The document provides an overview of American literature from 1800-1870, during a period of growth and expansion in the young nation. Key developments included the rise of transcendentalism and Romanticism, which emphasized intuition and nature. Writers like Washington Irving, Edgar Allan Poe, and the Fireside Poets helped establish a uniquely American literary voice and explored themes of the frontier, individualism, and the natural world. Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick was published in 1851, using a whaling voyage as an allegory to examine humanity's relationship with nature and the limits of knowledge.

1. A Growing Nation
1800-1870
“America is a land of wonders, in which
everything is in constant motion and
every change seems an improvement.
…”

2. Historical context
O Growth of Democracy – Americans took
more direct control government
O Advances confined to white males, though
O Young nation on the world stage – War of
1812 convinced rest of the world that
America was here to stay
O Expansion & Economic growth
O Technological advances, movement West
expanded American economy, territory

3. Literature of the period
O American Literature comes of age
O Established American voice – personal,
idiosyncratic, bold
O Established American theme – Quest of
individual to define himself/herself
O Romanticism
O Artistic movement that dominated Europe and
America during 19th century
O Elevated imagination over reason and intuition
over fact
O Reveled in nature
O Accented fantastic aspects of human
experience

4. Literature of the period
O New England Renaissance (1840-55)
O American intellectual independence from
Europe
O Interpret their own culture in new ways
O Transcendentalism
O The understanding a person gains
intuitively
O The most fundamental truths lie outside
experiences of the senses, residing instead
in the “Over-Soul – a universal & benign
omnipresence

5. The Devil and Tom Walker
O Washington Irving
O First American writer to achieve
international reputation
O Grew up in New York’s Hudson Valley
O Lived in Europe from 1815-32
O Inspired by European folk tradition
O Wrote Tales of a Traveller while in Europe,
which includes “The Devil and Tom Walker”

6. Literary Terms
O Omniscient Narrator
O All-knowing narrator
O Reader is not limited to the thoughts and
perspectives of a single character but may
know the thoughts and feelings of any
character
O Narrator may even comment on events in
the story

7. Reading Strategy
O Cultural attitudes
O Revealed about people living in New
England in the 1720s
O Irving does not reveal these attitudes
directly – he suggests them through the
details of the story
O Make Inferences, or draw conclusions,
about cultural attitudes based on the details
Irving provides

8. Short Story
O Brief work of fiction
O Resemble the novel, but generally has
simpler plot and setting
O Tends to reveal character at a crucial
moment rather than developing it through
many incidents

9. Edgar Allan Poe
O Father of the short
story
O Inventor of the
detective story
O Wrote psychological
thrillers
O Used vivid imagery
O Explored altered
mental states
O Focused on the dark
side of human nature

10. Edgar Allan Poe
O Single Effect (unity of effect)
O Short story should be constructed to
achieve “a certain unique or single effect”
O In other words - every element of a story
should help create a single emotional
impact (from
http://www.poemuseum.org/teachers-poes-
technique.php)
O Every character, incident, and detail in a
short story should contribute to this effect

11. Edgar Allan Poe
O Creating suspense
O Shadows of the imagination – fascinated
by the dark reaches of the imagination,
which can inhabit the mind when a person
is under great stress
O Also employ foreshadowing
O Suspense – Feeling of growing uncertainty
about outcome of events

12. Edgar Allan Poe
O How is suspense created?
O Writers raise questions in the minds of
readers
O Because readers are concerned or curious,
they keep reading to find out what will
happen next
O Suspense builds until the climax of the plot,
at which point the suspense reaches its
peak ------ resolving suspense

13. Edgar Allen Poe
O Other literary terms
O Climax – high point of interest or suspense
in a literary work; generally appears near
end of story, play, or narrative poem
O Hyperbole – Deliberate exaggeration or
overstatement; often used for comic effect
O Ex: The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had
borne as I best could, but when he ventured
upon insult I vowed revenge

14. Edgar Allan Poe
O More literary terms
O Conflict – Struggle between opposing
forces; can be internal (within a character)
or external (between a character and an
outside force); primary element of narrative
literature because most plots develop from
conflicts
O Irony – Contrast between what is stated
and what is meant, or between what is
expected to happen and what actually
happens
O Types of irony – Verbal, Dramatic, Situational

