LITR 4232 American Renaissance
Sample Midterm Answers 2006
Sample Answers to Option Z
essay
(cultural / historical)
American culture is built on diversity and has thrived, grown and flourished because of it. Even though there are differences between us all, there is also a sameness which unites us and bonds us together as one form. Aristotle said that form is where spirit and matter meet and enter the domain of the sublime. Though our appearances seem to diverge outwardly, our forms do in reality converge internally. But can different languages, cultures and traditions really meet in form? Does society agree upon this sameness which lies within all individuals? Literature provides us not with an answer, but with a direction to help us see the spirit which resides in all of us and makes us human. Language reaches across cultures, groups and identities to help us see that issues troubling members of one culture also affect another.
The three texts I will explore discuss an issues all American cultures face: the influence of the individual on society, especially an anti-intellectual society. Though society breeds people of many backgrounds and culture, I think at times it forces them to also conform to its standards and conventions. In such a society, it is easy to lose sight of one’s values and thoughts and to blindly follow the mass majority. Emerson, in his essay “Self-Reliance” says that people need to learn to become independent and self-reliant, especially if they want to make a change in society. He says “we but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine idea which each of us represents” – meaning that essentially there is a divine unity which resides in all of us, but first we have to give that idea a chance to express itself. “Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.” He does not advocate going against society for the sake of it, but going society to teach the masses to do right. He urges his intellectual readers to speak what they think is right, even if that means they may be misunderstood. But then again, “Is it so bad to be misunderstood?” I think he means that majorities of any society are usually the anti-intellectuals, so the possibility of being misunderstood is always certain. Perhaps he means to say that people should not worry about society and do what they think is right anyway.
Both Jacobs and Stowe do just what Emerson preaches. Both women, one white and one black, have been subjugated by society, but they write anyway in order to make a change. Their lives offer proof that individuals can make a difference in society, even if they are at first misunderstood by many. In their worlds, they daily witness the inhumane celebration of differences; and only they, as part of an intellectual minority, understand that even though appearances may be different, all humans converge to the same form and the same oneness. Both do, however, understand that showing this truth to an anti-intellectual society is no easy task. In order to help their readers understand, both Jacobs and Stowe present facts and give their stories a human element through their representative literature. They use their literary voice to show those “divine ideas which each of us represents.”
Because humans share a common bond, many things affect them the same – making them happy or eating away their souls, as in the case of slavery. Stowe portrays even the antagonist Legree as human, and as one who has a conscience, which he chooses never to hear. When Stowe speaks to Legree, she doesn’t speak to him, but speaks to the soul and his essence: “Yes, Legree; but who shall shut up that voice in thy soul? That soul past repentance, past prayer.” She is urging even those like Legree to hear their soul, their being, and the sublime which lives within their hearts. “Stowe also brings the slave into the heart of the reader by showing that he is no different from a white – he is a human with a soul” (JoH 2001).
Jacobs, similarly writes that “this bad institution deadens the moral sense, even in white women, to a fearful extent.” Jacobs then too, appeals to the reader’s heart which has been clouded by the fog of slavery. She urges white women to consider that this government regulated institution is affecting their very being. She reveals the fearful reality that slavery is indeed engulfing the most pious women into its clutches, and it needs to be stopped. Also, by addressing white women, she is showing that the effects of a “bad institution” are universal – no matter what color, race or background its clients are, its harms them all equally. Stowe and Jacobs show that slavery affects us all the same because it attacks our very soul which unites us all. Thus, both urge readers to recognize the sameness within us and let go of our differences for the common good of all.
In conclusion, I think all the cited texts reveal that romantic dreams can come true if pursued through realistic actions. Freedom, security and happiness are achievable if we independently recognize our oneness and pave a way for society to do the same. As Kate Barrack so eloquently said in her presentation: “Society does not create the individual – the individual creates society.” [ND]
America struggled with two very important issues during the 19th century: abolition and the feminist movement. The strongest activists supported both causes. Their literature addresses both issues, and it had a more powerful impact because of this. It was able to reach a broader audience and gained more acceptance. The creation of this coalition changed American history.
