It is a short PPT presentation about one period of American Literature. It also features a set of questions after each sub-topic to foster in-class discussion.
2. Romantic Period
The American Romantic
period, which lasted from
about 1820-1860, was a
movement where literature
focused on intuition,
imagination, and
individualism.
6. Washington Irving
Biography:
Born April 3, 1783;
Grows up in Manhattan, New York;
Moves to Tarrytown, New York (at
the age of 15);
Goes to Europe (at the age of 17);
Meets Sir Walter Scott.
7. Washington Irving
Works:
The Sketch Book
'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' and 'Rip
Van Winkle;
Tales of a Traveler
'The Devil and Tom Walker;‘
Washington Irving had a great sense of
humor, which transcended into his
writings.
8.
9.
10. Washington Irving
Style:
Imagery
using words to create a picture in the
reader's mind to create long
descriptions of the American
landscape
Modern short story;
Irony
saying the opposite of what you
really mean
12. Question Time
2. It is a characteristic of the American Romantic
period:
a. A trickster god interferes
b. Symbolism
c. Imagination
d. Worlds are created
13. Question Time
3. He is known as the father of American literature:
a. Rip Van Winkle
b. Washington Irving
c. Henry David Thoreau
d. Walt Whitman
14. Question Time
4. Washington Irving’s The Sketch Book contains his
most well-known story:
a. Tales of a Traveler
b. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
c. The Devil and Tom Walker
d. The Scarlet Letter
15. Question Time
5. It's the story of the superstitious Ichabod Crane's attempts to
win over the fair Katrina, and how he is scared away by a
Headless Horseman.
a. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
b. The Devil and Tom Walker
c. The Scarlet Letter
d. Rip Van Winkle
17. Transcendentalism
Beliefs:
The 'Eternal One'
Every individual carries the universe
within himself and is entitled to his
own personal relationship with
spirituality.
22. Ralph Waldo Emerson
‘Self-Reliance’
Individualism
Every thought and action should be
independent and authentic. Individuals
must be free to pursue their personal
goals and desires.
23. Ralph Waldo Emerson
‘Self-Reliance’
Nonconformity
People must think for themselves and
resist the pressure to conform to
prevailing ideas or practices.
24. Ralph Waldo Emerson
‘Self-Reliance’
Intuition
Intuition is the most fundamental form
of knowledge. Intuition is direct
knowledge; all other knowledge is
secondhand.
25. Henry David Thoreau
‘Civil Disobedience’
Henry David Thoreau's essay Civil
Disobedience, published in 1849, has
influenced civil rights leaders from President
John F. Kennedy to Gandhi to Martin Luther
King, Jr.
26. Henry David Thoreau
‘Civil Disobedience’
He encouraged Americans to avoid
supporting immoral government spending by
not paying taxes, even if that action landed
them in jail.
27. Emily Dickinson
19th-century American poet;
Wrote over 1,000 poems;
Focused on death, immortality and
nature;
Her poems rarely had titles.
28. Question Time
1. It is a movement, a reaction against 18th-century
rationalism:
a. Modernism
b. Puritan Writing
c. Realism
d. Transcendentalism
29. Question Time
2. Transcendentalist doctrines found their greatest
literary advocates in _____ and Thoreau.
a. Jefferson
b. Emerson
c. Freneau
d. Smith
31. Question Time
4. Famous female transcendentalist:
a. Anne Bradstreet
b. Emily Dickinson
c. Sylvia Plath
d. Mary Jane Watson
32. Question Time
5. Thoreau’s greatest essay that has influenced civil
rights leaders around the world:
a. Everything You Need
b. Creation and Truth
c. Civil Disobedience
d. Patience
33. Dark Romanticism
American Renaissance
Explosion of uniquely American
literature
1840-1860
American literary masterpieces
Subgenres: the Dark Romantics and
the Transcendentalists.
36. Dark Romanticism
Edgar Allan Poe's poem ‘The
Raven’
In that poem, the raven is a
symbol for death and
hopelessness as it sits and
watches the narrator, who is
slowly going mad.
37. Dark Romanticism
Characteristics:
Horrific Themes
A story's theme is a statement that the text
seems to making about the subject.
• the struggles of human nature
• surroundings could be filled with evil
39. Dark Romanticism
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter
Hawthorne tells the story of a minister
whose affair with a married woman
sends him into a guilt-ridden self-
punishment, and ultimately death.
40. Dark Romanticism
The result of Dark Romantics is a
collection of short stories, poems, and
novels that forced Americans to see that
evil was lurking in us all.
41. Question Time
1. Movement that started during the last years of the
American Romantic Period:
a. Realism
b. Transcendentalism
c. Dark Romanticism
d. Modernism
42. Question Time
2. It is not a characteristic of Dark Romanticism:
a. Lots of Creepy Symbols
b. Imagination
c. Horrific Themes
d. Psychological Effects
43. Question Time
3. During the Romanticism, __________ and _______
were two strong subgenres:
a. Thinkers and Believers
b. Transcendentalism and Realism
c. Transcendentalists and Dark Romantics
d. Puritans and Dark Romantics
44. Question Time
4. Poe’s best-known poem, in his own lifetime:
a. What Can You Do?
b. Rip Van Winkle
c. The Raven
d. True Love
45. Question Time
5. It tells the story of a minister whose affair with a
married woman ultimately sends him to death:
a. Sin and Truth
b. Love Story
c. The Raven
d. The Scarlet Letter