American Literature 1828-1865 Quiz

American Renaissance (1828-1865)

• Characterized by renewed national pride and advocacy for freedoms.
• Considered the pinnacle of American literature.

Romanticism

• Emphasized individualism, idealism, imagination, and emotion.
• Often explored distant times and places, embodying American identity.
• Themes included moral issues, emotional expression, creativity, rejection of tradition.
• Focus on freedom from rules, solitary life, imagination over reason, beauty and nature.
• Key authors included Emily Dickinson and Washington Irving.

Dark Romanticism/American Gothic

• Depicted humans as prone to sin and self-destruction.
• Viewed nature as dark, decaying, and mysterious.
• Showed characters facing failures.
• Used supernatural elements, haunted settings, and identity crises to inspire terror and explore psychology.
• Key authors included Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Transcendentalism

• Valued nature and spiritual unity of all life (humans, nature, God).
• Believed in inherent goodness of humans.
• Saw God as central to the universe.
• Authors grouped by similar content, not necessarily writing style.
• Key principles: self-reliance, free thought, nature's importance, non-conformity, confidence.
• Key authors included Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.

Emily Dickinson

• Highly educated, yet challenged religious norms.
• Obsessed with death and the afterlife, exploring both positive and negative human emotions.
• Used biblical allusions, capitalized common nouns, dense metaphors, and unique punctuation (excessive dashes).
• Refused the idea of heaven.
• Focused on symbolism, allegory, and significance in thoughts.
• Notably, she was known as a recluse.

Washington Irving

• Scottish/English immigrant parents.
• Created "The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent," which contained stories & essays.
• Known for "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow."
• Early American fairy tale writer.
• Advocated for stronger copyright laws.
• Characterized by imaginative, descriptive writing with humor and satire.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

• Son of a priest, educated at Harvard, and ordained as a priest before rejecting his profession.
• Influenced by Mary Moody Emerson.
• Rejected cultural traditions.
• Left the church after his wife’s death, experiencing European travel and zoo experiences.
• Believed nature is within us.
• Criticized poets as boring and dry.
• Celebrated American uniqueness and originality.
• Advocated for self-reliance and rejection of past traditions, urging adherence to nature rather than social conventions.
• Embraced pantheism.

Henry David Thoreau

• Friend of Ralph Waldo Emerson.
• Lived at Walden Pond for 2 years.
• Emphasized self-reliance and distrust of an overly modernized society.
• Admired solitary living, learning from the introspection.
• Believed in unity with nature, recognizing cyclical connections.
• Wrote "Walden, or "Life in the Woods"

Edgar Allan Poe

• Parents were actors, both died when he was young, sent to live with a tobacco farmer.
• Struggled with finances, substance use, and grief throughout life.
• Served in the military.
• Published poems, critiqued as a writer.
• Known for brevity, musicality, allegories, repetition, rhyme, and alliteration.
• Tragically lost his wife, Virginia, and experienced personal hardship.
• Disappeared before marriage, found dead at 40.
• Famous for use of symbols like the raven.

Nathaniel Hawthorne

• Descendent of Salem witch trial judge.
• Wrote The Scarlet Letter and Twice Told Tales.
• Explored themes of sin, guilt, morality, and human psyche.
• Idealist with interests in transcendentalism.

Test your knowledge on the American Renaissance and its key movements, including Romanticism, Dark Romanticism, and Transcendentalism. Explore the major themes, authors, and literary styles that define this pivotal era in American literature.