American Romanticism Questions
American Romanticism Questions
Bring on the tough stuff. There's not just one right answer.
- Is the distinction between "Romanticism" (the European variety) and "American Romanticism" arbitrary? If these two movements have so much in common, why do we have to draw a line between them?
- Given that many of the "American Romantic" writers didn't write about romantic love, why do we use the word "Romanticism" to describe them?
- Considering that the novel wasn't such a big part of the British Romantic movement (which focused on poetry, primarily), why do you think it became so important in the American Romantic movement?
- Some American Romantic writers like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau are known more for their nonfictional essays than for their literary work, such as poetry. Can we consider essay writing "literary" writing?
- Even though nature is a big theme both in British Romanticism and American Romanticism, are there differences in the ways that the writers of each movement treat this theme?
- Can we call American Romanticism a literary "movement," considering that these writers were not necessarily working together to "create" a movement?
- Why do you think individualism is such a big theme in American Romantic writing? Why do the American Romantics believe it's so important to be a nonconformist?
- How do you think that the U.S.'s unique history influenced the American Romantic writers?
- Did the American Romantic writers simply reflect the values of American culture and society, or did they help create those values?
- The American Romantics were big on democracy and freedom, and yet they lived at a time when slavery was still taking place in America. How do you think the American Romantics responded to this paradox at the heart of American society?