LITR 5535 American Romanticism UHCL 2002 sample student research paper

[second proposal] After giving it more thought, it occurs to me that there is an interesting correlation between Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allen Poe. I have not done any research yet on this topic; therefore I may be looking at an obscure idea. Having said that, what I have noticed is that the characters in Poe's stories seem to be battling internal demons, whereas, Hawthorne's characters seem to struggle with external demons. In addition, death and madness are prominent factors for both storytellers, I would like to do a comparative study of these points with the three short stories we have read for class from each author. Or I can compare other short stories that we haven't read. Both authors writing styles is considered gothic, and yet there is definite distinction in the development of characters, symbolism, and narrative structure.

My proposal for the research project is to explore the Harlem Renaissance. I am very interested in this topic because my knowledge in this area is rather limited. And because it was such an important literary movement, I do think I need to be more fluent in this area. So far, the questions I have devised to research are: What events were present that enabled the Harlem Renaissance to occur at this specific time period? What role did Harlem, the place, play in the Harlem Renaissance? What was the literary movement about? Did they have a specific agenda? Who were the major figures in the movement? Was there a common thread that ran through the writings of the persons involved? How did the public respond to the Harlem Renaissance? What factors caused the decline of the movement, if it ever really ended?

I have so far glanced over a few books over the history of the Harlem Renaissance. These will provide me with the historical context of the literary movement. I plan to consult Contemporary Authors for background information on the major writers and poets. I also plan to consult secondary sources about the writers, literary criticism of their works. If I have time, I will try to read some of the works by these writers and offer a short review of them.

This is my plan to approach this journal assignment at this time. Of course, as I research more fully I might find additional information to include. If you can think of any other pertinent avenue I should explore, I would be pleased to know of it.

I am interested in the women of the Harlem Renaissance. I would like to find out who they were, what their art was about, why they were involved in working in Harlem at this time in history, if there is a common thread in their work, and a general knowledge and understanding of the movement. I intend to limit my research to the authors and poets unless you feel that including other female artists is feasible since I am interested in all of the arts of the time. I feel that the written word influences and is influenced by other forms of art.

I've continued my examination of the Gothic content within Cooper's Mohicans. I'm looking for criticisms on correspondence between his external world and his character's behaviors, since we don't get an internal view and have to go by mannerism and dialogue to work out the details. Comparing him to the anti-transcendentalists is unfair to his work because his gothic elements are much more subtle, and Hawthorne and Poe are deeply engaged in the darkness and light they create. I'd probably do better by seeking out evidence of the Sublime using Emerson's "Nature" as a starting point, but I want to bring The Scarlet Letter into the piece somehow even though it is not a part of our course. That may be more than I can chew though. What would you suggest I search for in the Library catalog? I've been working up a list because my first night to search will be tonight. I'm hoping to find a few articles on Cooper's Sublime or Cooper's Gothic, because I see it, but I have trouble filling or ignoring the vast spaces between the instances I see and feel like I'm missing something. Of the authors we haven't covered in class yet, are there any you think might help me piece together this puzzle?

Let me start by telling you what I’m interested in doing and maybe you can help me narrow it down a bit. I want to do option 1 and I’m interested in exploring how transcendentalism (specifically Emerson’s “Nature”, “American Scholar”, and “Self-Reliance” as well as Thoreau’s “Resistance to Civil Government”, “Economy”, and “Where I’ve lived, what I lived for”) is in direct reaction to or rebellion against the institutions of capitalism and organized religion as well as industrialization as they are utilized by a government consisting of the artificial aristocracy of the wealthy as forewarned of by Thomas Jefferson. I’m interested in the idea that in a natural order the ruling or governing class would consist of those of higher intellect or talent as opposed to rule by the rich. I believe that transcendentalism is an intellectual revolt designed to question the legitimacy of the ruling class. Each of the aforementioned texts criticizes capitalism/consumer-culture/industrialization or organized religion as they take responsibility, power, and creativity away from the individual.

As for research, I am unsure of how to proceed. I could do background research on transcendentalism and possibly the rise of industrialization. I could then try to find some secondary research that corroborates with my ideas of the correlation between the two. I am also interested in the fact that Marxism/communism was on the rise during roughly the same time period. Any suggestions for research would be greatly appreciated.

