LITR 4232 American Renaissance 2012 final exam—Answers to Question A1 "Review Learning" or "Review Romanticism" final exam assignment

Ashley Rhodes

Rumor Has It

          Every college student will tell you that every semester they are asked about their courses and what they entail. Whether it’s by a family member, friend, or fellow student, we have all encountered a situation where we must explain what we have learned in a matter of five minutes or so. Since this semester is my last as an undergraduate, I presumably mastered the skill of explaining courses and advising students on whom and what they should take. I found that writing about what I have learned is far more precise than my spiel when telling someone aloud and taking the risk of confusing them altogether. And so these next few paragraphs will succumb what this course has taught me and what I will be taking away from the course as a whole.

          When first signing up for American Renaissance I must admit that there was a distinct visual in my head. Elephant/Camel rides, succulent turkey legs, and women dressed in chain mesh skirts besieged my brain as I tried so desperately to imagine what this course would consist of. Thankfully I am not a psychic and my acquired knowledge of the American Renaissance was completely skewed before taking this course. I realize now looking back that my initial visual of this course is probably common for most that are not familiar with literature and its time periods. One of the hardest things to learn in college is the timeline of events in history, but taking courses like these help in that understanding and stops the natural disposition of jumping to conclusions and making assumptions. As a literature major the readings for this course were quite familiar yet surprising because I had little to no knowledge of them coming from this time period. As stated before my natural instinct of making assumptions were noticed regularly as we studied each author and their dedicated works during the American Renaissance.

          One author in particular that I had made assumptions about was Edgar Allan Poe. Reading his works, before taking this course, transported me to a dark opium induced period alongside a rocky European coastline. To picture my insanity even further I often read his works with my subconscious spurting out a terrible British accent. My complex was cured by taking this course when I realized that you cannot compare the author’s life to their fictional stories. Readers have a prolific want or need for their author to be the character portrayed in their works, but as I have learned in this course, that simply is not accurate and is completely unfair to make such accusations. My misconception about Poe was realized when we found out he was born in America and probably touched opium a few times for pain relieving purposes. Dr. White diagnosed me along with many other students as having biographical fallacy syndrome. This syndrome is common amongst college literature students who desire answers for why authors write. The hard truth is that these answers will never be known and we should separate and analyze rather than morph them together and make assumptions. Poe is a perfect example of an author whose literature created a persona and in turn forced reader’s to think he must be telling from his personal experiences. I’m sure anyone could write a story about sniffing glue, but would a top selling creative writer compose the story better or an addict. Poe’s authorship made him very believable even though he did not actually experience what he wrote about. Fiction has ways of confusing people that it is real, but the real challenge is to not assume the writer is the character and accept the story independently.

          The critical assumptions made in literature force us as students to learn about them and identify why they exist. I gained a lot out of this course because I now understand that assumptions lead you nowhere in the field of literature. Many of the authors we covered were quite controversial in their time period and still are today. Personal intentions are highly regarded as important because we do not like to be misled or ostracized. If a piece of literature comes out as offensive we blame the author even though it was totally fictional. I am glad to say that I am now one of the lucky ones who can read fiction for what it truly is and not make assumptions before the first page is turned.