-Transcendentalism

--> sense, supernal beauty

self-reliant(American literature made simple)

-American Renaissance

In the history of American architecture and the arts, the American Renaissance was the period ca 1876–1917  characterized by renewed national self-confidence and a feeling that the United States was the heir to Greek democracy, Roman law, and Renaissance humanism. The American preoccupation with national identity (or New Nationalism) in this period was expressed by modernism andtechnology as well as academic classicism

-Manifest Destiny

In the United States in the 19th century, Manifest Destiny was the widely held belief that American settlers were destined to expand across the continent. Historians have for the most part agreed that there are three basic themes to Manifest Destiny:
1. The special virtues of the American people and their institutions;

2. America's mission to redeem and remake the west in the image of agrarian America;
3. An irresistible destiny direction to accomplish this essential duty.

-American Dream

The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States, a set of ideals in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, and an upward social mobility achieved through hard work. In the definition of the American Dream by James Truslow Adams in 1931, "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement" regardless of social class or circumstances of birth.^[1]

The idea of the American Dream is rooted in the United States Declaration of Independence which proclaims that "all men are created equal" and that they are "endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights" including "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

-Inferiority Complex

An inferiority complex is a lack of self-worth, a doubt and uncertainty, and feeling of not measuring up to society's standards. It is often subconscious, and is thought to drive afflicted individuals to overcompensate, resulting either in spectacular achievement or extreme antisocial behavior. The term was coined to indicate a lack of covert self esteem.For many, it is developed through a combination of genetic personality characteristics and personal experiences.

Essay

1.      American romanticism begins with Rip Van Winkle. How does a short story that is based on borrowed ideas come to be one of the most widely read and loved pieces of American literature?

Answer: By using memorable characters to convey a message of freedom and identity to a nation that was just starting to discover both. In Rip Van Winkle, Washington Irving uses the characters to show his ideals as a romantic, and to represent the new found independence of a budding country. Irving wrote this story in 1820, a time when in a literary sense, America was still considered a replica of Britain. Romantic literature in America was just starting to grow and people were striving for more Romantic writing. This want as well as a new identity for the American people were granted when Irving wrote Rip Van Winkle, a story about a man who slept through the Revolutionary War. Just like many other great works such as The Great Gatsby, a novel in which F. Scott Fitzgerald used his characters to show the corruption of the American Dream, Irving used his characters to show his ideals as a romantic. The main character in this story, Rip Van Winkle, was himself an embodiment of the notion of Romantic freedom. He is described as, “one of those happy mortals of foolish, well oiled dispos 

2.      Thoreau makes it very clear at the opening of Walden that his stay in the wilderness was not a lifestyle choice but rather a temporary experiment, and that “At present I am a sojourner in civilized life again.” Does the short duration of Thoreau’s stay at Walden undercut the importance of his project?

Answer: One widespread misunderstanding of Thoreau is that he was a critic of modernity who failed in his plan to live a more authentic life on his own. But, in fact, Thoreau insists on telling us that his Walden project is not a life decision or a commitment to a set of ideals, but an experiment in alternative living that is unambiguously amateurish. It is more like casual play than like solemn ideology. This informality explains why, when he leaves Walden Pond in 1847, Thoreau does not admit failure; rather, he says simply that he has other lives to live. Thoreau was more of an Emersonian transcendentalist than he was a socialist: the soul mattered more to him than sociology. He was not as interested in being a model farmer as in showing how the soul could benefit from a change of scenery and occupation. Having learned the lessons that Walden Pond had to offer him, he turned to other scenes and other occupations, thus proving rather than undercutting his philosophy of life.

3.      It is difficult to overestimate Poe’s influence in America and in Europe. His criticism and artistic practice are intertwined. Discuss Poe’s achievements in the context of his literary works. (p. 168-169)