Romanticism
During the 19th century war had changed how many Americans felt about themselves and their ideas. Now that America had found physical independence, there was a shift in the style of writing. During this period feelings and imagination were upheld over reason and fact and literature had emerged. This was called the period of Romanticism. Romanticism showed life as people might have imagined it or how people thought it should have been. Many writers of this period urged people to bring forth the spirit of the individual, or to take interest in the unknown. There are many writers who used Romanticism in their writing to shift away from classic style of literature. An example of someone who used Romantic literature is Edgar Allen Poe. Poe was a writer who contributed to America by helping to introduce fictional forms of writing. In his short stories and tales such as "The Raven" and "The Pit and the Pendulum" he shifted away from the classic style of writing most people were accustomed to. He had used much more imagination and imagery then most other writers of his time. Poe was very freethinking and unique and it was reflected in his stories. Poe was excellent at establishing a gothic mood in his writing. In "The Pit and the Pendul
A final example of a romantic writer is Nathaniel Hawthorn. Hawthorn was very different from Emerson and Thoreau in the sense that his ideas and beliefs were almost completely opposite of theirs. He was an Anti-transcendentalist who refused to accept that humanity was perfectible and Godlike. He believed that evil was a reality the existed and in his stories he traced the effects of evil, sin, guilt, and isolation. In "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" Hawthorn explored what would happen if people were able to go back to their youth and make a better life for themselves. In the story he warned his friends "Think what a sin and shame it would be, if, with your peculiar advantages, you should not become patterns of virtue and wisdom o all the young people of the age!"(Hawthorn 280). His friends were unable to take his warning seriously and ended up returning to their old age. From that Hawthorn concluded that people are potentially evil and in his story the friends proved to be by making the same mistakes as they had years before even after being warned not to. um" he says "The blackness of eternal light encompassed me. I struggled for breath. The intensity of the darkness seemed to oppress and stifle me. The atmosphere was intolerably close."(Poe 255
Some topics in this essay:
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Pit Pendulum,
Thoreau Emerson,
Experiment Hawthorn,
Emerson Thoreau,
Romanticism Romanticism,
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Poe Poe,
edgar allen,
henry david thoreau,
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allen poe,
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ralph waldo emerson,
edgar allen poe,
nathaniel hawthorn,
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Approximate Word count = 844
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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