James Fenimore Cooper addresses the inequality of both women and minorities in The Last of the Mohicans through the character of Cora.. Cora is not only a woman she is half black. Despite this she is the strongest character in the novel. She is stronger than her white half sister Alice, and stronger than the men she is surrounded by. Cooper’s creation of the strong, independent, intelligent half black woman goes against all of the stereotypes of the time. It gives readers a new view of minorities and women. . . .
The influence of the authors that could be contained under the umbrella of "American Renaissance" cannot be overstated. As I have progressed through this course, I have been struck with the wide range of subjects that not only can describe one of our authors as an important influence, but as the CREATOR of a given movement or principle that has guided millions of people,. The two "causes" that I will briefly describe as have been influenced by our authors and their principles are the civil rights movement and the environmental movement. These two movements can be traced back easily to several of our authors, including, but not limited to, Frederick Douglass, Cooper, and Thoreau.
Although he is white, Thoreau probably was one of the strongest influences on the civil rights movement. Martin Luther King took the writing in "Resistance to Civil Government" and applied it to a plan that not only took the "high road" by not falling back to physical violence, was very effective and terrifying to those in power. The only thing more scary than a black guy with a gun or a knife, is a black guy with a book or a pen. This policy of non violent action was also adopted by Gandhi, with similar successful results. By taking action without violence, King was able to gain popular support, which allowed him and his movement to make many strategic gains involving Blacks and society. The sublime aspects discussed in class was most exemplified in King's "I have a Dream" speech, in which he drew parallels and differences in black and white cultures, with very sublime references to the Declaration of Independence and the ideas of non-violent action first described by Thoreau.
Thoreau's relationship with his environment, and the relationship that he described between one’s own involvement with society and their ability to distance themselves from the society they live in. Basically, if one could live off the land, live simply, reduce an individual's "footprint" on the environment, one could have a greater ability to remove oneself from the "Devil".
The Romantic character Hawk-eye, in the "Last of the Mohicans" was a character that romanticized the relationship between man and man, and man and nature. His self reliance and the blurring of the lines between Europeans and Indians, specifically the Mohicans, follow some of the Transcendental issues and techniques that Thoreau developed in "Resistance to Civil Government". Hawk-eye indeed did not need, and was not involved with the government that Thoreau was so irritated by. Again, this romanticized image of the environment contributes to the perceived need to protect it. Perhaps for different reasons developed by Thoreau, but with the same result of a romanticized and more focused image of the environment by the general public, potentially producing policy change to the benefit of environmental issues.
Although less of an influence on the environmental movement, Frederick Douglass's influence on the civil rights movements is unquestionable. His techniques, similar to King's in that it was non-violent, brought the plight of slaves to the masses by his writings. Again a terrifying image to the whites in power...an eloquent speaking Black man, writing and speaking to the masses in a way that could be appreciated by most, if not all of them. In the readings, a very sublime moment takes place as Frederick was a child, when he comes to the realization that an education will, and would end up being the key to his escape and his self fulfillment as an individual, black or white. Perhaps the very beginning of the non-violent, education oriented movement that later became the backbone of the entire civil rights movement developed by Dr. King.
The influences of each of the mentioned writers potentially, and actually do, overlap each other. The obvious influences and needs of each writer are potentially very different, but ultimately have very similar outcomes...producing greater awareness, or a different awareness of the public toward the individual or the environment. I have been impressed by the apparently large swath of American society, and societies throughout the world, that have been intimately influenced by ideas that were originally developed in print by these American writers. There needs to be new batch of writers to take society and societies to a new level of self awareness, preventing the apparent inevitable decline of our society as a result of the fear of terrorism. When fear is the motivating factor, nothing good can come of it. [KP]