LITR 4232: American Renaissance

UHCL, spring 2002

Sample Student Answers to Midterm Exam

Essay section

Option X: Formal / literary option

Copied below are answers (complete or excerpted) by students in LITR 4232 2002. They are posted as submitted. Some editing and other errors may remain. In general, though, these answers are models of outstanding work for present and future students to review in order to gain a fresh approach to course materials and become acquainted with course standards.

[Assignment]

Proposition: The American Renaissance inherited Romanticism, the romance narrative, and ideas of the gothic and sublime primarily from European literature and culture but adapts these forms to reflect the realities of the American landscape, the problems of American history, and the identities of American people.

Assignment: Focusing on one or more of the elements of Romanticism listed above, discuss how three or four American writers adapt Romanticism to American realities.

   Compare and contrast authors and texts with each other. (That is, don't treat these texts in isolation from each other.)

   Concentrate on one or two aspects of Romanticism, as you may not have time to cover every aspect.

[Excerpt from in-class exam]

One gothic reference in Irving’s  piece was his use of gabled architecture, but perhaps more indicative of his use of the gothic were his descriptions of outdoor scenes or his use of Nature.  His comparisons of light and darkness or shadow in the woods scenes, as well as the huge tree, all in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, are examples of the gothic.  By his use of shadow, the audible moans that Ichabod hears, and the “fearful tree,” Irving has created an outdoor haunted house.  Cooper does this, as well, with the cave in the woods, and the various wailing sounds that he employs throughout The Last of the Mohicans.  The cave is Leatherstocking’s haunted house with its shadows, secret passageways and concealed exits.  Not only does this show up in the cave that Leatherstocking and company hide in, but we also see this again in the cave that Alice is rescued from.  Perhaps, more use of the gothic is seen with Cooper’s use of the symbolically gothic colors of red, black and white.  The main characters in his novel were representative of the red, black and white races. 

            Whereas, much of European gothic was  centered around a haunted mansion and such, both Irving and Cooper looked at Nature to express the same feelings from their readers. 

            While Jacobs writes of actual experiences, we can see the gothic employed in her piece Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.  The attic room, where she hid for several weeks in the dark, is representative of the gothic.  It was dark and cramped with unseen varmints.  The interplay of light and dark is represented by the small opening that she is able to see her children through.  And, while this is a real occurrence, the gothic style allows the reader to more fully appreciate what Jacobs endured.