pulp fiction relevant to post modernism

1. Unit 2: The Early and
Mid-Nineteenth
Century: Romanticism
English 11

2. The Beginnings of Romanticism
Objective
In this lesson, you will evaluate the
emergence of the romantic period
and its literature.

3. The Beginnings of Romanticism
American Romanticism
With its emphasis on nature and the individual, romanticism
was a reaction to the strict rationalism of the age of reason.
The romantics rebelled against what they saw as constrained
thinking. They celebrated emotion, creativity, and the mystery
and grandeur of nature. Many romantic writers also explored
new forms of writing. They often wrote about nature and the
everyday experiences of individual men and women.

4. The Beginnings of Romanticism
Characteristics of Romanticism
Importance of the individual over (or against) society
Exploring the imagination and emotions of the individual
An appreciation and respect for nature
Nature as a tool for introspection and comfort for humans
This focus on the individual exemplifies the idea among romantics
that a person derives significant meaning from the individual, rather
than society.

5. The Beginnings of Romanticism
The Omniscient Narrator
In the romantic era, some authors employed the
third-person omniscient narrator to relate a story.
omniscient narration - narration in which the narrator
has full knowledge of the story's events, as well as the
motives and unspoken thoughts of all the characters and
past and future events

6. The Beginnings of Romanticism
Reading Selection - "The Devil and Tom Walker“
Washington Irving : "Rip Van Winkle"
"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"
He contributed to the romantic era by depicting the
darker side of American history, as is demonstrated in his
short story "The Devil and Tom Walker."

7. The Beginnings of Romanticism
Washington Irving's short story "The Devil and Tom Walker" uses
third-person omniscient narration. The narrator knows about the
events of the story but is removed from the action.
This story is an example of how romantics explored the value of
the individual.

8. The Beginnings of Romanticism
Archetype - a recurring pattern of characteristics or events on
which literary elements such as characters, plots, and themes are
based
The devil is an archetype in American Romantic literature. The
devil symbolizes greed, cruelty, and dishonesty in society.
The only character whose thoughts are not revealed to the reader is the devil,
referred to in the story as the "Wild Huntsman," the "Black Miner" and "Old
Scratch" (all names for the devil). Even with an omniscient narrator, the story
does not present the devil’s thoughts. This idea is consistent with the time
period's religious beliefs regarding the devil as an ever-present, mysterious
spirit.

9. The Beginnings of Romanticism
Direct characterization - the method of character development in
which the author directly tells the reader what a character is like
Indirect characterization - when an author uses dialogue, action,
and the reaction of other characters to provide insight into a
character's personality

10. The Beginnings of Romanticism
Read the excerpt from “The Devil and Tom Walker.”
In a word, Tom's zeal became as notorious as his riches. Still, in
spite of all this strenuous attention to forms, Tom had a lurking
dread that the Devil, after all, would have his due. That he might not
be taken unawares, therefore, it is said he always carried a small Bible in his
coat pocket.
This information serves as indirect characterization, telling the reader that
Tom has not repented from his malevolent ways—his newfound piousness
actually is just another form of his greed. Tom uses religion merely to protect
himself from the devil.

11. The Beginnings of Romanticism
Satire - a humorous piece of writing that mocks a flawed
person or aspect of society with the intention of changing the
subject it mocks
Look for the satirical element as you read the excerpt from “The Devil and Tom Walker.”
He insisted that the money found through his means
should be employed in his service. He proposed,
therefore, that Tom should employ it in the black traffic;
that is to say, that he should fit out a slave ship. This,
however, Tom resolutely refused: he was bad enough in all
conscience, but the Devil himself could not tempt him to turn
slave-trader.

12. The Beginnings of Romanticism
Washington Irving uses Satire
–Although Tom shuns slavery, he still oppresses people by extorting
money from them.

13. Focus on Language
Relative Clauses
• Relative clauses are dependent clauses that modify a noun or noun phrase.
They are introduced by a noun, pronoun, or adjective that can be—but does
not need to be—written explicitly.
• There are two types of relative clauses: restrictive and nonrestrictive.