My interest in all of this is very personal as a disgruntled citizen and intellectual. Unfortunately as somewhat of a cynic, I am constantly confronted with what I perceive to be manipulation of the populace on the part of the government and corporations (are they both the same entity at this point?) and I guess my purpose is to try and point this out for whatever reasons. Jefferson, for all his faults, saw the potential for this mess we are in and it is interesting how few seemed to heed his warnings. I also wonder what happened to philosophy. Emerson and Thoreau seem to be the United States’ version of philosophers during their time period. They seemed to recognize that the purpose of life is to experience nature and through that create art. The concept of individualism is integral to this, and even more so in this day and age when human beings are totally dependent upon each other and the government for food, water, sanitation, protection, healthcare, entertainment, etc. At this point I think that consumer culture has so permeated not only this country, but the world, that people have lost their independence as well as their abilities to create (or think, for that matter.) That said, rant complete, I guess my thesis would be to explore/show how the six transcendentalist works constitute an intellectual rebellion against the government’s manipulation of the populace through consumer culture, organized religion, and the rise of industrialization. How do I better unify this? How should I proceed as far as research?

I would like to examine the concept of transcendentalism in order to come away with something memorable about it. The word itself sounds so magnificent, but it appears to be just another ideology—and an ideology that is to be found to some extent within all of us. My Cultural Literacy Dictionary briefly defines it as “A movement in American literature and thought in the nineteenth century. It called on people to view the objects in the world as small versions of the whole UNIVERSE, and to trust their individual intuitions.” But I can’t get much from this type of definition. So. . . . .

Toward exploring and clarifying the concept of transcendentalism, I would like to look at the lives of Emerson, Fuller and Thoreau, and of course, some of their writing. (When I learn something about the author, the writing makes more sense to me.) I think I will look at excerpts from “Self Reliance”, something of Margaret Fuller’s, and “Civil Disobedience.” Hopefully I will see why transcendentalism emerged as a strong influence in mid-19^th century literature and why this literature continues to be a source of inspiration. Other objectives that relate to my purpose may be identified as I read further. The primary source will be our textbook. As to other sources, biographies from our library and articles from the Internet should provide an abundant supply of information.

In looking at previous journals, I see quite a bit of variety. For instance, some mention sources within the body of their journals and others include a works cited list at the end. Do you prefer one method over the other? Also I am unclear on how you define a journal, Dr. White. I understand that you want to see a sense of orderliness, but some of the previous journals appear to be actually charting a journey that results in a conclusion. They seem to be making discoveries not necessarily tightly bound to the original mission—which is the reality of research—at least as I experience it. So does the journal, in a sense, give more freedom for exploration? If so, a journal is my preference as opposed to a literary essay that stays inside the text.

The American Indian as individual influence in American Romanticism. American Indians are portrayed as possessing mystical qualities. Yet, coinciding with European characters produced through the Romantic Spirit such as Fairies, Frankenstein, and Dracula.

My goal is to show how the American Indian is a conventional tool for characterization in Romanticism and influenced popular literature and film. I will show the connection to European Romanticism through the Puritans blending of European ideals and Christianity produced superstition of the Indian as relation to nature-the wilderness, almost dreamlike qualities.

I want to show a correlation of witchcraft as well-there are other books and movies I thought might work with this topic. I wanted to incorporate the Amer. Minority literature class material from a previous class with you. What other texts would you recommend along these lines? Let me know!

I am interested in exploring Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby as an example of a classic Romantic text. In particular, the novel lends itself to objective 1b: Romantic Spirit or Ideology in terms of its themes of desire and loss, nostalgia, idealism, the quest, transcendence, and the sublime. At this point, I feel the subject might be best tackled interpretively in the traditional paper format, though I like the journal format and it would allow for more expansive research. What do you think, Dr. White?

Questions regarding the research proposal

I have two ideas for my research proposal, and I would like to know which option you think would be more conducive to analysis and which would make a better research topic. I am more interested in the first topic, but again - I would like your opinion.