15. Fall of the House of Usher
O Description of the landscape
O “Dark and soundless day”
O Clouds hung oppressively low in the
heavens”
O “Dreary tract of country”
O “Bleak walls”
O What do these descriptions do for readers?
O Set mood/tone of story

16. Fall of the House of Usher
O Usher family is descended from the same
ancestral line
O Foreshadowing
O No portion of the masonry had fallen; and
there appeared to be a wild inconsistency
between its still perfect adaptation of parts,
and the crumbling condition of the
individual stones
O A cadaverousness of complexion (p. 299-
1)

17. Fall of the House of Usher
O Foreshadowing (continued)
O Song “The Haunted Palace” verses 5-6
O Becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy
O Step into the dark recesses of the mind
O Roderick’s reaction to his sister’s death (p.
304)
O Mind laboring with an oppressive secret (also
foreshadowing)
O Usher’s voice sounds terrified

18. Fall of the House of Usher
O Dark recesses of the human mind
O Guest cannot sleep
O Leads to a feeling of unease
O Buried Madeline alive
O Sounds were Madeline trying to escape
O Roderick ends up scared to death
O As the Usher’s “fall” so too does the house

19. The Raven
O It’s a poem for a lost love (Lenore)
O Creates mood
O Man sitting alone at night
O Hears noise outside
O Raven flies into the house and sits on top
of the door
O Man asks the Raven several questions to
which the Raven only replies “Nevermore”

20. The Raven
O Themes
O Lost love - obsession
O Madness/Insanity
O Supernatural

21. Early American Poetry
O The Fireside Poets
O Several early American poets signified a
coming of age for literature in young nation
O Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wendell
Holmes, James Russell Lowell, John
Greenleaf Whittier
O Took name from popularity of their works,
which were widely read as both fireside
family entertainment and in school rooms

22. Early American Poetry
O Fireside Poets
O All four poets were born & bred in New
England
O Chose uniquely American settings &
subjects
O Themes, meter, & imagery borrowed
heavily from English tradition

23. Early American Poetry
O Literary Terms
O Stanza – Units of two or more lines
arranged in a pattern of rhythm (or meter)
and rhyme. Like a prose paragraph, each
stanza develops a single main idea. Unlike
paragraphs, stanzas are often a fixed
length and share the same rhythm.
Stanzas are commonly named according
to the number of lines they contain.

24. Early American Poetry
O Literary Terms
O Couplet – two-line stanza
O Quatrain – four-line stanza
O Cinquain – five-line stanza
O Meter – Systematic arrangement of
stressed and unstressed syllables
O Foot – Basic unit of meter. Usually
consists of one stressed syllable and one
or more unstressed syllables. Most
frequently used in American & English
verse is the iamb.

25. Early American Poetry
O Literary Terms
O Imagery – Descriptive or figurative
language used to create word pictures for
readers. These pictures, or images, are
created by details of sight, sound, taste,
touch, smell, or movement.

26. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
O “A Psalm of Life”
O Calling people to action – don’t let time slip
away and waste your life
O Death/Survival is not the goal of life
O “But to act, that each tomorrow/Find us
farther than today”
O Better yourself each day
O “Act---act in the living present”

27. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
O “Footprints on the sands of time”
O Leave your mark like others have left
marks before you in the sands of time
O Allow others to see your footprints (mark)
and follow in them or better them
O Strive to do great things

28. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
O “The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls”
O Poem about death
O “The twilight darkens, the curfew calls;”
O “Darkness settles on roofs and walls”
O “Efface the footprints in the sands”
O Sea is erasing the footprints
O “The day returns, but nevermore/Returns the
traveler to the shore”
O The traveler has died

29. William Cullen Bryant
O As journalist & political activist, Bryant
fought to ensure that industrialization &
rapid growth did not obscure America’s
democratic values & principles
O Established American literary tradition by
producing poems that were a match for the
work of the best European poets of the day
O First American poet to achieve world-wide
critical acclaim. He helped establish
Romantic movement in U.S.

