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LITR 4232: American Renaissance  |
Final Exam Essays 2013 Sample answers for
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A1.Stephanie Starkey
The Term “American Renaissance” Means
So Much
When someone makes a reference to the American Renaissance it
can mean so many different things that it seems like too simple of a way to
describe the time period. There were many aspects and challenges during the era
that broadened the types of literature and genres written during this time. It
was interesting to find out that the period started off with types of
transcendentalism writings and by the end of the period literature was beginning
to evolve into realism. I had always considered the American Renaissance as the
era before the Civil War that produced representative literature concerning
slavery, domestic issues and the popular movements of the time period. Learning
how romanticism was a developing literary concept that produced gothic,
transcendentalism, the sublime, and some concepts of realism changed how I
perceived the American Renaissance.
The authors associated with the American Renaissance
developed poetry, sentimental literature, transcendentalism works, and the
American gothic stories. These all had the qualities and elements associated
with romanticism. I was surprised at how literature began to change to reflect
the changes of society and how it began to reach a broader range of people. The
course explored how literature had begun to change because of things like
western expansion and growing industrialization. The literature of the period
was able to guide society and make people react to the changes of the time era.
More people in society were becoming educated and there was an increase in
literacy. Also with the growth of cities because of industrialization more
people had access to literature. The American Renaissance authors were able to
reach a bigger audience to share classical, sentimental and alternative
literature.
In the American Renaissance classical
literature appealed to the intellectuals and usually didn’t have a large first
publication printing. The authors would have included most of the gothic and
transcendental authors like Poe, Whitman and Emerson. Emerson’s “Nature” was not
something I had ever read and the plea to society to get back to the simplistic
side of nature was interesting considering the industrialization and westward
expansion taking place during the time period. Emerson reaches out to society in
eloquent romantic terms and tells people “The
lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted
to each other; who
has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood” (Emerson). It
was also interesting to learn that Washington Irvings’ “Rip Van Winkle & The
Legend of Sleepy Hollow” was written during a time of romanticism and has become
a popular modern day classic that inspires today’s gothic writers.
Alternative literature during the
American Renaissance became popular because it reached out to a broader audience
of readers and usually dealt with issues or challenges of the time period. It
appealed to the readers that liked the domestic or sensationalism stories and
sold more publication copies. My favorite texts from the course were the women’s
domestic novels that were developed by female writers and started becoming
popular during the American Renaissance. When reading Susan Maria Cummins “The
Lamplighter” during the course I recognized some of the historical elements that
I associated with the time period. Cummins describes the lost children of the
cities very descriptively but saying in the text that “Most
children of the poorer class
learn to be useful
while they are young” (Cummins). Her depiction of the character Gerty allowed
for readers to become conscious of the problems surrounding children during the
time period. Towards the end of the American Renaissance literature was emerging
that reflected the inhumanity of slavery. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s
Cabin” became one of the most circulated books around the country and even
though now it is considered a classic would have been classified as alternative
literature because of it’s wide popularity among society.
During the course
I felt the range of different styles of literature and the various genres it
encompassed was a surprise because most historical time periods are easily
recognized by what people assume was popular. The American Renaissance saw many
different styles of writing and authors who expressed many different views of
the newly emerging society. Social issues, religious or moral issues,
transcendentalism, and gothic literature all seemed to be able to merge into a
romantic style of writing that makes the American Renaissance unique. In
learning about the American Renaissance period I was surprised at how much was
going on not only in history but the unique style of literature that was being
produced during the time period.
1865 flag of the USA