Feb 09, 2016
Founded on Deism - belief in the
existence of a god on the evidence of reason and nature only, with rejection of supernatural revelation
Logic Inalienable rights
It also brought Industrialization,
growth of cities, and factories
American expansion (Lewis and Clark and Manifest Destiny)
More encounters with Native Americans
Albert Bierstadt
Realism
Patrician Classicism
Dominion over the Native American
Logic, always facts to counter fear and doubt
Idealism/Utopia
Glorification of the common man
Recognition of the nobility of the primitive – the “noble savage”
Imagination to engender faith and hope
Age of Reason Romanticism
Contemplating nature’s beauty is the path to spiritual and moral development.
Values feeling and intuition over reason
Looks backward to the wisdom of the past, shuns progress
The Rationalists saw the city as a place of industry, success, self realization, and civilization.
The Romantics saw the city as a place of poor work conditions, moral ambiguity, corruption, and death.
Romanticism was often seen as a Romanticism was often seen as a journey.journey.
The journey from the city to the country
The journey from rational thought to the imagination
John Greenleaf Whittier, William Cullen Bryant, James Lowell, Oliver Wendell Holmes
•Their poems were often read aloud at the fireside as family entertainment.
•Themes: love, patriotism, nature, family, and religion
The Most Popular American Poets of Their Time
•It is poetry that seeks a higher truth from the natural world.
The Fireside poets were the first group of American poets to rival British poets in popularity in either country.
American Novel - The Romantic Hero Youthful Pure of Purpose Sense of Honor – not based on society’s rules
but a higher principle Intuitive Understanding (not formal learning) Loves nature and avoids town life Quests for higher truth in the natural world Modern day examples: Superman, Luke
Skywalker, Indiana Jones
***American Novelists looked to westward expansion and the frontier for inspiration creating a break with European tradition.
***Folktales by regional writers offered glimpses of the supernatural
Satire: copy what is underlined
Washington Irving was a master of satire, a literary device in which people, customs, or institutions are ridiculed with the purpose of improving society.
Washington Irving1783-1859
Satire is often subtle, so as you read, watch for its indicators: humor, exaggeration, absurd situations, and irony.