Agenda for Tuesday, November 11. Opener: Research papers

collected & Writing Journal Entry (20 min.)

2. Lecture: Intro to American Romantics (20 min.)

3. “The Raven” (35 min.)

o Tier 3 Termso Class Read & Model Active

Reading

4. Homework (Remaining Time)

AP English 11 Your NameJE? November 1, 2011

1. Identify an event in your life (or in another’s life observed by you) during which a situation that was at first “marginally annoying” escalated until a breaking point was reached and it (a person, place, thing, situation) became maddening.

2. Craft a descriptive paragraph in which you describe the situation: • Describe the participants (yourself and someone else)

in this exasperating exchange. What happened?• What was annoying about the interaction?• What contributed to raising your anxiety level?• How did the situation resolve itself and was the

resolution satisfying to you?o You have only a limited amount of time to write this entry

so work smart

The Romantic Period of American Literatureo The "Romantic Period" refers to literary and cultural

movements in England, Europe, and America roughly from 1770 to 1860.

o Romantic writers (and artists) saw themselves as revolting against the "Age of Reason" (1700-1770) and its values.

o They celebrated • imagination/intuition versus reason/calculation,• spontaneity versus control• subjectivity and metaphysical musing versus objective fact• revolutionary energy versus tradition• individualism versus social conformity• democracy versus monarchy, and so on.

o American Romantics tend to venerate Nature as a sanctum of non-artificiality, where the Self can fulfill its potential (the earlier Puritans tended to see nature as the fallen "wilderness," full of "savage" Indians). American Romantics also champion spiritual intuition or self-reliant individualism.

Key Elements of Romantic American Literature1. Belief in natural goodness of man, that man in a state of

nature would behave well but is hindered by civilization. o The figure of the "Noble Savage" is an outgrowth of this

idea. In literature, an idealized concept of uncivilized man, who symbolizes the innate goodness of one not exposed to the corrupting influences of civilization

2. Sincerity, spontaneity, and faith in emotion as markers of truth. o Doctrine of sensibility: A thing may be considered in two

ways: as it presents itself as an object to our sensibility (thing as it appears) and as it is apart from its relation to sensibility (thing in itself).

3. Belief that what is special in a man is to be valued over what is representative; delight in self-analysis.

4. Nature as a source of instruction, delight, and nourishment for the soul; return to nature as a source of inspiration and wisdom; celebration of man’s connection with nature; life in nature often contrasted with the unnatural constraints of society.

5. Affirmation of the values of democracy and the freedom of the individual. o Jacksonian Democracy: the political movement toward

greater democracy for the common man typified by American politician Andrew Jackson and his supporters.

Key Elements of Romantic American Literature6. High value placed on finding connection with fresh,

spontaneous in nature and self. 7. Aspiration after the sublime and the wonderful, that

which transcends mundane limits. 8. In art, the sublime, the grotesque, the picturesque,

and the beautiful with a touch of strangeness valued above the Neoclassical principles of order, proportion, and decorum. o Neoclassicism is a literary movement of the 17th and

18th centuries that stressed the importance of using ancient Greek and Roman (the Classical period) literature as a guide for creation and criticism.

o The Hudson River School was a mid-19th century American art movement embodied by a group of landscape painters whose aesthetic vision was influenced by romanticism.

9. Interest in the “antique”: medieval tales and forms, ballads, Norse and Celtic mythology; the Gothic.

10.Belief in perfectibility of man; spiritual force immanent not only in nature but in mind of man.

11.Belief in organicism rather than Neoclassical rules; development of a unique form in each work.

Symbolism?White

Gold

Bird

Sunset

Characters, settings and objects all carry symbolic value!

Symbolismo Usually a symbol is something concrete – such as an

object, action, character, or scene – that represents something more abstract. However, symbols and symbolism can be much more complex. a) Conventional symbols: those symbols that have

been invested with meaning by a groupb) Natural symbols: are objects and occurrences

from nature to represent ideas commonly associated with them

c) Literary symbols: are sometimes also conventional in the sense that they are found in a variety of works and are generally recognized

Allusion• An allusion is a figure of speech that

makes a reference to, or representation of, a place, event, literary work, myth, or work of art, either directly or by implication

• An audience’s ability to identify an allusion is dependent on the breadth and depth of their background knowledge

• Sword of Damocles: n. Constant threat; imminent peril

• From this story are two morals: First, "Uneasy rests the head that wears the crown." Second, and perhaps more prophetically, "The value of the sword is not that it fall, but rather, that it hangs."

“The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe

“The Raven” Assigned Activities1. Define the following ten (10) Tier

2 terms in your reading journal:o Surcease (2)o Obeisance (7)o Mein (7)o Decorum (8)o Countenance (8)o Ungainly (9)o Divining (13) o Seraphim (14)o Respite (14)o Pallid (18)

2. Code stanzas 10—18:o Assonanceo Alliterationo Internal rhyme• You may use the “The

Interactive Raven” at http://www.teachersfirst.com/lessons/raven/

3. Identify the key stanzas which best fill the narrative role of:o Exposition (initial)o Rising action o Climaxo Falling actiono Resolution

Homework Due Next Class

1) Re-read “The Raven,” complete assigned activities and anticipate a “book free” comprehension check

2) Add the following Tier 3 terms to Rhetoric Card deck: Symbolism, Conventional symbols, Natural symbols, Literary symbols, Assonance