Characteristics of Nationalism
RJ Stangherlin |
English 3: A Growing Nation: 1800-1840 |
Salisbury High School
Nationalism: A Period of Firsts
Most Important First: 1st time we try to create authentic American literature
The Essential Question of this unit: Do we succeed in creating authentic American literature?
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Most Important First: 1st time we try to create authentic American literature
The Essential Question of this unit: Do we succeed in creating authentic American literature?
- 1st short story: Irving
- 1st novelist: Cooper
- 1st detective/murder mystery story: Poe
- 1st Gothic story: Poe
- 1st to define characteristics of writing: Poe's Philosophy of Composition
- 1st internationally-acclaimed poet: Bryant
- 1st social critic: Cooper [criticizes expansion, yet he promotes it via his 5 "Leatherstocking" novels]
- imagination and creativity are more important than faith of Puritans or reason of Revolutionary Patriots
- New York = Social center of artistic movement and writing
- Cooper led the Leatherstockings literary group
- Irving led the Knickerbocker literary group
- New York = Economic heartland of America
- as a culture, we begin to trust our intuition and express our individuality
- we foster a strong belief in democracy and the importance of the common man, the "young American" who will lead America forward to continued greatness
- we become romantic and sentimental, celebrate excess and spontaneity
- intense interest in the common man as a hero
- he is a mixed character, both good and bad
- he appeal to us as a rogue character, charming in some ways, but a "bad boy"
- interest in romance and love, both light and dark, so love that works and is good, and t he dark side of love that either doesn't materialize or goes bad
- we see this interest in the mixed character and romance both light and dark manifest itself in the development of:
- Interesting to note that:
- this period sees the beginning of an interest in phrenology
- loosely defined, the study of the brain
- this interest coincides with fiction's approach to gothic fiction, detective stories, and murder mysteries, all of which are cultural attempts to fathom why we have crime/criminals--what make a person bad [nature v. nurture]
- this period also sees the beginning of discipline and punish, the use of police, and redesigning prisons, all driven by reform in England
- this period sees the beginning of an interest in phrenology