Transcendentalism and Romanticism Flashcards
Grade 11 · English · Flashcards
Key terms, authors, and concepts from the Transcendentalist and Romantic literary movements in 19th-century America.
Flashcards
- Transcendentalism
- An American philosophical and literary movement (1830s–1840s) holding that individuals can transcend physical reality to access spiritual truth through intuition and nature
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Central figure of Transcendentalism; wrote 'Self-Reliance,' 'Nature,' and 'The American Scholar'; promoted individualism and spiritual self-discovery
- Henry David Thoreau
- Transcendentalist author of 'Walden' (1854) and 'Civil Disobedience' (1849); advocated simple living and moral resistance to unjust authority
- Over-Soul
- Emerson's concept of a universal spiritual unity connecting all individuals, accessible through nature, imagination, and deep reflection
- Self-Reliance
- Emerson's principle and 1841 essay arguing that conformity corrupts the soul and individuals must trust their inner voice above social opinion
- Civil Disobedience
- Thoreau's 1849 essay arguing citizens have a moral duty to refuse compliance with unjust laws; influenced Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.
- Dark Romanticism
- A literary subgenre countering Transcendentalist optimism; explored sin, guilt, and psychological darkness — represented by Poe, Hawthorne, and Melville
- Romanticism
- 19th-century movement reacting against rationalism by celebrating emotion, nature, imagination, and the heroic individual
- Edgar Allan Poe
- Dark Romantic poet and story writer known for gothic psychological horror; works include 'The Raven,' 'The Tell-Tale Heart,' and 'The Fall of the House of Usher'
- Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Dark Romantic novelist who explored Puritan guilt and moral ambiguity; author of 'The Scarlet Letter' (1850) and 'Young Goodman Brown'
- Herman Melville
- Dark Romantic author of 'Moby-Dick' (1851); explored obsession, fate, and humanity's struggle against overwhelming natural and moral forces
- Walden (1854)
- Thoreau's account of two years of deliberate, simple living at Walden Pond; a foundational text of American nature writing and Transcendentalist philosophy
- American Renaissance
- The period roughly 1850–1855 when American literature reached its first major peak, producing 'Walden,' 'Moby-Dick,' 'The Scarlet Letter,' and Whitman's 'Leaves of Grass'
- Leaves of Grass
- Walt Whitman's 1855 poetry collection celebrating democracy, the self, and the American experience; a bridge between Transcendentalism and later Modernism
Get a personalized course on Transcendentalism and Romanticism built around your child.