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

Shellie Saenz

American Renaissance—What Now?

When I signed up for the American Renaissance class I really had no idea what to expect or what we would be covering in the class. I assumed it would be like any other literature class that was about a specific topic, but I quickly learned that I was wrong. This class did focus on texts written by authors of that time, but what sets this class apart from other literature classes is that the discussions not only focused on texts by authors, but also on the authors’ specific styles, the themes that were used most often during that time, and also the historical events that were occurring around these authors lives. The class was also structured in a way that encouraged comprehension and success in the course. After the first couple of weeks I found myself confused and unsure of some of the terms that we were discussing, but once we got further into the semester and the texts provided more information and examples, I began to gain some understanding of the terms and began to have a better understanding of the American Renaissance overall.

The variety of authors and texts that were offered was a great way to familiarize us with the authors and the themes of the American Renaissance. Most other classes that were not author-specific had a limited amount of texts available, and rarely did I have the opportunity to read more than one text by the same author. The historical website presentations helped to connect the authors to the events that occurred, such as the website on the Trail of Tears, made it possible for me to understand the literature better and what the authors might have been trying to convey to the readers. Discussing “The Trail of Tears” alongside “The Cherokee Memorials” and also the selections from The Last of the Mohicans helped to understand the romantic ideas behind the text and how some of the ideas and images fit into the real world of the time.

The structure of the class gave me the tools necessary to learn the material and fully comprehend the terms, authors’ styles, and the time period overall. I also benefited from the student led discussions and presentations, and feel that by having student-led discussions, I had more of an understanding of the content than if the professor was leading discussions. I say this because it is sometimes easier to get a feel for the material from someone who is learning just as we are, whereas the professor is extremely familiar with the material and sometimes forgets that this is new to us. The class website also offered a full range of helpful resources and definitions that assisted in learning, and looking around the website it is evident that Dr. White’s priority was our learning and comprehension of the texts and terms, and our overall success in his classroom. There were many times I had to refer back to one of the more difficult terms, such as transcendentalism or sublime, to check the definition and examples so that I could be sure I was understanding the text I was working on.  

Throughout the semester we learned many new terms and themes that were associated with the American Renaissance period, but the one I most enjoyed learning about was “gothic”. Prior to this class, I had read books that were of the gothic genre, but never knew how to properly identify them as gothic; to be honest I associated the term with the way people dress or the main character in the movie “The Crow because of his clothing style, but now I see the whole movie is associated with the gothic genre. Now I find myself looking back to previous literature classes I have taken and identify gothic themes in those works as well. I also have a new understanding of and respect for some of the other terms we focused on, which are transcendentalism, sublime, and also correspondence. I feel confident that I can identify these terms in texts now, and that was something I struggled with in the beginning of the semester.

I believe this class and all the knowledge I have gained will benefit me in the future as a teacher and also in my own personal reading. I have read works by Poe, Hawthorne, Irving, and Dickinson prior to this class, but now that I am able to understand their personal writing styles and themes they most often use, I can utilize this new found information in my own classroom. Some of the texts we focused on this semester are texts that I can teach in my future classroom, especially since I am going to be teaching grades eight through twelve. The American Renaissance will fit in perfectly within these grades I plan to teach and they will be able to connect the material to their own personal lives and also to other content areas as well. This is important because making connections and building on their prior knowledge will ensure they have a better understanding of the material, and, in turn, this will allow them to remember the information better.