Historical Significance - American Romanticism

Question 1

american romanticism

Answer 1

• name given to an era of literature that focuses on “adventures” connected to a time of great change in American history and one that got the respect and attention of readers worldwide
• don’t be misled by the name of this era of writing…it is NOT about romance or love stories
• Transcendentalists were the “lighter”, more optimistic writers who focused heavily on studying nature as a way of resetting some of the problems that were coming out of America’s push towards industry and factories with unsafe working conditions
• the Gothics where the “darker” more pessimistic writers who focused heavily on the problems America faced in this time period. they were not convinced that humanity could be restored through experiencing nature or any other means. instead, their stories were filled more with horror and suspense, related to the idea that humans were simply prone to evil and sin without proposing solutions that would fix this problem

Question 2

driven by history

Answer 2

• early 1800s (Americans trying to figure out who they really were, expanding west)
• 1830 (American Removal Act on Native Americans)
• 1840s and on (Manifest Destiny, extend all the way west)
• 1820s-1870s (Industrial Revolution, more factories, transportation, communication)

Question 3

in this unit of study, romanticism is associated with

Answer 3

adventure

Question 4

the american romantic era in literature was important as

Answer 4

the first period that americans really received worldwide respect as writers

Question 5

some have claimed that the american romantic writers were responsible for starting the civil war because

Answer 5

these writers made people aware of the deplorable conditions of slavery

Question 6

the american romantic writers tried to create social reform by

Answer 6

making people aware of problems through their writings

Question 7

american romantic writers responded to the negative effects of industrialization by

Answer 7

turning to nature as the source of their own spirituality and as a source of cleansing

Question 8

the american romantic era consists of two types of writers

Answer 8

the lighter, transcendentalist writers and the darker, gothic writers