DIRECTIONS
• Read the poem ( the entire poem quietly and by yourself ) on your desk written by American poet and novelist Edgar Allan Poe. You have 15 minutes.
• On a separate sheet of paper write a list of 7-8 thoughts , feelings , emotions , criticisms or beliefs that come to mind as you read the poem. Be prepared to discuss your list with the class.
• If there’s a word or phrase you do not understand ask me for help or write it down to ask me about when we talk about the poem.
Image source: http://www.dreadcentral.com/img/news/aug09/edpoe.jpg

NCSCOS 2.02

Micro Concepts
• Nationalism- belief that a country and its citizens are better than everyone else.
• Sectionalism- belief that a specific part of a country is better than others.
• Transcendentalism-a style of thinking and writing that encouraged opinions based on life experience.

style focused on human emotion. The goal of the authors was to make a reader feel [ex: happy, sad, fear, anger, awe].
Edgar Allan Poe’s stories were considered dark because they focused on
drug use, horror, murder, crime, death and disease. [Poe’s writings included The Raven, The Tell Tale Heart, The Black Cat]
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s stories mostly focused on sin, lust, seduction and
guilt. [Hawthorne’s writings included The Scarlet Letter, The House of the Seven Gables, Rappacini’s Daughter]
Edgar Allan Poe Nathaniel Hawthorne

• Many people consider Webster the father of the modern
American English language.
• He developed alphabetical word lists, in book form, showing pictures, spelling, definitions and pronunciations.
• Webster’s dictionary expanded the scope of literacy across the
U.S.
• School children used these resources to guide reading and learning.

The type of building architecture that was widely used throughout the
United States and Europe is called Neoclassical Architecture.
It was based on ancient Rome and Greece to demonstrate power and progress . Large columns , straight lines and domed roofs were common characteristics.
The point of this ornate style to was show how advanced the United States was during the late 1800s and early 1900s.

A “school” in this context is a way of thinking such as when someone say a person is old school.
During the early 1800s a group of writers in New York authored several famous novels [Legend of Sleepy Hollow] and poem collections .
These men also wrote well respected historical novels [ Last of the Mohicans ] about important, significant events in U.S. History.
Washington Irving’s pen name was Dietrich “ Knickerbocker ” which is partially why the group got its name.
These American authors were well respected and their books were read all over Europe because of the engaging, exciting and interesting nature of the story lines in their novels.
Washington Irving James Fennimore Cooper

The Hudson River School was a style of painting that focused on natural landscapes .
Natural scenes such as valleys, rivers, farms, hills and forests were painted by Hudson River School artists.
The point of the style was to emphasize the importance, beauty, value and wonder of the natural environment in its natural state.
The amazing images served to provide an awareness of the United
States’ natural resources .

Transcendentalism [Transcend=Change]
• American writers such as Emerson and Thoreau wrote about how important it was to develop your own opinions based on life experience.
• These writers did not believe people should just blindly believe the teachings of Christian churches. They should decide what was right and wrong on their own. The point was to change one’s thought process.
• Through experiencing life you could decide for yourself. Both men traveled across the United States to experience life’s diversity.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Henry David Thoreau

Frenchman who visited the
United States to learn about its prison system for the French government.
He loved the fact that many citizens had property rights and vast freedoms .
He hated slavery as he saw it practiced in the U.S. and correctly predicted it would cause problems between the North and
South.
He wrote a book called
Democracy in America describing what he learned in the
U.S.
de Tocqueville’s critiques were closely analyzed by American government officials.

• http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/monticello.gif
• http://www.en.utexas.edu/Classes/Moore/neoclassical/images/arch/small/WILKINS-21.jpg
• http://www.karenandart.com/images/Finland/Helsinki/greatcathedral.jpg
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_of_Noah_Webster.jpg
• http://eightface.com/files/images/2009.10.websters.jpg
• http://oneclimbs.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/noah-webster.jpg
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson_river_school
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:JKensett_Mount_Washington_(JJH-JFK001).jpg
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ralph_Waldo_Emerson_ca1857_retouched.jpg
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Henry_David_Thoreau.jpg
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nathaniel_Hawthorn_by_Brady,_1860-65.jpg