Romamticism Flashcards
What did Romantics believe in?
They believed in human kinds innate goodness and eventual perfectibility
Where did the romantic period originate?
Germany
What did romanticism embrace?
It embraced nature as a model for harmony in society and art
What did romantic literature discard?
It discarded the formality of the closed heroic couplet and embraced a lyrical openness to style
When were the Romanticism’s glory years?
1850-1855
How was America economically during Romanticism?
It was as wealthy as ever, but the focus on business and materialism led to reform movements all over America
How long did Washington Irving live?
1783-1859
What basketball team did Washington Irving inspire?
The New York Knicks
What did Washington Irving study?
He studied law at the age of 16
What was Irving’s pen name?
Diedrich Knickerbocker
At what age did Irving die and where was he buried?
He died at the age of 76 and was buried near the haunting ground of his famous horsemen in the NY Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
How long did Edgar Allen Poe live?
1809-1849
What did Edgar Allen Poe invent?
He invented modern detective stories
What sports team did Edgar Allen Poe inspire?
The Baltimore Ravens
How was Poe’s youth?
His father abandoned him as an infant and his mother died of tuberculosis when he was an infant
How were Poe’s foster parents?
He was taken in by John Allan, a wealthy Virginia business man
What happened to Poe at the age of 18?
He got kicked out of college for gambling debts
Who did Poe marry?
In 1834 Poe married his cousin Virginia, she was only 13
What happened to Poe’s wife/cousin?
She died of tuberculosis
What were some reasons for his death?
His death ranged from alcohol poisoning to brain lesions to rabies
What were some of Poe’s themes?
Madness, untimely death, and obsession
What was Poe’s single effect theory?
He thought that every work should aim to create a single “effect” or one particular feeling, emotion, or mood in the reader
When and where was Emily Dickinson born?
She was born in Amherst on December 10, 1830
Who was Dickinson’s father and what was he involved in?
Her father, Edward Dickinson was actively involved in state and national politics, serving in congress for one term
What does Dickinson’s poetry reflect?
It reflects her loneliness and the speakers of poems generally live in a state of want
What was so significant about Dickinson’s fame?
She was not publicly recognized in her lifetime
When did Dickinson die?
She died in Amherst in 1886
What did Dickinson’s family find upon her death?
They discovered 40 handbound volumes of nearly 1800 of her poems
What were her poems sometimes called?
Fascicles
When did Nathaniel Hawthorne live?
1804-1864
How did Hawthorne achieve literary success?
Writing stories for children
What were some of Hawthorne’s themes?
Sin, hypocrisy, and guilt
Where were Hawthorne’s descendants from?
They were of Puritan decent from Massachusetts
What was significant about Hawthorne’s great-great-grandfather?
He was a judge at the Massachusetts Salem Witch Trials and he was one of the only people to not apologize for his role in the trials
Who was Hawthorne’s wife?
Sophia Peabody, they married in 1842
When and how did Hawthorne die?
He died in 1864 to a sudden illness
What were the themes that Hawthorne used in his writings?
Despite his pessimism, his main theme was redeeming the power of love
What did Romanticism focus on?
It focused on the individual