I would like to do a research journal that compares the aspect of desire and loss as presented in some texts, in some examples of film noir, and in modern movies. I would like to study some recent films that represent American Romanticism and discuss how these films differ or adhere to conventions of Romanticism as seen in texts of the period and in film noir. I am intrigued by movies such as Titanic and other modern movies that seem to still operate under the conventions that I have seen so far of American Romanticism. I would also hope to locate criticism of current movies in relation to film noir and texts of American Romanticism, if it would be possible to find such articles. I realize that this topic needs to be narrowed down, and was hoping that if this topic is acceptable, that you may have a suggestion of a way in which to narrow it down. One possible way of narrowing it down that I had thought of would be to focus on romantic love being typically doomed in these types of movies and texts, or on the romantic characters being doomed.

My second choice would be a research journal/author study of Poe in which I explore the psychological effects of his work, the techniques which he uses to achieve the psychological effects, research articles on the specific aspects of any prevalent psychological themes that I uncover, and commentary on his work relating to the psychological manipulation that he was so skilled at.

For my research project, I plan to tackle the Option 1 traditional research essay. Per our discussion earlier today, I will be expanding my midterm essay, which centers on the recurrent element of desire and loss for female authors and characters in American Romanticism. However, this time I will focus directly on how a woman's desire for the family (or even forms of domesticity) always results in some type of loss for her, such as individuality or even life. I would like to find some research (as you suggested) supporting my opinion that women's more emotional, nurturing desires for family and the home are generally in direct contrast to men's more practical desires for wealth, power, and prestige. I also hope to find factual information concerning societal expectations of women during the period and how that contributed to their desire and loss.

Because I plan to show how this theme of desire and loss occurs from pre-Romanticism all the way to Realism, I will be using several authors and texts, focusing on some more than others. I plan to use Bradstreet and Rowlandson for pre-Romanticism, Cooper's Cora, Fuller, and Jacobs for Romanticism, and Zitkala Sa for Realism. I hope that this diversification of authors and texts will prove my point, and not confuse the reader. I will also be looking at the books and research journals you suggested, as well as searching for some secondary scholarly journal articles.

As for my questions, how can I ensure that I will not confuse the reader with all of my primary texts and secondary sources? Also, if you have any more suggestions for secondary sources, I would love to hear them. Thank you!

I would like to research the term “Byronic Hero” and better understand exactly what about Byron’s life caused this term to be developed. In researching this topic I will look into the following area.

I've decided to do a journal for my research project. Going over your remarks on my midterm, I kinda got stuck on the labor question and began to look at how the Pre-Romantic and early Romantic authors viewed physical labor. I saw a pattern starting to emerge. There seems to be a trend of these writers omitting the actual physical labors that were necessary to create life in the New World (Eden). Even in stories where the town as a whole works to survive, the central character always seems to be one who doesn't fit that mold, I'm thinking of Irving in particular here.

I'm interested in seeing whether the trend continues throughout our tour of American Romanticism. I'm also interested in trying to determine whether the American ideal of not having to work (i.e. becoming rich enough that others work for you) stems from the American Romantic period or sprang from somewhere entirely different.

My question to you (aside from will this fly) - how far should I take this time-line wise? I'm unclear on when the American Romanticism period ends so I don't know where to narrow my research. I'd like to look at the 1920's/30's attempts to "get rich quick" through the stock market as opposed to working, but is that reaching too far?

I am interested in Romantic figures who somehow resist traditional gender roles, so I wrote on this topic for my mid-term. I struggled with how to make the essay tie in to the course, and finally settled on a rebellion/gender discourse. I was dissatisfied with the limitations of my paper, and after discussing my concerns with you, I think I can address a larger issue in American Romanticism.

I would like to tackle Option 1. My mid-term covered gender-bending in a rather limited fashion, and I would like to open up the subject to encompass the feminizing of Romantic American culture, while narrowing the focus to the feminine male, or "civilized" versus "rural" male.

I will be using Cooper and Irving (I think the characters of Uncas, David, the scout, Ichabod and Brom Bones will be plenty of characters don't you think?).

I would like to follow through with my midterm essay and further explore the development of the gothic style, objective 1a, Romantic genres. Your advice has redirected my focus, and I wish to clearly trace the development of Gothicism using these authors, Rowlandson, Irving, Cooper, Poe, and Hawthorne, and then further “investigate to what degree American popular culture represents . . . a diluted form of [this aspect of] classical Romanticism” through the film noir, objective 2, cultural issues.

