Wednesday, June 13, 2007

List of Authors and Works (Correct if incomplete)

LIST OF AUTHORS AND WRITINGS---CORRECT IF INCOMPLETE

NEOCLASSICAL

Benjamin Franklin
Rules by Which a Great Empire May be Reduced to a Small One

Patrick Henry
Give me Liberty or give me Death!

Thomas Jefferson
The Declaration of Independence

Thomas Paine
The American Crisis

Phillis Wheatley (also though to be pre-Romantic)
On Imagination
On Being Brought From Africa to America
To His Excellency, General Washington


Crevecoeur
Letters From an American Farmer (Letter III: What is an American?)

Freneau
To the Memory of the Brave Americans
The Indian Burying Ground
The Wild Honey-Suckle
The Republican Genius of Europe


ROMANTIC

Irving
Rip Van Winkle (A Posthumous Tale of the Late Diedrich Knickerbocker)

Bryant
Thanatopsis
To a Waterfowl


Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The Goblet of Life
The Jewish Cemetery at Newport
The Slave's Dream
A Psalm of Life


Emma Lazarus
In the Jewish Synagogue at Newport
--used to compare to Longfellow's Jewish Cemetery at Newport

Poe
Masque of the Red Death
Fall of the House of Usher
Cask of Amontillado
The Raven


Hawthorne
Young Goodman Brown
The Minister's Black Veil
The Birthmark
Ethan Brand


Melville
Billy Budd


TRANSCENDENTALISM

Thoreau
Civil Disobedience
Walden (Conclusion)


Emerson
Self-Reliance

Whitman
Biography (this won't be quoted though, right?)
O Captain! My Captain!
Song of the Open Road
When I heard the Learn'd Astronomer
The Commonplace
I Hear America Singing
Excerpts from "Song of Myself"
Ashes of Soldiers
Give Me the Splendid Silent Sun


MYTHIC HEROIC ARCHETYPAL TALES

Twain
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Hong Kingston
No Name Woman
White Tigers



--Danielle

I'll try to write up some stuff about one or more of the authors... I'm feeling tired. If you guys are up to it, it'd be awesome if we could all split up the work or lay claim to specific authors/works so that we all have to do less.

6 Comments:

Blogger Elizabeth Johnson said...

I'd like to add the distinction that Irving and Bryant are Early Romantics and that Hawthorne, Melville, and Poe are Gothic writers. I'm not sure whether Longfellow falls in the Early Romantic or Gothic category.

9:02 PM  
Blogger Danielle G said...

Patrick Henry (Neoclassical)

Give me Liberty or give me Death!

Henry gave this speech at the House of Burgesses before the Revolutionary War. The document doesn’t use rationality and isn’t even remotely neutral. It shows no willingness to suspend judgment. And, using the Enemies/Allies/Neutrals/Nationals way of examining Henry’s effectiveness…

(1) ENEMIES: this document would scare enemies b/c Henry sounds eager and ready for war
(2) ALLIES: this document would appeal to allies b/c they are told that Britain is flawed and should not be feared; also, it says that the Americans/revolutionaries have the strength and willingness to take a stand against the Brits (tyranny); also, it uses the argument, “if you think tyranny is bad, come join us”
(3) NEUTRALS: --failure-- this document doesn’t appeal to neutrals
(4) NATIONALISTS: this doc provokes a lot of emotion, doesn’t bother to use evidence, and has the inflammatory words that nationalists love

To recognize this document, look for rhetorical questions. (ex: “Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled, that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation. … What terms shall we find, which have not been already exhausted? Let us not … deceive ourselves longer.” )

Look for lots of emotionally charged words and anti-something fervor. (Britain itself may or may not be directly named in the passage we are given, but the word “tyranny” or a synonym will likely be present or implied.)

9:44 PM  
Blogger L Lazarow said...

Benjamin Franklin (Neoclassical)

Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One

Franklin’s Rules was used as propaganda against Britain, so we analyzed it in terms of how it appealed to 4 different groups: (1) enemies, (2) allies, (3) neutrals, and (4) nationals.

(1) ENEMIES: should see that their Empire will crumble if it (Britain) continues to act irresponsibly
(2) ALLIES: this would gain the support of places such as France b/c they would be happy to “diminish the [British Empire] at the edges” – for the allies, Rules reads like a How-To Manual
(3) NEUTRALS: would not be turned off from Franklin b/c he didn’t use fear-mongering or threats, so the neutrals would not be scared away (which we determined is a key thing to avoid when getting neutrals to sympathize with one’s cause)
(4) NATIONALS: nationalists don’t need any additional evidence to believe in their cause b/c they aren’t even-handed or looking from the English perspective; for nationalists, propaganda is needed to motivate, not to convince; Rules is very motivational but doesn't directly cite any actual facts/evidence


--Danielle

10:07 PM  
Blogger L Lazarow said...

