(2017 midterm assignment) Model Student Midterm answers 2017 #1: Long Essays (Index)

LITR 4328 American Renaissance

Justin Murphy

HIST 101: American Renaissance

          Walking into American Renaissance, I didn’t know what quite to expect. I knew of writers like Fredrick Douglass and Edgar Allan Poe, but I didn’t quite know what to expect from the beginning. As we dove into the selection of readings from Renaissance writers, I came to realize that American Renaissance (also known as the romantic era) is crucial for everyone to know about. American Renaissance writers help to show us how America developed into the country that it is today. American Renaissance can be used to tell American history.

          The Romantic Era of America followed the Enlightenment Era. The Enlightenment stressed the ideas of science, hard facts, and proof. Enlightenment philosophers stressed the idea of having proof for everything; it wasn’t enough to just believe something, you needed proof. The Enlightenment didn’t want to mess around with ‘foolish’ ideas, while Romanticism loved the ‘foolish’ ideas. The juxtaposition of these two eras in literature helps to show how America grew in its philosophy.

          First, the idea of Manifest Destiny can be told through Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Nature. Emerson’s essay focuses on the belief that humans must go and explore nature so that they may truly find knowledge. The idea of exploring nature is related to the philosophy that developed in America: Manifest Destiny. Manifest Destiny was the belief that it was America’s ‘destiny’ to expand westward and acquire as much land as possible. In Emerson’s essay he writes, “Build, therefore, your own world. As fast as you conform your life to the pure idea in your mind, that will unfold its great proportions” [28]. This idea of building your own world intrigued Americans at the time. There was all this unexplored and ‘unconquered’ land that could be used for American citizens. Emerson’s essay depicts the ideal of Manifest Destiny through its use of the sublime. The sublime is a feeling of being in awe of what is in front of you. When Americans went into nature, they found things that left them speechless. Land that was rich, land that could be used, and landmarks that were breathtaking.

          Religion is another key component of American history. One of the main reasons that the founding fathers came to America was so that they could express a freedom of religion. Susan B. Warner’s The Wide, Wide World is a perfect example of how religion plays a role in American history. Throughout the entire story, Mamma is constantly reminding Ellen about God. God is the one who gets them through their tough times, God is the one who provides, God is the driving force of their lives. While Warner is referring to Christianity, it’s a prime example of how the romantic period emphasized a connection with some sort of deity. The freedom to write on religion is something that is outlined in the Bill of Rights through the first amendment.

          Another reference to religion is outlined in Edgar Allan Poe’s “Sonnet—To Science” when he makes multiple references to the Greek Gods. His references to Prometheus and Diana help set the scene for his argument: that science (the Enlightenment) has taken away from the poet (romanticism). By making these references to the Greek Gods—he compares science to the vulture that tortured Prometheus—he gives the middle finger to the Enlightenment Era. This sonnet shows the shift in philosophy in America, America was going to embrace religion.

          When asked how American romanticism is still shown in today’s world, there are two places to point to. The first is Poe’s Ligeia. Ligeia is all about finding love in a woman who is breathtaking. The main character finds himself lusting over this figure Ligeia, he is in deep love with her he thinks. Her beauty is awe-inspiring and her presence fills the room. His inner thoughts correspond with the external happenings when he finally sees Ligeia while on opium. The matching of his internal thoughts and external happenings reveal to him that he is indeed in love with Ligeia. However, as most romantic works go, he ends up losing her. This desire was soon lost. This idea of love is constant in America today. Whether it’s in movies, novels, television shows, or just in everyday life, love is what makes America go around. It’s what the majority of American citizens desire, and when we lose it, it breaks us. Ligeia shows this to us through the character’s lust.

          The second place to look is in Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. This story is one that is still told today in America, especially around Halloween time. Sleepy Hollow shows the idea of this Byronic hero that is in tons of American mediums today. The Byronic hero is the “chick-magnet” of the story, the “man’s man.” In Sleepy Hollow, it’s Brom Bones. Irving describes him as “the hero of the scene” [42] and the man that everyone wanted to be. This is a person that is still shown in America today. Superhero movies are a prime example of the Byronic hero. Without the development of the Byronic hero in American romanticism, who knows if superheroes would’ve ever been created in comic books.

          As America was coming out of the Enlightenment Era, it was like Rip Van Winkle. As Rip woke from his hiatus, he realized that the world wasn’t how it used to be. He woke up in a new place. America woke up in a completely new place when the Enlightenment ended, and the transition to American Renaissance began. American Renaissance is an era that helps to tell American history. From Manifest Destiny all the way up to superheroes, romanticism helps to show us these things.