Essay 4 Directions: American Romanticism & Transcendentalism

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1 Essay 4 Directions: American Romanticism & Transcendentalism Remember that your focus must be on the literature not the history. s: (Choose one) Romanticism (The Darker Side) 1 The writings of Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne Compare the use of dreams and hypnagogic states in Poe and Hawthorne. Hypnagogic = in or relating to the state of drowsiness; immediately before sleep Compare the use of dreams and hypnagogic states in Poe and Hawthorne based upon their ability to elicit a certain response from readers like fear, terror, uncertainty, suspense, foreboding, irony, dramatic irony, etc. Include specific examples from both texts to show readers how both authors are similar or different in how they achieve that response. 2 The writings of Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Washington Irving Compare the use of the supernatural in Poe, Hawthorne, and Irving. Compare the use of the supernatural in Poe, Hawthorne, and Irving based upon their ability to elicit a certain response from readers like fear, terror, uncertainty, suspense, foreboding, irony, dramatic irony, etc. Include specific examples from both texts to show readers how both authors are similar or different in how they achieve that response. Consider the ideologies of Romanticism vs. Anti-Romanticism.

2 3 The writings of Nathaniel Hawthorne Analyze the message(s) in Hawthorne s texts in regards to the Puritan ethos Ethos = Shared fundamental traits Nathaniel Hawthorne s work is inspired by Puritan culture. Analyze the message of either The Minister s Black Veil or Young Goodman Brown by connecting passages from the text you chose to what commentary is being said about Puritan beliefs and culture. 4 Herman Melville s Bartleby the Scrivener Scribe = Professional copyist or scribe (much like a data entry job in modern terms; job tasks are highly repetitive) Analyze the inscrutable ambiguity of the passive resistance Bartleby displays in story in terms of Thoreau s passive resistance in Civil Disobedience The causes for Bartleby s passive resistance in Bartleby the Scrivener are ultimately mysterious despite the narrator s efforts. Analyze the ambiguity of Bartleby s passive resistance by arguing whether this is the antithesis of Thoreau s idea of passive resistance in Civil Disobedience or not. Use examples from both texts to support your argument. Next page

3 Transcendentalism 5 Ralph Waldo Emerson s writings Analyze the intention of one of Emerson s statements and its implications and applications to individual existence Consider the following statements by Ralph Waldo Emerson: 1. Life is our dictionary ( American Scholar ) 2. Life is comic or pitiful, as soon as the high ends of being fade out of sight, and man becomes near-sighted, and can only attend to what addresses the senses. ( Divinity School Address ) 3. The soul is the perceiver and revealer of truths ( Over-Soul ) Analyze the intention of one of Emerson s statements and discuss its implications and applications to individual existence. Use specific examples from the text you chose to support your interpretation of what Emerson is attempting to convey to his audience. 6 The writings of Emerson and Crevecoeur Compare the message about the individual Emerson attempts to convey in Self-Reliance and American Scholar to Crevecoeur s definition of an American in What is an American? Compare the message about the individual Emerson attempts to convey in Self-Reliance and American Scholar to Crevecoeur s definition of an American in What is an American? by giving examples from each text that either agree with each other or do not. Evaluate whether Emerson and Crevecoeur s ideas are in harmony with each other or if they are in conflict.

4 7 Henry David Thoreau s Walden Compare the how-to element of Thoreau s Walden to Franklin s Biography Benjamin Franklin s Biography and Henry David Thoreau s Walden can be seen as how-to books. Compare the didactic natures of both works by pointing out the similar or different ways that they use their works to teach lessons. Use specific passages from both works to illustrate how their messages and/or intentions are similar or different. Didactic = giving instruction or advice 8 Henry David Thoreau s writings Analyze the idea of activism in Thoreau s works Analyze the idea of activism in Henry David Thoreau s works by constructing an overall statement that expresses Thoreau s message about activism that you can tell from his writings. Provide specific examples from two or more of his works that support what you have determined Thoreau s overall message about activism to be. Next page

5 Women of Transcendentalism 9 Elizabeth Cady Stanton s A Declaration of Sentiments Compare the rhetorical effectiveness of Stanton s A Declaration of Sentiments with Jefferson s The Declaration of Independence (in textbook). Compare the rhetorical effectiveness of Elizabeth Cady Stanton s A Declaration of Sentiments with Jefferson s The Declaration of Independence (in textbook) by evaluating Stanton s use of Jefferson s text as the model. Provide examples from both texts in regards to aspects like speaker, audience, purpose, subject, style, tone, voice, etc. that support your opinion of how effective Stanton s work achieves its purpose to persuade the audience. 10 The writings of Fanny Fern Compare the need to reform the role of the woman in American culture in Fern s writings with one or more works of Emerson and Thoreau Fern depicts an American culture in drastic need of reform, especially as it pertains to the issues of women. Compare the need to reform the role of the woman in American culture in Fanny Fern s writings with one or more works of Emerson and/or Thoreau by providing examples of the how Fern s and Emerson and/or Thoreau s ideas of reform have similarities and differences. Grading Criteria: You will be graded on the following: Essay addresses the prompt

6 Has a clear thesis/main idea in the introduction that unifies the essay. The thesis cannot be implied or vague. Thesis cannot be a simple fact or a question. Thesis must be debatable. Body paragraphs have clear topic sentences that suggest the direction of each paragraph Body paragraphs provide textual support (quotes) in each paragraph from the literature being analyzed. (Intro and Conclusion do not have to contain quotes). Body paragraphs use sufficient analysis to support the thesis. Body paragraphs do not merely summarize the literature. The entire argument focuses on the literature as the subject of discussion. It does not turn in to a history lesson and go off topic. Uses proper paper format (MLA) Uses Standard American grammar and spelling. (Also, no text messaging language, profanity, or slang) Has a Works Cited page at the end that follows proper MLA format (The Works Cited page does not count towards the minimum length requirements). ANALYZE, DON T SUMMARIZE!!