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(2013
midterm assignment) Index to Sample Student Midterm answers 2013 #1: Long Essay |
LITR 4232 |
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Baisha Kreuzer
Why American Renaissance?
The age of the American Renaissance period
was roughly between the 1820s to the 1860s. This age shaped the rise of the
Romantic Movement and birthed the era of expression through literature of a
national spirit. However, many moons have passed since the dawning of this
revelation and the ever so prevalent question makes way to the forefront, “Why
should we still learn about the American Renaissance today?” With nearly every
author buried ten feet underground, why make mention of their work in our
classrooms? Well the answer lies within the text itself. The richness of the
works remains relevant to society today as the foundation for current modern
literature. The basis of passion, love, heroes, and gothic elements reign
supreme in novels from both the American Renaissance period and today. This era
produced a format for literature that is still being used in current novels such
as The Hunger Games, which associates
a story of love and heroism, or the
Twilight series, which implicates themes of gothic and romance. Through a
brief analysis of the works of Poe, Cooper, Irving, and Dickinson, one can
easily find not only the relevance of their writings, but the realization of the
privilege it is to be exposed to these classic authors.
The works of Edgar Allan Poe is known
notoriously for its heavy use of gothic elements mixed with a twist of romantic
prose. In his work, Ligeia, Poe
portrays the themes of love, beauty, and loss. Poe’s descriptions as an unknown
narrator of Ligeia illuminate the presence of gothic romance as he describes her
as a “placid cast of beauty” that has “made [its] way into [his] heart”. Poe
describes her with the same passion and love that is relevant in today’s
literature as well. In the modern popular novel
Twilight, the character Edward Cullen
is a vampire who falls in love with Bella, who to him, appears to be the epitome
of a life-long search for beauty and love despite her being human. The author,
Stephanie Meyer, portrayed the character of Edward to portray a gothic romantic
persona similar to the style gothic style of Poe. While Meyer altered her use of
gothic elements to fit the modern day reader, the foundation for which she
comprised her novels can be dated back to the American Renaissance period.
Similarly, the work of Cooper in
The Last of the Mohicans is just as
relevant in the past as it is today. James Fenimore Cooper wrote a story full of
the alluring concepts of historical fiction and forbidden romance. Prior to
taking this class, I had never actually read the story, but had, as Dr. White
worded it, at the very least heard of it. This story explores the history of the
French and Indian War while entertaining the reader with the integration of
historical fiction. The gripping details of the relationships between Hawkeye
and Chingachgook, and Uncas and Cora exhibit an important historical relevance
to the issue of interracial friendships and romance. This story has remained a
classic source of teaching about not only the importance of the French and
Indian War, but the issues that prevailed during the time. For me personally,
history was not a subject I enjoyed learning about primarily due to its
presentation portrayed as distant spouts of facts perceiving no personal
connection with myself. However, Cooper was able to bridge that gap with this
novel and I believe this is why it remains relevant.