30. Thanatopsis
O Poem about life and death
O Man is unaware when nature will steal
away his final breath
O “with a mild/And healing sympathy, that
steals away/Their sharpness ere he is aware.
When thoughts/Of the last bitter hour come
like a blight/Over thy spirit, and sad
images/Of the stern agony, and shroud, and
pall,/And breathless darkness, and the
narrow house,/Make thee to shudder, and
grow sick at heart”

31. Thanatopsis
O Earth shall retake the dead after
nourishing the person during life (Lines
22-30)
O Stanza 2
O The person will not be alone after death
O The dead reign with nature
O Images of wilderness, rivers, and the sun
O Everyone shares the same destiny,
regardless of their relationships on
earth/living

32. Thanatopsis
O Stanza 3
O Live life the way you will live in death
O In harmony with each other
O In harmony with nature
O “Sustained and soothed/By an unfaltering
trust, approach thy grave”
O “Lies down to pleasant dreams”
O Accept the nature of death

33. Oliver Wendell Holmes
O Harvard graduate and teacher, who studied
law and then medicine
O Founded Atlantic Monthly with James Russell
Lowell
O Known for humorous exaggeration, colorful
expression, and quotable quotes made him
popular with readers
O Wrote “Old Ironsides” to protest planned
destruction of battleship Constitution
O Poem saved the ship & earned Holmes national
recognition as a poet

34. Old Ironsides

35. Old Ironsides
O Poem about the destruction of the U.S.S.
Constitution – Ship from the War of 1812
O Holmes is criticizing the plan to destroy the
ship, using a tongue in cheek statement to
open the poem
O He calls on the patriotism of Americans,
reminding readers that heroes died on the
ship
O Allusion to Greek mythology – calling those
that would destroy the ship monsters

36. Old Ironsides
O Imagery – “the eagle of the sea!”
O Set her asail and allow the sea to claim her
rather than destroying the ship
O This would be a more fitting fate for such a
noble and historic ship

37. James Russell Lowell
O Possibly most talented of Fireside Poets
O Literary career disrupted by tragedy,
including death of three of his four children
& his wife
O Gained international fame
O Wrote editorials supporting abolition of
slavery after turning his focus away from
literature
O Served as professor at Harvard &
American ambassador to Spain & Great
Britain

38. The First Snowfall
O First snowfall reminds him of his infant
daughter who had died
O The snow gently nestles her grave stone
O He imagines the way she would have
asked “Who makes the snow?”
O The snow heals and hides his sorrow
O Snow is both comforting and painful for
Lowell, evoking both positive and sad
memories of his daughter

39. John Greenleaf Whittier
O Whittier was born in poverty unlike the
other Fireside Poets
O Received virtually no formal education
O More deeply involved in social issues
O Because of abolitionist ideas, he did not
receive national recognition until after the
Civil War

40. Snowbound
O Depicts simple warmth of rural New
England life
O Shows coldness, bleakness of winter
through imagery of the sun rising and
setting on a short December day
O Day foretells of snowstorm to come
O Life in the farmhouse goes on –
“Meanwhile we did our nightly chores –
brought in the wood from out of
doors/Littered the stalls, and from the
mows …”

41. Snowbound
O Description of the storm
O “The white drift piled the window frame/And
through the glass the clothesline
posts/Look in like tall and sheeted ghosts”
O Simile – like tall and sheeted ghosts
O The world becomes unrecognizable to
them after the storm
O Things familiar to them took different shapes
O Life goes on – time to get back to work like
usual

42. Snowbound
O The snow creates a feeling of solitude on
the farm
O No church bells are ringing
O Only the animals are there – no one can
get to the farm, nor can they leave the farm
O The fire creates warmth and diminishes the
feeling of solitude
O The sun returns like a traveler from a journey

43. Narratives
O Herman Melville (1819-91)
O Considered one of America’s greatest
novelists
O Became whaler at age 19, sailing to South
Pacific
O Used adventures as material for his fiction
O After meeting Nathaniel Hawthorne, his
writing became deeper, more sophisticated

44. Narratives
O Herman Melville
O Published Moby Dick in 1851
O On the surface, it’s the story of the fateful
voyage of a whaling ship
O Other layers include:
O Story of a bitter man’s quest for vengeance
and truth
O Philosophical examination of humanity’s
relationship to the natural world

45. Literary Terms
O Symbolism
O The use of persons, places, or things that
have a meaning in themselves and also
represent something larger
O Recognizing symbols
O Look for characters, places, or objects that
are stressed, mentioned repeatedly, or
connected by the narrator or characters to
larger concepts or ideas

46. Literary Terms
O Allegory
O Story or tale with two or more levels of
meaning
O A literal level
O And one more symbolic level
O Events, setting, and characters in an
allegory are symbols for ideas or qualities

