The presentations for EN 211 are as follows:The photograph above is from Old Sturbridge Village, a Massachusetts museum where my family spent a lot of time when I was a child. If you've been to Williamsburg in Virginia, Old Sturbridge Village is smaller but similar.
I also want to include a picture of Louisa May Alcott's home and museum in Concord, MA. Her father was associated with the Transcendentalists, and she was intrigued by Thoreau, one of her teachers. I wish that we had been able to read her "Brothers"!
-- realism – mostly summary; in fiction (Hawthorne, Sedgwick, Beecher Stowe, Melville), trying to prove a point—social criticism; also journalism (Fern, Fuller) – why do women write social criticism & realism? -- Thoreau (observation of nature in Walden) -- realism in poetry (Whitman, Dickinson) -- how do writers & their readers handle the country's conflict over slavery, states' rights, and union?
looked at Irving's depiction of Rip Van Winkle's village & woods to compare with Sedgwick's description of H. and Ralph Hepburn's farm -- could compare with Melville's depiction of NYC
Unfortunately, I could not find a picture of Wall Street from Bartleby or Melville's era, but here is a depiction of Lower Manhattan in the 1880s.
Ah, here is a 19th or early 20th century picture of Wall Street:
We also compared Fern's approach to describing Blackwell's Island & its institutions with Margaret Fuller's. How journalism has changed since Ms. Fern's day! Bear with me as I include some pictures of this place. The first is the Octagon Tower of the "Insane Asylum," parts of which would have been standing in the 1840s. (The picture dates from the 1890s.) Next is a picture of the women's almhouse or poorhouse. It gives you an idea of how rural the area was. Finally, below is a much more recent picture of a farmhouse that predates all of the institutions on Blackwell's Island. (It then became the administrative center for the island.)
-- fantasy –difference from 1st half – Poe & Irving – go beyond fiction, stretch the imagination a little more – more psychological – what’s going on inside of the mind instead of the world around us -- Hawthorne also -- "Young Goodman Brown," a world where one may walk with the devil -- "The Birth Mark" -- symbolism--Aylmer as alchemist -- Dickinson's poems about death? -- the importance of Gothic -- Poe is creating/establishing American literature -- how do writers and their readers handle the conflict over slavery, states' rights, and union? -- is fantasy an escape?
Does it really matter where Poe's works are set? Does it really matter that the characters in "The Fall of the House of Usher" are flat?
Who was Irving's audience? (Consider that he did much of his writing outside America.) By the way, I happened to see that Irving was friendly with Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein!
differences among folk tales/fairy tales, tales, and short stories -- note that the Brothers Grimm & Washington Irving were contemporaries -- and that the modern short story with its epiphany (Chekhov, Joyce) was years in the future
Above is a photograph of the Emily Dickinson House and Museum in Amherst.
Canonical
Nathaniel Hawthorne -- both realism & fantasy -- historical & moral topics; for a time, lived at Brook Farm (a commune), but he soon grew disillusioned with it -- argues against human perfection -- "The Birth Mark" and "Young Goodman Brown" -- associated with Salem, MA (place of 1692 witch trial)
E.A. Poe -- fantasy!!! -- "The Raven," "Annabel Lee," and "The Fall of the House of Usher" -- read by Europeans but wrote for Americans -- associated with Baltimore -- poems meant to be performed -- internal rhyme -- gothic, sensation
Walt Whitman -- first of the moderns -- good gray poet/good gay poet but was transgressive in his day -- Leaves of Grass, Song of Myself, When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd, O Captain! My Captain -- self-scrutiny/observation of nature & other people -- Civil War & Lincoln -- desire to unify the nation through poetry -- was newspaper editor in New Orleans for a short time -- look at #1, 3, & 13
Emily Dickinson -- first of the moderns -- more concise poetry -- manuscript poet -- rarely published during own lifetime -- interesting publication history -- look at "Indian Summer"/130, 185, 288, 324, 328, 449, & 465 -- correspondence with T.W. Higginson -- http://www.sonnets.org/higginson.htm#010
Herman Melville -- "Bartleby" was written during the downside of his career -- he was known for stories about exotic places; eventually, he chose to stop publishing his work and even writing -- did not become popular until 20th century -- art novel/short story vs. entertainment -- "Bartleby" has a lot to say about America in the 19th century, masculinity, and work
H.D. Thoreau -- Walden and "Resistance to Civil Government" began as lectures -- Walden -- appears to be one year in his book but was actually two years -- Walden Pond was close to Concord -- compare to Alex/Chris in Into the Wild and Timothy Treadwell in Grizzly Man
Non-canonical
Washington Irving (?) -- but he used to be canonical as did Henry Wadsworth Longfellow -- remember "The Wife"?
Margaret Fuller -- but she is a Transcendentalist -- our reading was journalism about Blackwell's Island
Harriet Beecher Stowe -- but she was the little lady who started the big war [with Uncle Tom's Cabin], according to Abraham Lincoln -- we looked at her sketches
Fanny Fern -- but she was incredibly popular -- emotional truth -- wanted readers to get beyond the physical details and/or pretty pictures
Catherine Maria Sedgwick-- early American writer -- we can try to figure out where H....but can we? - Mrs. Courland as woman writer/mother/older woman
canonical -- a reading that is central to our definition of literature and is most frequently read or taught -- what comes to mind or up in conversation -- this term has less meaning nowadays (unless of course you are talking about the Simpsons' Raven, which succeeds because most people are familiar with Poe & his poem).
The canon changes over time. What is important to us now?
Comparison between halves of the semester
-- more life writing in the first semester; more fiction in the second half of the semester
-- country/culture becoming more stable, better technology, health care, more established, more urban, less need to explore the frontier, more centralized, change in relationship to landscape (Rowlandson versus Whitman or Dickinson)
-- more American voice than British or French
-- more American readers--starting with Poe
-- not as much religious emphasis in the second half: not as much Puritan writing (Hawthorne—more historical), reflection of religious tolerance (ED – “freethinker” in #324 & 465; WW—of Quaker background-- "First-Day" and "Fourth-Month"--Lincoln was killed in "Fourth-Month"--imagine what a poet like Phillis Wheatley would have done with Lincoln being shot on Good Friday!)
-- how do these works reflect America's political situation (the build-up to the Civil War, conflict over slavery & states' rights; for Whitman, the Civil War & his response to Lincoln's death in "O Captain, My Captain" and "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd")?
Above is a picture of the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum in Baltimore.
Poetry –
Poe – canonical writer, wrote poetry, fiction, & criticism; did a lot to shape and promote American literature; poems written for performance – to be read aloud, very rhythmic; internal rhyme; always very dark & mysterious;
Baltimore; poems take place within the imagination
Emily Dickinson – liked to write her masterpieces inside her room, barely left her house, rarely traveled; wrote prolifically but barely published; manuscript poet (circulated within circle of friends and family); loved her dashes; loose—dashes used for any number of purposes (emphasis, pause, reason??); tight—consistent, concise, clear, clarity;
H.W. Longfellow – popular poet of the time -- "My Lost Youth"
Whitman – Leaves of Grass; a lot more life experience & insight on specific things; was a newspaper editor in New Orleans; desire to unify the torn country; response to Lincoln’s assassination (both O Captain & Lilacs); free verse; long lines; self-scrutiny, self-celebration, & observation; Song of Myself
