American Romanticism: 1800 –
1855
Civil Disobedience
Unit Overview
Students will …
• investigate ways that members of American
society have disagreed with the governing ideals
• make comparisons among several texts that deal
with civil disobedience and form their own claim
• identify rhetorical elements in speeches, texts,
and documents meant to persuade an audience.
Unit Essential Question
During the period of American Romanticism…
How did American writers criticize and
challenge early American thinking?
Lesson Essential Questions
How do critical readers look for truth?
What relationships do you see in the text(s) presented?
How does this work illustrate the society’s concept of
independence?
How does this work compare societal values?
In what ways is the author criticizing his/her own society?
Is his/her critique justified?
What would be an effective way to incite public response
to a current social problem?
How can you tell if a source is credible?
Vocabulary
Literary Terms
• Rhetorical Strategies
• Logical Fallacy
• Parallelism
• Satire
 Transcendentalism
 Romanticism
• Metonymy
• Fireside poets
Historical Concepts
• Westward Expansion
• Manifest Destiny
• Industrial Revolution
 Social Reform
• Nationalism
• Sectionalism
Characteristics of American
Romanticism
• Values feeling and
intuition over reason
• Places faith in inner
experience and the
power of the
imagination
• Shuns the artificiality of
civilization and seeks
unspoiled nature
• Prefers youthful
innocence to educated
sophistication
• Champions individual
freedom and the worth
of the individual
• Contemplates nature’s
beauty as a path to
spiritual and moral
development
• Looks backward to the
wisdom of the past and
distrusts progress
• Finds beauty and truth
in exotic locals, the
supernatural realm, and
the inner world of the
imagination
• Sees poetry as the
highest expression of
the imagination
• Finds inspiration in
myth, legend, and folk
culture
Early Romantics
• Romanticism is the
period of American
writing that is inspired by
nature, emphasized by
emotions and
imagination, and
celebrates the individual
spirit.
• How does this image
reflect the characteristics
of American
Romanticism?
Early Romantic Writers
• William Cullen Bryant-celebrated as one of the first
Romantic poets.
• Washington Irving-pioneered the short story as a
literary form. He wrote “The Devil and Tom Walker”
and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”
• James Fenimore Cooper-credited with writing the first
“truly” American novel. Inspired by westward
expansion, period of exploration that led Americans
out to the western wilderness. Known for his
masterpiece The Last of the Mohicans. His novels were
known as The Leatherstocking Tales.
Quotes from the Romantic Age
• “To him who in the love of Nature holds
Communion with her visible forms, she speaks
A various language; for his gayer hours
She has a voice of gladness, and a smile
And eloquence of beauty, and she glides
Into his darker musings, with a mild
And healing sympathy, that steals away
Their sharpness, ere he is aware…”
-From William Cullen Bryant’s “Thanatopsis”
Assessment Prompt #1
• Compare/Contrast: How do the views of the
Puritans differ with the concepts captured by
the Romantics?
The Fireside Poets
A group of New England poets whose work was
morally uplifting and romantically engaging.
• Emphasized moral themes
• Were viewed as equals of British poets
• Stressed individualism and an appreciation of
nature
• Were committed to social reform
The Fireside Poets
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow – best known of
the group; stressed individualism and an
appreciation of nature
The following poets were known for using their
poetry to bring social reform, or changes in
society, such as abolition, women’s rights,
temperance, and factory worker’s rights.
• James Russell Lowell
• Oliver Wendell Holmes
• John Greenleaf Whittier
Assessment Prompt #2
• Analyze: In what sense
did each member of the
Fireside Poets attempt
to improve the United
States?
The Transcendentalists
A group of writers, led by Ralph Waldo Emerson,
who practiced transcendentalism(a
philosophical and literary movement that
emphasized living a simple life and celebrating
the truth found in nature and in personal
emotion and imagination.
Characteristics of the
Transcendentalists
•
•
•
•
Emphasized living a simple life
Stressed a close relationship to nature
Celebrated emotions and the imagination
Stressed individualism and self-reliance(a key
term)
• Believed intuition(inner perception) can lead to
knowledge
• Believed in the inherent goodness of people
• Encouraged spiritual well-being over financial
well-being
Comic View
• How does the argument
between Calvin and
Hobbes reflect the
beliefs of the
Transcendentalists?
Famous Transcendentalists
• Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Henry David Thoreau
• These would influence later writers, such as
– Walt Whitman
– Robert Frost
– Wallace Stevens
Famous Quotes
• Henry David Thoreau once stated, “Go
confidently in the direction of your dreams!
Live the life you’ve imagined. As you simplify
your life, the laws of the universe will be
simpler.”
Assessment Prompt #3
• Evaluate: Is Transcendentalism impractical or
could it be practiced today?
American Gothic
A group of writers, who unlike most romantics,
explored the capacity of human evil and
whose work explored darker themes.
Considered the “anti-transcendentalists”
Characteristics of American Gothic
•
•
•
•
•
•
Known as the “Brooding Romantics”
Did not believe in the innate goodness of people
Explored the human capacity for evil
Probed the inner life of characters
Explored characters’ motivations
Agreed with romantic emphasis on emotion,
nature, and the individual
• Included elements of fantasy and the
supernatural in works
Gothic Elements
•
•
•
•
•
Grotesque characters
Bizarre situations
Violent events
Began in Europe
Inspired by he gothic architecture of the
Middle Ages
Gothic Writers
These writers were inspired by Washington Irving. Irving,
unlike the official “brooding Romantics” wanted to
keep “mankind in good humor with one another.”
• Edgar Allan Poe-consider the father of American Gothic
literature; his plots involve physical and mental torture,
and retribution from beyond the grave.
• Nathaniel Hawthorne-famous for The Scarlet Letter,
which focuses on the psychological effects of sin and
guilt
• Herman Melville-blended adventure stories and
exploration with issues of madness and the conflict of
good versus evil
Assessment Prompt #4
• What aspects of gothic
literature appear to
have been influenced
by gothic architecture?