47. Themes
O Moby Dick
O The limits of knowledge
O The deceptiveness of fate
O The exploitative nature of whaling

48. Moby Dick
O Story of a man’s obsession with the
dangerous and mysterious white whale that
years before had taken off one of his legs
O Main Character – Captain Ahab
O Setting – Pequod, a whaling ship
O Other characters
O Starbuck – first mate
O Stubb – second mate
O Flask – third mate
O Queequeg, Tashtego, Daggoo – harpooners
O Ishmael – young sailor (our narrator)

49. Moby Dick
O Story background
O When the crew signed up with the Pequod,
the voyage was to be a business venture
O Early in the voyage, the crew learns Ahab’s
real intention – to seek revenge against the
whale Moby Dick

50. Moby Dick
O Captain Ahab paces the deck
O Footprints seem to leave deeper dents
O Ahab full of thought
O “the chick that’s in him pecks the shell”
O Singleness of purpose for Ahab
O What is his purpose?
O What does his tunnel vision
suggest/symbolize?

51. Moby Dick
O Illustrating Ahab’s obsession with the
whale
O “A dead whale or a stove boat”
O Willing to pay for capture of the white
whale
O Ahab insists it was Moby Dick that took his
leg
O “and I’ll chase him round Good Hope, and
round the Horn, and round the Norway
Maelstrom, and round perdition’s flames
before I give him up”

52. Moby Dick
O Starbuck questions Ahab’s pursuit
O “but I came here to hunt whales, not my
commander’s vengeance”
O Instance of symbolism
O White Whale as the wall – he can’t escape
it without gaining his vengeance
O Significance of three?
O Behavior of Captain Ahab throughout the
story

53. Moby Dick
O Pequod’s boats pursue Moby Dick for two
days. One of the boats has sunk, and
Ahab’s ivory leg has broken off. However,
the chase continues.
O “The morning of the third day dawned fair
and fresh …”
O What may be symbolic about the third day?
O “Ahab never thinks; he only feels”
(impulsive, single-minded, obsessed)

54. Moby Dick
O What is the significance of the paragraph
about the wind?
O What is it comparing?
O Ahab’s pursuit of the white whale
O If it were Ishmael, he’d have given up pursuit
O “Tis a noble and heroic thing, the wind!”
O “There’s something all glorious and gracious
in the wind.”
O There’s something all glorious and gracious in
Ahab’s pursuit of the white whale

55. Moby Dick
O Again, the symbolism/significance of three
O Jesus rose on the third day – allusion to
bible
O Upon rising, man was given salvation
O Three points off the weather bow; three
shrieks from the three mastheads
O Ahab is meeting Moby Dick for the third
time
O Ahab receives his salvation on the third
meeting with the white whale

56. Moby Dick
O Vengeance
O “Retribution, swift vengeance, eternal
malice were in his whole aspect, and spite
of all that mortal man could do, the solid
white buttress of his forehead smote the
ship’s starboard bow, till men and timbers
reeled.” (p. 344)

57. Moby Dick
O Ultimately, what is the fate of Ahab and
the Pequod?
O Death at sea
O Is the Pequod’s fate inevitable?
O Think about what Moby Dick symbolizes
O Rather than chasing the whale on the third
day, the white whale chases the crew
O Why is that significant?
O A final battle between Ahab and the white
whale

58. Transcendentalism
O Literary and Philosophical movement of
the 19th century based in New England
O Based in belief that intuition & individual
conscience “transcend” experience and
thus are better guides to truth than senses
& logical reason
O Respected individual spirit & natural world
O Believed divinity was present everywhere –
in nature & individuals

59. Transcendentalism
O Transcendentalist writers
O Emerson, Thoreau, Alcott, Channing,
Fuller, Peabody
O Borrowed from Romanticism
O Placed premium on fancy, imagination,
emotion, nature, individuality, & exotica

60. Reading Strategy
O Challenge a text
O When you read a work that presents an
individual’s ideas, don’t simply accept the
ideas, challenge them.
O Question the author’s assertions &
reasoning
O Compare evidence offered by the author
with what you already know through
personal experience or other reading. Then
decide whether or not you agree.

