
• What are some of America’s “whales”? Explain.
• Explain Ahab’s metaphor, comparing visible objects to
“pasteboard masks” on page 332. What does he mean
when he says to “strike through the mask”?
Bell Ringer
“It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the
law, so much as for the right.”
-Henry David Thoreau
• What does he mean?
• Do you agree? Why or why not?
Transcendentalists
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Not down with the state of society
Man and Nature are naturally good and intertwined
Politics and religion corrupt purity of individuals
Truth comes from inner spiritual or mental essence
of humans
Henry David Thoreau
(1817 – 1862)
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Close Natural Observation
Personal Experience
Abolitionist
Civil Disobedience
Accused of being Anarchist
Walden
Directions: 3 Groups
1. Where I Lived and What I lived for; Solitude; The Bean
Fields (These are shorter)
2. Brute Neighbors
3. Conclusion
For your part(s):
• Read as a group
• Copy down notable quotes
• Analyze the quotes
• Summarize
• Choose a spokesperson
*Everyone take notes. I will collect a random person’s notes
from each group.
Bell Ringer
“I have always been regretting that I was not
as wise as the day I was born.”
-Henry David Thoreau
• How does this make any sense? What is he
talking about?
• Is it typical Thoreau? Why or why not?
Agenda
• Groups – Finish Assignment
• Discussion/Presentations
• Civil Disobedience (Packet)
Bell Ringer
“Knowledge is knowing that we cannot know.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
What does he mean?
Agree or disagree? Why or why not?
Thoreau and Tell
• Woo!
Civil Disobedience
• Let’s chat.
Bell Ringer
“Speak what you think now in hard words, and
tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard
words again…”
Do you agree with Emerson? Why or why not?
Ralph Waldo Emerson
(1803-1882)
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Lecturer
Transcendentalist Club
America’s own writing style
Buds with Thoreau
– Journal
• Big on Imagery
• Nature is “the impression we
get from natural objects”