Essential Questions for this Unit

Essential Questions for the Romanticism Unit

     The romantics' beliefs are reflected on their writing because they talk about how the main character makes their own choices and does what they think is best, no one in their story is making them do anything they don't want to do. Now, the others characters might try to influence the main character, but that main character will still make their own choice. This is a big aspect of individualism in the romantic writings. Making choices shows that the character, as an individual, can think for themselves and not for anyone else. For example, in "The Scarlet Letter", Hester Prynne makes the choice of not sharing her and Dimmsdale's secret because she wants to protect Dimmesdale and make sure that he keeps his high place in the town. In the short story, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", Ichabod Crane decides to not stay with Katrina Van Tassel after the party, even though he thought she was the love of his life. In both of these examples, these characters made huge choices that greatly affected both of them, but this shows that these characters can think for themselves.  Optimism is also reflected in the romantic writings. In the romantic writings, they show that characters hope for better outcomes in the future. For example, in the song, "Swing Low Sweet Chariot", the enslaved people are the one who sing this song, and they hope for freedom in the future. They sing this song to keep their hopes up, and they know that eventually they will become free, no matter if it's from escape or if it's from death. In the story, "The Scarlet Letter", Hester and Dimmsdale both agree to running away with Pearl so they can live to be a happy family. They are hoping that this will happen in the future, and they start preparing for this. Optimism and individualism are both reflected in romantic writings.

     Romanticism is a movement in the arts and literature that originated in the late 18th century, emphasizing inspiration, subjectivity, and the primacy of an individual. Gothic romanticism, or dark romanticism is a literary sub genre centered on the writers Edgar Allen Poe, Nathanial Hawthorne, and Herman Melville. Southern Gothic romanticism is a sub genre of Gothic fiction unique to American literature that takes place in the American South. These three different types of romanticism are similar because they all take place in the romanticism movement in the 1800's. They all also celebrate individualism. The Gothic and southern Gothic romantics are similar in many ways. They are both based on dark, creepy stories, and they are both sub genres of romanticism. These romanticism's are different because they both have different genres of writings. The Gothic romanticism and the southern Gothic romanticism are both different from the regular romanticism because both of those romanticism's are based on dark stories while romanticism isn't, romanticism talks about happier feelings than Gothic romanticism does. Southern Gothic romanticism also emphasizes grotesque characters that make the story unusual.
     The southern gothic movement is a response to literary movements because it has the traits of other literary movements in it. Southern gothic romanticism has gothic romantic traits in it as well as romanticism traits. The gothic romanticism is shown in the southern gothic usually by the darkness in the character and not as much darkness in the setting. For example, in the story, "The Life You Save May Be Your Own", the man, Mr. Shiftlet, has a dark, selfish character, and he shows it when he leaves his wife at a diner and takes off with the car that he has been wanting ever since he laid his eyes on it. Southern gothic romanticism also has romanticism traits in it too. In the stories, "A Rose For Emily" and "The Life You Save May Be Your Own" both have the romanticism trait of love. They also value individualism. These two stories share the trait of love, in "A Rose for Emily", Emily falls in love with a man and they live together until they die. In, "The Life You Save May Be Your Own", Mr. Shiftlet in a way fell in love with the car that he saw in the garage at Lucynell Crater's residence. These stories also share a value of individualism. In, "A Rose for Emily", Emily expresses her individualism by isolating herself. In, "The Life You Save May Be Your Own", Mr. Shiftlet expresses his individualism by riding by himself to Mobile. Southern gothic romanticism manipulates romantic literary conventions because it uses different traits from different types of romanticisms to make its own type of romanticism.     
    The American culture prompted the dark sides of romanticism by changing the style of writing. At the time, Americans were changing from the romantics to another style of writing. Writers were changing the romantics by adding dark setting and traits to their stories. It made the stories more entertaining and it changed up the romanticism. The American culture was changing as well, and the writers were writing about how it was changing. They wrote what the people wanted to read and be entertained by, so as the culture changed, their writing styles changed.
    The writings of these time periods greatly influence the writing of today. This is because the great writers of today get their ideas from writers in the past. They also connect to other writings that they like or have read. They also connect to the events or a time period in the past. These romanticism writings have influenced the way our authors write, by giving them ideas and inspiration on what to write. Our amazing stories travel back to the influence of the author, and what influenced them.