14. Focus on Language
The purpose of a restrictive clause, or essential clause, is to further define
something in a sentence. If a restrictive relative clause is removed, it changes
the core meaning of the sentence, as in this excerpt from Nathaniel
Hawthorne's "The Birthmark":
– It needed but a glance with the peculiar expression that his face often wore to
change the roses of her cheek into a deathlike paleness . . .
• The relative pronoun that makes this clause a relative clause which modifies
the noun, expression. This relative clause is restrictive because the clause is
essential to understanding the meaning of the sentence.

15. Focus on Language
Which sentences contain a restrictive clause?
1. We fed the kittens that we found in the shed.
2. My grandmother, who was growing crankier by the
day, scolded him harshly.
3. This is the house that I grew up in.
4. Our teacher, who was always ready to share in a
good joke, laughed with us.

16. Focus on Language
Which sentences contain a restrictive clause?
1. We fed the kittens that we found in the shed.
2. My grandmother, who was growing crankier by the
day, scolded him harshly.
3. This is the house that I grew up in.
4. Our teacher, who was always ready to share in a
good joke, laughed with us.

17. Reading Practice
Read the following sentences. Using context clues, identify which word in the list has a similar
meaning to the underlined word in the sentence.
bleak favorable dangerous conciliatory
At this propitious time of public distress did Tom Walker set up as a usurer in Boston.
He was sulky, however, and would not come to terms: she was to go again with a
propitiatory offering, but what it was she forbore to say.
Tom had long been picking his way cautiously through this treacherous forest; stepping from
tuft to tuft of rushes and roots, which afforded precarious footholds among deep sloughs.
It was a dreary memento of the fierce struggle that had taken place in this last foothold of
the Indian warriors.

18. Reading Practice
favorable  propitious
conciliatory  propitiatory
dangerous  precarious
bleak  dreary

19. Elements of Romantic Literature
Objective
In this lesson, you will identify and examine literary
techniques used in romantic literature.

20. Elements of Romantic Literature
Allusions and Irony in Romantic Literature
An allusion is an indirect or passing reference to a
historical person or event, literary work, character,
or passage.
Allusions are powerful literary tools because they add
depth and layers of meaning by associating a specific
idea, character, or event that exists outside the text with
a specific reference within the text

21. Elements of Romantic Literature
Allusions and Irony in Romantic Literature
A famous example is "Call me Ishmael," the opening
line of Herman Melville's whaling adventure Moby-Dick,
which introduces the novel's narrator and is an allusion
to the biblical figure of Ishmael. The biblical Ishmael's
father casts him out to wander in the wilderness, but
God protects Ishmael and he survives to become an
important patriarch of the Arab peoples, the creator of a
new nation. In Moby-Dick, Ishmael is the only survivor of
a whaling crew's struggle against a great white
whale. He alone lives to tell the epic tale.

22. Elements of Romantic Literature
Irony - a literary device used to show
the discrepancies between expected
outcomes and the realities of life; words
used to convey a meaning that is opposite
of the literal meaning
Irony plays an important role in
developing the narration and tone
of a story.

23. Elements of Romantic Literature
• Read this sentence from “Bartleby, the Scrivener.” What
is the verbal irony in this excerpt? What does the use of
irony tell the reader?
• In that direction, my windows commanded an
unobstructed view of a lofty brick wall, black by age and
everlasting shade; which wall required no spy-glass to
bring out its lurking beauties, but, for the benefit of all
near-sighted spectators, was pushed up to within ten
feet of my window panes.

24. Elements of Romantic Literature
•The sentence is filled with verbal irony. If taken
literally, the reader would think that the narrator
enjoys the beauty of old, blackened brick walls,
and is pleased that his window is so close to one
as to afford him a good view. Identifying the use
of verbal irony in this sentence allows the reader
to understand that the narrator is actually
disgruntled with the scene his window presents.

25. Elements of Romantic Literature
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