61. Reading Strategy
O Evaluate the writer’s philosophy
O As a reader, you are not bound to accept
everything you see in print
O When reading essays, you should evaluate
the writer’s philosophy
O Do this by paying special attention to the
proof or support the writer provides to back
up his or her outlook. Compare the writer’s
ideas and supporting details with your own
experiences.

62. Literary Term
O Style
O Refers to the manner in which a writer puts
his or her thoughts into words
O Style can be closely related to purpose
O Sentences build to create an effect

63. Henry David Thoreau
O Known for his eccentricity
O Rarely followed rules, independent, strong-
willed
O Always questioned the rules
O Lived for two years with Emerson
O Fascinated w/ Emerson’s transcendentalist
beliefs, becoming close friend & disciple
O Dedicated his life to exploring & writing about
spiritual relationship between humanity &
nature and supporting his political & social
beliefs

64. Thoreau
O For two years, Thoreau lived alone in a cabin
he built for himself outside Concord near
Walden Pond
O Used experiences as material for his
masterwork – “Walden”
O Used the four seasons as structural framework
O Blended natural observation, social criticism, &
philosophical insight
O “Walden” is generally regarded as the supreme
work of Transcendental literature
O Reflects the economy for which Thoreau strove
in life

65. Poetry
O What is poetry?
O One of the three major types of literature. In
poetry, form and content are closely connected
like the two faces of a single coin.
O Poems are often divided into lines and stanzas
and often employ regular rhythmical patterns,
or meters
O Most poems makes use of highly concise,
musical, and emotionally charged language
O Many poems also use imagery, figurative
language, and special devices such as rhyme

66. Poetry
O Types of poems
O Ballad – Songlike poem that tells a story,
often one dealing with adventure &
romance
O Blank Verse – Poetry written in unrhymed
iambic pentameter
O Dramatic Poem – Makes use of the
conventions of drama
O Free Verse – Poetry that lacks a regular
rhythmic pattern, or meter

67. Poetry
O Types of poems (cont.)
O Idyll – Poem or part of a poem that
describes and idealizes country life
O Lyric Poem – Melodic poem that expresses
the observations & feelings of a single
speaker. Focuses on producing single,
unified effect (includes elegies, odes,
sonnets)
O Narrative Poem – Tells a story in verse.
Three traditional types: Ballads, Epics,
Metrical Romances

68. Poetry
O Types of poems (cont.)
O Ode – Long, formal lyric poem with a serious
theme that may have a traditional stanza structure
O Sonnet – Fourteen-line lyric poem focused on a
single theme (ie – Love)
O Poetry Terms
O Figurative Language – Writing or speech not
meant to be taken literally (Emily Dickinson was
known for using figurative language in her poetry)
O Meter – Rhythmical pattern of a poem.
Determined by number & type of stresses, or
beats, in each line

69. Poetry
O Poetry Terms (cont.)
O Rhyme Scheme – Regular pattern of
rhyming words in a poem
O Stanza – A group of lines in a poem
considered to be a unit. Often function in a
way similar to paragraphs in prose, stating
a developing a single main idea
O Others: Alliteration, Apostrophe,
Consonance, Hyperbole, Metaphor,
Oxymoron, Paradox, Personification,
Simile

70. Dickinson & Whitman
O Emily Dickinson & Walt Whitman set the
stage for new American poetry

71. Emily Dickinson
O Only published seven poems during her
lifetime (1830-86)
O She was an extremely private person, and
became even more private as she aged
O Poems were known for an eccentric use
of punctuation and irregular meter &
rhyme
O Used concrete imagery and simple but
forceful language

72. Walt Whitman
O Known as “the Good Gray Poet” and “the
Bard of Democracy”
O Widely recognized as one of greatest &
influential poets in U.S. history
O View Leaves of Grass as single long
poem that expressed his evolving vision of
the world
O As such he continually revised, reshaped,
& expanded it until his death

73. Walt Whitman
O Leaves of Grass
O Used poetry to convey passionate belief in
democracy, equality, & spiritual unity of all
forms of life, celebrating the potential of the
human spirit
O Ideas grew out of Transcendentalism
O Poetry mainly shaped by ability to absorb &
comprehend everything he observed

74. Walt Whitman
O Free verse
O Poetry that has irregular meter and line
length
O Designed to recreate the rising and falling
cadences of natural speech
O Whitman became first American poet to
utilize free verse – perfect form for the
individualist, allowing him to express
himself without formal restraints