14-2 American Literature and Art

Ø Inspired by nature and democratic ideals, writers and artists produced some of America’s greatest works.

Ø Nineteenth-century writers such as Hawthorne and Thoreau laid the foundation for American literature.

ONE AMERICAN’S STORY

As a young man, Washington Irving published articles that made fun of society in the early 1800s. Although he studied to be a lawyer, he eventually made writing his full-time career.

Irving wrote some of the first stories to describe America. For example, “Rip Van Winkle” tells of a man in New York State. Rip wakes up after a 20-year nap to find everything changed. He goes to the inn, which once had a picture of King George on its sign.

A VOICE FROM THE PAST

The red coat was changed for one of blue and buff, a sword was held in the hand instead of a sceptre [staff of authority], the head was decorated with a cocked hat, and underneath was painted in large characters, GENERAL WASHINGTON.

Washington Irving, “Rip Van Winkle”

While Rip slept, the Americans had fought and won their revolution! Irving’s work helped to win European respect for American writing for the first time.

Writing About America

· Irving and other writers were influenced by a style of European art called romanticism. It stressed the individual, imagination, creativity, and emotion. It drew inspiration from nature. American writers turned their interest in nature into celebration of the American wilderness.

· Many books featured the wilderness. James Fenimore Cooper wrote five novels about dramatic adventures of a wilderness scout. One that remains popular is The Last of the Mohicans. Francis Parkman wrote a travel book, The Oregon Trail, about the frontier trail.

· Other writers besides Irving celebrated America’s past. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote many poems that retold stories from history. For example, “Paul Revere’s Ride” Depicted the Revolutionary hero’s ride to warn of a British attack. Generations of students memorized lines from the poem.

“Listen my children and you shall hear

Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,

On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;

Hardly a man is now alive

Who remembers that famous day and year.

…..one if by land and two if by sea,

and I on the opposite shore will be.”

Creating American Art

Asher Durand was a founder of the Hudson River school of painting. His best known work, Kindred Spirits, pictured here, was painted in 1849. This romantic work shows two artists inspired by a beautiful landscape. The figures in the painting are Durand’s friends, the poet William Cullen Bryant and the painter Thomas Cole.

· European styles continued to influence American artist, but some took these styles in new directions. One group of painters influenced by romanticism worked near the Hudson River in New York State. Hudson River school artists painted lush natural landscapes. Several members of this school went west for a change of scenery.

· For example, Albert Bierstadt took several trips to America’s Western Mountains. He produced huge paintings that convey the majesty of the American landscape. Other artist also went west. John James Audubon came to the United States from France at age 18. Traveling across the continent, Audubon sketched the birds and animals of his adopted country.

· Enslaved African Americans also contributed to American art. They made beautiful baskets, quilts and pottery. Most of these slaves remained anonymous, but one did not. David Drake worked in a South Carolina pottery factory and signed the pottery he created. He was the only factory worker to do so.

Following One’s Conscience

· By the 1840’s Americans took a new pride in their emerging culture. Ralph Waldo Emerson, a New England writer, encouraged this pride. He urged Americans to cast off European influence and develop their own beliefs. His advice was to learn about life from self-examination and from nature as well as books.

“No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature.”

· Emerson’s student, Henry David Thoreau, followed that advice. In 1845, Thoreau moved to a simple cabin he had built by Walden Pond near the town of Concord, Massachusetts. Thoreau furnished it with only a bed, a table, a desk and three chairs. He wrote about his life in the woods in Walden. Thoreau said that people should live by their own individual standards.

A Voice From the Past

“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.”

-Henry David Thoreau, Walden

· Emerson and Thoreau belonged to a group of thinkers with a new philosophy called transcendentalism. It taught that the spiritual world is more important than the physical world. It also taught that people can find the truth within themselves, through feeling and intuition.

· Because Thoreau believed in the importance of individual conscience, he urged people not to obey laws they considered unjust. Instead of protesting with violence, they should peacefully refuse to obey those laws. This form of protest is called civil disobedience. For example, Thoreau did not want to support the U.S. government, which allows slavery and fought the War with Mexico. Instead of paying taxes that helped to finance the war, Thoreau went to jail.

· In his essay “Civil Disobedience,” Thoreau wrote that “Under a government which imprisons any unjustly the true place for a just man is also a prison.” Thoreau did land in prison when he refused to pay his taxes. According to legend, Emerson visited Thoreau in jail and asked, “Why are you here?” Thoreau replied, “Why are you not here?”

· Another New England transcendentalist, Margaret Fuller, also called for change. In her magazine, The Dial, and in her book, Women in the Nineteenth Century, Fuller argued for women’s rights.

Exploring the Human Heart

· Like Thoreau, other writers broke with tradition. In 1855, Poet Walt Whitman published Leaves of Grass, a book that changed American poetry. His bold, unrhymed poems praised ordinary people. Emily Dickinson lived in her family’s home almost her entire life. She wrote poems on small pieces of paper that she sewed into booklets. Her subjects include God, nature, love and death. Most of her 1,775 poems were published only after her death. Both Whitman and Dickinson shaped modern poetry by experimenting with language.

· Fiction writers of the 1800’s also shaped American literature. Edgar Allan Poe wrote terrifying tales that still influence today’s horror story writers. He also wrote the first detective story, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.”

· Nathaniel Hawthorne depicted love, guilt, and revenge during Puritan times in The Scarlet Letter. The novel shows that harsh judgment without mercy can lead to tragedy. Hawthorne may have learned that lessons from his family history. One of this ancestors condemned people at the Salem witchcraft trials.

· Herman Melville won fame by writing exciting novels about his experiences as a sailor. In 1851, Melville published his masterpiece, Moby Dick. This novel tells about a man’s destructive desire to kill a white whale. Although the novel was not popular when it was published, it is widely read now. Several movie versions exist.

Inspired by nature and ________________________________ideals, writers and artists produced some of America’s greatest works.
As a young man, ________________________________published articles that made fun of society in the early 1800s.
________________________________tells of a man that wakes up after a 20-year nap to find everything changed.
James Fenimore Cooper wrote dramatic adventures of a wilderness scout, one that remains popular is ________________________________.
________________________________wrote many poems that retold stories from history, for example, “Paul Revere’s Ride.”
Asher Durand was a founder of the ________________________________school of painting, his best known work, Kindred Spirits.
_______________________________produced huge paintings that convey the majesty of the American landscape.
________________________________urged Americans develop their own beliefs.
________________________________moved to a simple cabin said that people should live by their own individual standards.
Emerson and Thoreau belonged to a group of thinkers with a new philosophy called _________________________.
________________________________urged people not to obey laws they considered unjust.
Poet________________________________published Leaves of Grass, a book that changed American poetry.
________________________________depicted love, guilt, and revenge during Puritan times in The Scarlet Letter.
________________________________wrote exciting novels about his experiences as a sailor, published his masterpiece, Moby Dick