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LITR 4328: American Renaissance  |
Final Exam Essays 2015 Sample answers
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Tanner McLean
American Renaissance and Personal Enlightenment
Coming into this class I had previously had very little experience with
that era of literature. I had no
idea what the phrase “American Renaissance” even pertained to be honest.
I could easily identify with Britini Pond in her essay “The Teachings of
American Renaissance Literature” when she writes, “This semester I walked into
this course not knowing truly what to expect.”
Obviously I could take a shot at the actual definition through breaking
the phrase apart; but as far as the actual authors, literature, and the
historical significance of some of those people and works, I had no idea.
I had read a few pieces we examined, such as most of the Poe pieces, but
never in a class had I looked at them as in depth as we did and getting the
historical background of each author and piece of literature really made the
content of the class much more enjoyable and enlightening.
It
was also nice to have a class with literature and discussions that could be
directly applied to our daily lives functioning in the American society, or that
at least give us a better understanding of where our modern society developed
from. Many of the pieces we
explored were written for that exact purpose, to change our American society.
The works and authors of the American Renaissance helped to shape and
guide and alter our society. It
gave people voices that they otherwise didn’t have, or at least gave their
points of view a much louder impact.
The literature forced a reaction from the American people.
This
brings about another great characteristic of the American Renaissance, and that
is that the audience of that era became much broader due to the widening
popularity of various pieces of literature.
This was, much of the time, because the literature dealt with or
presented social issues that were prevalent at that time in history.
For instance, Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” is considered a classic now,
but it was wildly popular then because it spearheaded the anti-slavery movement.
Just as many of the women’s domestic novels that came to light during the
antebellum women’s rights movement that took place during the American
Renaissance. The same could be said
for pieces like Life in the Iron Mills
as the nation was going through the massive social transformation of
industrialization at the time.
I
also learned that the definition of the term “romanticism” is quite far off from
the typical way we use the words “romance” and “romantic” now.
The term “romantic” as we commonly coin the term in today’s society is
frequently associated with long kisses in the rain, candle-lit dinners, and
stereotypical chick-flicks.
Romanticism in literary terms, however, is entirely different.
To put it in my own terms, it is when an author takes an idea or a
subject and puts it on this much grander scale in whatever style they may
choose; whether that be Poe in his gothic stories of love and loss, Irving in
his supremely sublime Rip Van Winkle,
and the list goes on.
Overall, what I think made the course most intriguing for me was seeing all of
the social issues, all of the events of that time in history, and all of the
wide range of writing styles and characteristics such as the gothic,
transcendental, and sublime that merged into one romantic style that was
associated with the American Renaissance.
To see that many of the works of the time are still widely considered as
classics into today’s society and are still used to influence many of the
romantic writers today, is only a testament to how brilliant the writers of this
era truly were.
1865 flag of the USA