ART - Introduction to American Romanticism and Transcendentalism Lesson

Introduction to American Romanticism and Transcendentalism Lesson

 

Welcome to 19th century America! In this module, we will study several important movements in the first half of the 1800s: American Romanticism, Transcendentalism, and Dark Romanticism. Before we examine these movements, let's take a look at a quote from 1782 by Hector St. John de CrevecoeurWho is Hector St. John de Crevecoeur? Following the British defeat of the French Army in 1759, de Crevecoeur (originally from France) moved into the Province of New York, where he took out citizenship, adopted the English-American name of John Hector St. John, and in 1770 married an American woman, Mehitable Tippet. He bought a sizable farm in Orange County, New York, where he prospered as a farmer. He started writing about life in the American colonies and the emergence of an American society. In 1779, during the American Revolution, St. John tried to leave the country to return to France because of the faltering health of his father. Accompanied by his son, he crossed British-American lines to enter British-occupied New York City, where he was imprisoned as an American spy for three months without a hearing. Eventually, he was able to leave for Britain. In 1782, in London, he published a volume of narrative essays entitled the Letters from an American Farmer. The book quickly became the first literary success by an American author in Europe and turned Crevecoeur into a celebrated figure. He was the first writer to describe to Europeans - employing many American English terms - the life on the American frontier and to explore the concept of the American Dream, portraying American society as characterized by the principles of equal opportunity and self-determination. His work provided useful information and understanding of the 'New World' that helped to create an American identity in the minds of Europeans by describing an entire country rather than another regional colony. The writing celebrated American ingenuity and the uncomplicated lifestyle., a French-American writer, from Letters from an American Farmer, Letter III. In this quote, he ponders the question, "What is an American?", and establishes some of the ideals from this time period in the New World.

Learn more about de Crevecoeur by clicking on the > below.

Literary Movements

Please view the following presentation which will give you an overview of these literary movements. As you review the information, please take notes. Also, please be patient while the presentation loads - depending on your internet connection, it may take some time. Ensure that your speakers are turned up before you begin.

 

Washington Irving

Washington Irving (1783-1859) is often considered both the Father of American Literature and the Father of the American Short Story. He was the first American writer to be successful in both the United States and Europe, so much so that he was able to support himself by writing. He brought legitimacy to American literature and presented a distinctly American voice to an international audience.

Published in 1819 in Europe and the United States, Irving's The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon was a collection of short stories and contained "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle." It was enormously popular and received many favorable reviews from important literary figures.

View additional Irving's biographical information below:

Reading Assignment

You will now read "Rip Van Winkle," Irving's short story based on two German folktales but set in a Dutch village at the foot of New York's Catskill Mountains right before the American Revolution. Rip is a charming character who loves hunting, fishing, roaming the forest with his trusty dog, and discussing the latest gossip on the porch of the village inn: basically anything other than taking care of his farm, working hard, or listening to his angry wife scream about his faults. One day he goes into the woods to escape his wife's lectures, encounters what seems like a mystical figure, falls asleep, and awakes to find that in the twenty years he has been sleeping, the Revolution has been won and he is no longer a subject of the British King George.

As you read, look for examples of Romanticism in Irving's description of nature, his characterizationPublished a satirical newspaper for a while with his brother Published The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon in 1819 Wrote while bedridden for the next few years Bought a house on the Hudson in New York as a writing retreat Fought for stricter copyright laws in America Gave us the words knickerbocker and Gotham Was buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in New York of Rip and other villagers, and the values his story seems to promote. Characterization is the way a writer helps the reader understand what kind of person a certain character is. Methods of characterization include direct description the character's speech, actions, and thoughts and other characters' thoughts and speech about the character.

Rip Van Winkle Text Link Links to an external site.

 

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