My interest in the gothic element of Romanticism lies with its ability to reinvent itself over and over again in American society. Of course, the style itself elicits images, thoughts, and responses that are sublime, poignant, and thought-provoking that creates a following just because it is “all that”. But, interestingly, I have been intrigued by the threads of Gothicism that exists in our society today, especially with the students that I teach. It is amazing the effect Poe has on the generation X. Peripherally, I see a pattern emerging between cultural issues and this style. One goal then is to clearly “see” this connection between the gothic style and the culture of the “film noir,” the society after WW II (and to rework some of my ideas from the first essay with more success). The second goal is that my exploration will lead me to further insight into the cultural phenomena of “goth” and its influence in our society today.

I plan to perform background research on Gothicism, use the Bedford Handbook, and use scholarly articles exploring the gothic style and its effect on popular culture.

I’m interested in how the Bible interacts with literature, and I will use the journal option to further my studies. My curiosity about how the Bible works within literature begins at the first of my graduate studies. In each of my graduate classes, so far, I have noticed Biblical motifs and imagery. And as I’ve read our assignments, I’ve continued to observe Biblical motifs and images in Cooper, Hawthorne, Poe and others as well. My interest in Biblical imagery and motifs within literature solidified in your Romanticism 5535 class Dr. White.

First, I would like to know how Biblical imagery and motifs work within a piece of literature? Second, do Biblical imagery and motifs go hand in hand with Romanticism? And third, I would like to test my hypothesis: Some literary passages from the readings in Romanticism 5535 are patterned after Bible stories. I taught Bible classes for twenty-five years before becoming a college student and a student of literature. Admittedly, my previous experience was not in an academic setting, but I’m thinking that the Bible knowledge might be useful when analyzing Romantic literature, we’ll see.

I will use scholarly texts and journals that discuss the relationship of the Bible to the Romantic movement, such as: Biblical Images in Literature edited by Roland Bartel; Abraham Albert Avni’s The Bible and Romanticism; Margaret B. Crook’s The Bible and Its Literary Associations; David Reynolds’ Faith in fiction : the emergence of religious literature in America; Lawrence Buell’s Literary transcendentalism; style and vision in the American Renaissance. You gave me the names of Reynolds and Buell, Dr. White, and I’m wondering if you have comments on the other scholars I have listed?

Additionally, I will be incorporating biographies to help me understand, I hope, the personal Bible knowledge that the authors in our course may have. The biographies I’m particularly interested in are the biographies of Cooper, Poe, Hawthorne and maybe Stowe? I’ve found some biographies but am not sure of their reliability. So if you could suggest some biographies on the above authors, Dr. White, I’d appreciate it.

I have chosen to do Option 1 for my research project. I intend to explore the gothic elements in Cooper's novels The last of the Mohicans and The Deerslayer. These two novels seem to have similar gothic devices at work. I intend to specifically examine the characters of Cora and Judith. These characters have much in common including the theme of secret parentage. I am going to explore this and other aspects as they relate to Cooper's particularily American form of the gothic, keeping two course objectives in mind:

Objective 1: Literary Categories of Romanticism: Objective 1a: Romantic Genres: To describe & evaluate standard literary genres of Romanticism: the gothic novel or style (haunted physical and mental spaces, the shadow of death, dark and light in physical and moral terms; film noir) and Objective 2: Cultural Issues:America as Romanticism, and vice versa America as a racially divided but complexly related people

I want to research the PLACE and atmospheres of the Harlem Renaissance. What did Harlem look, sound, smell and feel like at the time? For several years, I’ve felt an ambition to tell a story about African American urban life in the 1920’s-30’s. I know a bit already about the poetry, stories and music of the Harlem Renaissance. So I can paint a vivid picture of setting when I write my tale, I need a better feel for the neighborhoods, bars, shops, tenement houses and streets of Harlem then. I want to know place names, what it was like to be in those places and what went on there.

Tying this to the issues of American Romanticism, I’ll pursue answers to a parallel question: how did so much intense artistic expression spring from a period when significant racial division and inequality still characterized social relations in America?

I’ll look at companions to literature and historical books about the time period, such as The Harlem Reader: A Celebration of New York's Most Famous Neighborhood, from the Renaissance Years to the Twenty-First Century by Herb Boyd and The Harlem Renaissance (Greenhaven Press Companion to Literary Movements and Genres). I’ll examine more of the artwork, listening to jazz, looking at paintings and reading some poems and short stories. I’m eager for any suggestions about other places to look to find answers, knowing that you’re much more the scholarly researcher than I.

