Required reading:
Washington Irving
James Fenimore Cooper
William Cullen Bryant
“Rip Van Winkle”
from The Deerslayer
“To a Waterfowl”
“Thanatopsis”
“An Indian at the Burial-Place of His Fathers”
Lydia Marie Child
“The Lone Indian”
Secondary Sources:
Todd Leiber
Richard Fogle
“Endless Experiment, Preface”
“The Romantic Movement”
American Visions “The Widlerness and the West”
Write an essay responding to one of the following:
1. Compare/contrast the romantic characteristic(s) evident in Bryant’s poetry with
the Lone Indian and either “Rip Van Winkle ”or the excerpt from the Deerslayer.
2. Romantic ideals are expressed by characters in romantic fiction. Discuss referring
to the literature you have read, including “The Lone Indian.”
3. Briefly explain the romantic theories of both Leiber and Fogle, and then discuss
which theory you believe is most evident in the literature we have read, including
Child’s “The Lone Indian.” (3 pieces)
4.
Select one piece of Romantic writing, one we have not discussed in class (i.e.
“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” an excerpt from The Pioneers, a Bryant poem,
“The Lone Indian,”) and write an analysis of style and content. What are the
“Romantic” qualities of this piece? Be sure you consider all the Romantic
qualities we have been discussing in class such as Mutability/Nebulosity/Magic,
Mystery, Mysticism/ Liber’s idea of the Romantic hero, Fogle's ideas of
Organicism, the Romantic view of nature/ …as well as stylistic techniques such
as juxtaposition, use of paradox, details, sentiment, personification, etc.
5.
. Select one work of Romantic art to compare/contrast (to/with) one piece of
Romantic writing. In this essay you will want to discuss the shared qualities of
Romanticism, as well as where you see the similarities and differences in terms of
content and style/ meaning and form. Be sure you make a copy of the painting for
my reference. Be as specific as possible in pointing out the details of both genres.