American Romanticism:

“Imagination and the Individual”1800-1860

When you think of American romanticism, think of this:

“Where the Wild Things Are”

Romanticism is…

A journey awayfrom the corruption of civilizationand the limits of rational thoughtand toward the integrity of natureand the freedom of theimagination.

Origins of Romanticism• Reaction against the Enlightenment and Rationalism (Age of Reason)

• View of the city & progress as corrupt. Too systematic and fake.

• Renouncement of materialism

Characteristics of the romantic journey:

• to the countryside or to adventure• associated with…

independencemoral clarityhealthful living

• flight away from something or– to something or– emphasis on something better

Romantic hero is

YouthfulInnocent and pure of purposeIdealistic with a sense of honor based on some higher principle – not on society’s rulesPossesses singular (unique, remarkable) skillsQuests for some higher truth in the natural worldHas a knowledge of people and of life based on deep, intuitive understanding – not on formal learningRejects conformityLoves nature and avoids the masses

Celebrating the imagination

Romanticism…values feeling and intuition over reason

apprehends powerful truths that the rational mind cannot reach

associates strong emotions with natural, unspoiled beauty

Elements of Romanticism

NEED• Nature inspiring wisdom

• Exotic setting

• Emotion and feeling over reason

• Distrust of civilization and progress

SIN• Supernatural

• Intuition, individualism, imagination, innocence, independence

• Nostalgia for the past

Nature (Elements of romanticism)

Path to moral and spiritual development

Preferable to civilization and progress

Doorway to ideal world

Romantics would say, “GO OUT AND “GO OUT AND EXPERIENCE NATURE!”EXPERIENCE NATURE!”

Learn from nature, not society

Exotic settings (Elements of romanticism)

Sources of truth and beauty

Examination of personality, moods, and mental potentialities

Focus on passion and inner struggles

Emotion (Elements of romanticism)

Trust of feelings is important

Literary themes emphasize emotion, not morality

Feelings over reason

Senses over intellect

Distrust (Elements of romanticism)

Avoids society/city life

Shuns artificiality of civilization

Questions progress

Supernatural (Elements of romanticism)

Supernatural realmExotic localesGothicWild, haunted landscapesStrange eventsMysterious settingsPsychological exploration of the human mind*

The five “I’s” (Elements of romanticism)

Intuition

Individual

Imagination

Innocence

Independence

Nostalgia (Elements of romanticism)

Concern for and focus on the past

Myths

Legends

Folk culture

Additional romantic characteristics:

American settings

An attempt to establish authenticity

Sense of optimism

America’s Romantic writers…(preview – no need to write these down today)

• James Fenimore Cooper (Last of the Mohicans)1789-1851

• Washington Irving (Rip Van Winkle)1783-1859

• William Cullen Bryant (Thanatopsis)1794-1878

• Nathaniel Hawthorne (The Scarlet Letter)1804-1864

• Edgar Allan Poe (The Telltale Heart, etc)1809-1849

• Herman Melville (Moby Dick)1819-1891

*The Dark Romantics

focused on the grotesque, the gloomy, the morbid, the fantasticvalued intuition & emotion over logic and reason saw symbols, spiritual truths, signs in nature and everyday events acknowledged the evil of man & the horror of evil.

Dark romantics include… (“mph”)

Herman Melville ~ author of Moby Dick, the classic tale of good v. evil & man v. nature.

Edgar Allan Poe ~ master of the psychological thriller & founder of modern detective story.

Nathaniel Hawthorne ~ examiner of the human mind & the effects of sin & evil.

Remember…Remember… Elements of Romanticism = “Elements of Romanticism = “NEED SINNEED SIN”:”:

Nature inspiring Nature inspiring wisdomwisdom

Exotic settingExotic setting

Emotion and feeling Emotion and feeling over reasonover reason

Distrust of civilization Distrust of civilization and progressand progress

SupernaturalSupernatural

Intuition, individualism, Intuition, individualism, imagination, innocence, imagination, innocence, independenceindependence

Nostalgia for the pastNostalgia for the past

Remember, when thinking of romanticism…

"Where the Wild Things Are"

or

Planet Earth Trailer Earth Trailer

DREAMSby Mary Oliver

All nightthe dark buds of dreamsopenrichly.

In the centerof every petalis a letter,and you imagine

if you could only rememberand string them all togetherthey would spell the answer.It is a long night,

• and not an easy one—you have so many branches,and there are diversions—birds that come and go,

the black fox that lies downto sleep beneath you,the moon staringwith her bone-white eye.

Finally you have spentall the energy you canand you drag from the groundthe muddy skirt of your roots

.

• and leap awakewith two or three syllableslike water in your mouthand a sense

• of loss—a memorynot yet of a word,certainly not yet the answer—only how it feels

when deep in the treeall the locks click open,and the fire surges through the wood,and the blossoms blossom.

(N.E.E.D. S.I.N.)

Elements of Romanticism… Nature

The Romantics valued the beauty and existence of nature. The Romantics wanted to go against society’s norms of work and routine.

What are we doing to show this?

An Inconvenient Truth Trailer

(video trailer) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0497116/trailers-screenplay-E30439-314

billboard examples

Gore made a film to encourage Americans to care about what happens to our world.

What could we do?

Nature/environment billboard

Nature/environment billboardCompose a short slogan that reminds Americans of one of the following:

The value of nature

(or)

The importance of taking care of Earth

Draw the slogan billboardAnswer these questions on the back of the slogan

billboardWhere should your billboard be placed?Who needs to see your slogan?What affect would you hope it would have?