My current thinking is towards examining the use of the supernatural in Romantic and Gothic works and how it might relate to the desire for transcendence and the sublime. I would also potentially touch on the difference in tales where the supernatural is logically resolved for the reader and those where it is not.

I would like to write an essay for my final project on the aesthetic in literature. Similar to previous papers I have written, I would like to analyze texts for their use of nature to express "unexpressable" beauty. In doing so, I will apply the use of nature to the definition of beauty provided in the Webster's Dictionary.

I would like to study the aesthetic use of nature in several genres and multiple time periods. First, I would like to look into transcendentalist works, such as Thoreau's "Walden" and Emerson's "Nature." Second, I would like to study the poetry of EE Cummings and Emily Dickinson. Finally, I would like to look into the use of the nature in the literature of the 1920's, focusing on works such as So Big, by Edna Ferber.

I would like to look into the lives of the authors as an explanation of their love for the land. For example, Emily Dickinson is a known hermit; how did she acquire such a love of nature having only experienced it in her mind? What prompted authors such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau become part of the transcendentalist movement?

I will analyze specific passages of the works and their use of nature to express beauty. I plan to select a few poems by Dickinson and Cummings and do the same.

Please let me know if I need to modify my topic, or if you have any suggestions. Thank you.

I'm planning on the essay option. My topic needs to be fleshed out and then refocused, but I think it has potential. I want to continue working with a couple of ideas running through my mid-term, particularly with the notion of the captivity narrative as a genre that developed in America. I want to look at how this corresponds/contrasts with the slave narrative as another uniquely American genre. These genres are Romantic, with captures and rescues and quests. They also seem to say something about the nature of race relations in the colonies and the new country. Ideally, I would be able to trace these genres to trends in later literature. Perhaps, I can locate a moment when these (mostly) factual accounts evolve into themes in fiction or poetry rather than literal nonfiction writings. I'm really trying to tie into the objective from the syllabus that talks about America as Romanticism and Romanticism as America.

Primary texts would probably be Smith, Rowlandson, Douglass, and Jacobs. Among similarities I might look at are how whites stereotyped Native Americans in the captivity narratives and then the stereotypes / misconceptions that authors like Douglass are writing to disprove. I could also look at how these two genres fit into the category of romance narrative. I also want to pursue that gem of an idea that Rowlandson's piety is equivalent to Smith's bravado. I need to reread Douglass and Jacobs, but I remember there are some decided differences in their approaches as well.

As I said above, this is going to have to be refocused after I've done some research. I merely have an idea of some questions to ask myself and some things to look for as I read articles and such. I've done a cursory search for secondary sources, but nothing substantial yet. My questions to you: 1) Is there really something to work toward here, looking at captivity narratives and slave narratives side by side? 2) Is there a better way to go about this if it is a worthy topic? 3) And I could really use suggestions for secondary sources to start with. Anything that would get my mind puzzling at the topic and generating ideas.

I would like to write about the feminine role in romantic literature and tie it back to traditional issues (Objective 2). I will discuss traditions of roles that remained and those that changed. For example, contrast Alice and Cora in Cooper's text to reveal the shift in feminine traditions. Also, contrast Bradstreet wife's figure with that in Rowlandson and show how the later was forced to change her feminine role due to hardships and captivity. However, my research project will also tackle feminine's response to loneliness, horror, fear, sorrow, and death. The female figures that I chose for my research project vary in the way they respond to hardships and how they act with regard to their traditions and circumstances. I will try to use web sites information, and any available critical articles. I will be glad to hear your advice and any suggestions you offer regarding my proposal.

I have chosen option one as my avenue for this research paper with the topic as a continuation of my midterm "Romantic Spirit of the Journey". I would like to delve more into the mental aspect of the journey towards transcendence that these characters and authors have taken. I believe that this is an important topic because it shows us how they were thinking. I would really like to even pull some psychiatry essays on people in America at this time.

The sources that I plan on using will be the Norton Anthology, The Last of the Mohicans, MLA Bibliography, encyclopedias, scholarly journals, etc. Dr. White is my topic narrow enough to produce a thesis that you approve of? Are there any specific resources that I should know about?

Other topics that interest me are the gothic and film noir if there is a chance that I need to come up with something else.