American
Renaissance
{Roughly mid-nineteenth century
…a loosely used term to
describe a time period
around 1850 – 1855 when
The United States of
America produced many of
its “masterpieces” --
American Renaissance ~
mid 19th Century
Thoreau’s Walden (1854)
 Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter (1850)
 Melville’s Moby Dick (1851)
 Dickinson’s poetry
 Whitman’s Leaves of Grass (1855)
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AUTHORS AND WORKS
Walt Whitman 1819 -- 1892
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Born May 31, 1819 ~ grew up in New York State, second of nine children
At age of twelve, learned the printer's trade & fell in love with the written word
Largely self-taught -- read voraciously
Worked as a printer in New York City
At age of 17, became a teacher in the one-room school houses of Long Island
1841 ~ became a journalist & founded a weekly paper -- Brooklyn Daily Eagle
1848 ~ left Daily Eagle to become editor of the New Orleans Crescent
In New Orleans, experienced at first hand the viciousness of slavery
1845 ~ returned to Brooklyn & founded a "free soil" newspaper: Brooklyn Freeman
1855 ~ self-published first edition of Leaves of Grass
Sent a copy to Emerson in July of 1855.
During Civil War, Whitman vowed to live a "purged" and "cleansed" life
Did freelance journalism and visited the wounded at New York-area hospitals
1862 ~ traveled to Washington, D.C. to care for his wounded brother
Decided to stay in D.C. and work in the hospitals -- stayed for 11 years.
Struggled to support himself through most of his life
1882 Leaves of Grass gave him enough money to buy a home in Camden.
Whitman’s life

verse that does not follow a fixed,
metrical pattern; it does not have a set
rhyme or rhythm
Example: “Fog” by Carl Sandburg
It sits looking
Over harbor and city
On silent haunches
And then moves on.
Free Verse
repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of
successive phrases, clauses, sentences, or verses
(Merriam-Webster.com)
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Example from Dickens’ “Tale of Two Cities” ~
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the
age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was epoch of
belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of
Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of
hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before
us…
Anaphora
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repetition of the same consonant ~ especially at the
end of stressed syllables without similarity in vowels
Example from Owen’s “Arms and the Boy”
Let the boy try along this bayonet blade
How cold steel is, and keen with hunger blood
Blue with all malice, like a madman’s flash;
And thinly drawn with famishing for flesh
Consonance
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use of words that begin with the
same sound near one another
Examples:
Bubbling brook
Gurgling goose
Moving mouth
Alliteration
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Why might Whitman be considered a
Transcendentalist?
What is anaphora, alliteration, consonance, and
free verse?
What time period are we discussing?
Whitman
Emily Dickinson 1830 -- 1886
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Born 1830, daughter to a U.S. congressman, privileged
Massachusetts household
Haunted by “the menace of death” – her words
Wrote +/- 800 poems between 1858 - 1865
Known as a recluse; stayed in her room
When seen, only wearing white
Known as “Poet of Paradox; Paradox of a Poet”
Wrote hymnal-sounding poems and religious reconciliation
Published a dozen poems in her lifetime
After her death, her sister discovered 1800 poems
Emily Dickinson ~
As a group, you will: (*note: any group member could
be asked to do any of the following)
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4)
Read the poem aloud
Describe your visual
Be prepared to define terms
Descriptively & informatively, finish these two
sentences:
“In this poem, Ms. Dickinson is telling us
about…”
 “She is telling us through her use of…”
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Mini-Dickinson Poem Presentations
(think “Young Goodman Brown”-ish)
1.
Is this poem about life and death? Explain your
answer with the text.
2.
“Thanatopsis” is an elegy. What is an elegy? What
elements of “Thanatopsis” meet those
conventions? (per instructions, mark on poem)
3.
This poem was written in the early 19th century
when art was dominated by untamed landscapes,
views of the skies, and vistas. How would you
draw this poem? What visual landscape does it
create? Describe in a paragraph or draw and
diagram.
Thanatopsis
Thanos = Death; Opsis = Seeing