2. How has American Romanticism continued or changed in post-Romantic American literature?—that is, literature after the Civil War and American Renaissance of the pre-Civil War generation of the1820s-1860s?

Refer to at least three writers from our last four class meetings and to a contemporary poem from the presentations. . . .

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            While many can argue that there are vast differences between Realism and Romanticism, there are few who can argue that traces of Romanticism are still extremely present in Realistic literature.  To further prove the lasting power of Romanticism, there are several aspects of Romantic elements to be found in Post- Romantic literature and not just trace elements of one facet or another.   From the gothic to spirituality to the sublime, these objectives of Romanticism can all be discovered in stories of the Post-Romantic genre.   The reason for the staying power is that it helps drive a story forward.  Without the extra help from Romantic elements, stories based on Realism alone seem without heart and cold to a reader.  Romantic elements capture the reader’s emotions whether it is fear from the gothic, peace from spiritualism, or awe from the sublime. . . .

            There are many who will argue that the Romantics influenced Post-Romantic writings for better or worse.  There are those who argue that Romantic writings are based on emotional fluff and the only true story is one based on Realism.  But without Romanitc elements, for a story to be based on true Realism, you would have to a read a newspaper.   It is the traces of Romanticism found in stories that provide an emotional drive to read the story.  It is because of the Romantic elements that we feel compassionate towards characters.  As MM writes in her final “The traces of Romanticism that remain in the Post-Romantic suggest that the movement of Romanticism was an inherently humanist genre, and that bits and pieces of its principle ideologies will always be woven in with the fabric of American identity” (MM).  [DP]