American Romanticism 1800-1860
Author Matching:
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Became a doctor
Became a professor at Harvard
First to make a living off of only being an author
Lost two wives; one to a miscarriage, one to an accidental fire
Borrowed topics from European writing, but added American culture/settings
First internationally known novelist
Multiple Choice:
7. The journey in American Romantic literature can best be characterized as what?
8. Describe the typical American Romantic hero.
9. The American Fireside Poets are best known for what?
10. Why was the relationship between Rip Van Winkle and his wife important to the
story?
11. What clue does Irving give to the reader that something bad will happen to Rip if
he goes further up the mountain?
12. The theme of “Rip Van Winkle” involves a wish coming true. What is that wish?
Why would people want to read about a wish like this?
13. What is the first detail that allows the reader to infer that Rip has slept a long
time?
14. The most momentous historical event that takes place during Rip’s long sleep is
what?
15. Describe Edgar Allen Poe.
16. Poe’s mother, foster mother, and wife all died as a result of what disease?
17. Poe finally found happiness in a family setting when he did what?
18. The speaker of the “The Raven” can best be described how?
19. When the narrator opens the door of his chamber and peers out, he half expects to
find what?
20. At first encounter, the Raven _______ the speaker
21. Why does the narrator suppose that the Raven says the single word “Nevermore”?
22. Near the end of the poem the speaker asks the Raven two questions to which the
bird answers “Nevermore”. These questions are about what?
23. What can we infer from the ending of the poem?
24. List Cooper’s purposes for writing the Leatherstocking Tales.
25. Because most of Cooper’s characters of mixed blood die, we can assume that he
thinks what?
26. In the Deerslayer, how does Natty deeply offend the Huron tribe?
27. Natty’s quickness and skills as a warrior are seen when he does what?
28. In “The Chambered Nautilus,” the poet develops an extended metaphor
comparing the empty shell to what?
29. “The Chambered Nautilus” is telling us that we should live like a shell and do
what?
30. In “The Chambered Nautilus,” the speaker implies that if he hadn’t meditated on
the nautilus, his life might have resembled what?
31. The speaker in “The Chambered Nautilus” seems to wish for what?
32. In “The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls,” the rising and falling of the tide suggests
what?
33. The principle message conveyed in “The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls” is what?
34. The repeated last line of each stanza in “The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls” is meant
to convey what idea?
35. Identify the characteristics of Romantic literature (see background handout).
Think about how some of these characteristics can be seen in some of the stories
read in class (think short answer question?)
Passage Identification
36. “As he approached the village he met a number of people, but none whom he
knew, which surprised him, for he had thought himself acquainted with everyone
in the country round. Their dress too was of a different fashion from that to which
he was accustomed. They all stared at him with equal marks of surprise”
37. “Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,/ It shall clasp a
sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore”
38. “The keen little ax struck the victim in a perpendicular line with the nose, directly
between the eyes, literally braining him on the spot… A common rush to his relief
left the captive for a single instant quite without the crowd, and willing to make
one desperate effort for life”
39. “Along the sea-sands damp and brown/ The traveler hasten toward the town…
the day returns, but nevermore/returns the traveler to the shore”
40. “Let each new temple, nobler than the last/ Shut thee from heaven with a dome
more vast/ Till thou at length art free/ leaving thine outgrown shell by life’s
unresting sea!”