Thomas Jefferson (TJ) (Neoclassical)

The Declaration of Independence

- lists grievances against the king (treasdon b/c you weren’t allowed to speak against the king, odd b/c Parliament usually made the decisions about the colonies)  GIVES NATIONALS SOMEONE TO HATE, directs anger against oppressive, monarchical dictator
- TJ twisted the meaning for stuff to get out of it what he wanted: used Hobbes (who believed absolutist rulers were necessary to rule over naturally-bad-people) but only quoted him that “governmental power rests on the consent of individual citizens”
- lies and exaggerates (says that British plunder colonies) – but TJ would have been able to back up his claims w/ some type of evidence

- geared toward upperclass
- all (free, white, land-owning) men are created equal
- white manhood suffrage was a very significant development in the 1770’s
- TJ said “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness” – used pursuit of happiness instead of “land” b/c TJ didn’t want everyone to think they would automatically get land
- new legal precedent of the WILL OF THE PEOPLE

Look for phrases that sound extremely familiar from your history classes.

--Danielle

10:40 PM  
Blogger L Lazarow said...

Thomas Paine

The American Crisis

- written in easy to understand language so that many could receive the message
- pure propaganda: written to motivate people
- threatens Tories: those who help Howe will lose their land and be kicked out; those who are neutral will not be punished after the war ends

How it deals with allies/enemies/neutrals/nationals

(1) NEUTRALS: Paine doesn’t alienate neutrals w/ browbeating and insults; Paine does not insult the neutrals (only insults the undecideds); Paine realizes that neutrals must be given reasons to side with him; Paine says, “if the colonists lose, Britain will punish the Tories and the revolutionaries (Whigs) b/c Britain can’t tell the Tories and Whigs apart

(2) ENEMY: Paine says that Britain has made stupid mistakes (ex: Britain had the US cornered at one point and could have ended the war but allowed the US to retreat); says that the US is determined and will rise up again and again by getting through loopholes

(3) ALLIES: Paine tells the Allies that the Whigs/revolutionaries are determined to keep on fighting Britain and that the Whigs have a good shot at winning the war, general message: “we’ll be back next spring, we’ve gotten this far without you, but we’d be even better with your help”; also, Paine indicates that the army was recruiting fast and had a lot of food (which was a lie)

(4) NATIONALISTS: obviously the nationals would love this b/c it’s all about how the revolutionaries are determined to defeat Britain and will do so…

Feel free to add.

--Danielle

10:40 PM  
Blogger Theresa said...

J. Hector St. John Crevecoeur (Neoclassical)

Letters from an American Farmer

Crevecoeur was born in Normandy and moved to New York in 1754. His farm was frequently ravaged in the Revolutionary War.

Letters from an American Farmer does not deal with the revolution at all. It does not advocate any sort of action against the European powers. It is, however very distinct. The whole document attempts to define what it means to be an American.

The following characteristics will help you recognize this work:
1. Uses perspective of a traveling Englishman comparing America to Europe.
2. Glorifies the simplicity and dignity of American life +(especially that of the farmer) in comparison to old European tradition.
3. Talks about the miserable lives of the poor in Europe, how they emigrated, and how they blend to become a new race.
4. Describes what an American is. Look for sentences that start with The American...
5. Describes American farmers, those who live by the sea, and those who live in the woods. Talks about provinces of America.
6. Praises religious toleration in America.
7. Also talks about "the European" and his hardships.

Basically anything which describes "the American" or compares Europeans and Americans is Crevecoeur.

Notable quotes
1. What then is American, this new man? He is either an European, or the descendent of an European, hence that strange mixture of blood, which you will find in no other country.
2.If they are peaceable subjects, and are industrious, what is it to their neighbors how and in what manner they think fit to address their prayers to the Supreme Being?
3. There is room for every body in America; has he any particular talent, or industry? he exerts it in order to procure a livelihood, and it succeeds.
4. Go thou and work and till; thou shalt prosper, provided thou be just, grateful and industrious.

Appeals
1. Nationalists: glorifies the American people and landscape
2. Enemy: condemns European society in comparison to Europe.
Note: these appeals deal with social propaganda, not related to the wars.

Letters is more like the early romantic works because it tries to create a national identity. Do not associate a call for war with this work. It shares the organization of Neoclassical works, but not necessarily the content.

9:19 PM  

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