Romanticism

Mid 1800s

These writers infused their writing with “fancy, imagination, emotion, nature, individuality and exotica” (The American Experience). Transcendentalism and anti-transcendentalism are hallmarks of this era as many of these writers explored man’s relationship to nature and his desire to reach a higher consciousness outside traditional theology.

Featured author for this period...

Walt Whitman

- The Walt Whitman Archive - an impressive site form the University of Virginia with many e-texts of Whitman's works and so much more!
- Walt Whitman's World: America Still Needs His Poetry- great editorial piece from the Boston Globe and a must-read if you're researching Whitman!
- Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources:
  - - Excerpt from Nonfiction: "Preface to the 1855 Edition of Leaves of Grass" -p. 440
    - Excerpt from Poem: "Song of Myself" -p. 442
    - Poem: "When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer" -p. 446
    - Poem: "By the Bivouac’s Fitful Flame” -p. 447
    - Poem: "I Hear America Singing" -p. 448
    - Poem: "A Noiseless Patient Spider" -p. 450
    - Academy of American Poets: "Oh Captain! My Captain!" by Whitman

Even more to explore...

Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott- learn about the author of Little Women and the Alcott family from the Louisa May Alcott Memorial Association.

Hospital Sketches- a compilation of four short stories inspired by Alcott's own experiences.

William Cullen Bryant

- William Cullen Bryant- great resource with links to many etexts of Bryant's works from Washington State University
- Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources:
  - - Poem: "Thanatopsis" -p. 277

Emily Dickinson

- Emily Dickinson - biographical information and e-text of some of her most famous poems from the Academy of American Poets.
- Visit the Emily Dickinson Museum with this link.
- Here's an interesting article on Dickinson from The Atlantic.
- Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources:
  - - Poem: "Because I could not stop for Death" -p. 426
    - Poem: "I heard a Fly buzz - when I died" -p. 428
    - Poem: "There’s a certain slant of light" -p. 430
    - Poem: "My life closed twice before its close" -p. 430
    - Poem: "The Soul selects her own Society" -p. 431
    - Poem: "The Brain – is wider than the Sky" -p. 432
    - Poem: "There is a solitude of space " -p. 433
    - Poem: "Water, is taught by thirst" -p. 434

Ralph Waldo Emerson

- Ralph Waldo Emerson - click here and connect to the Academy of American Poets' page on Emerson.
- Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources:
  - - Excerpt from Essay: “Nature” –p. 390
    - Excerpt from Essay: "Self-Reliance" -p. 393
    - Poem: "Concord Hymn" -p. 395
    - Poem: "The Snowstorm" -p. 396

Margaret Fuller

Margaret Fuller was America's "first true feminist" and a colleague of Emerson, Thoreau and the Alcotts. Click here to learn more about her and explore some of her works.

Nathaniel Hawthorne

- Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources
  - - Short Story: "The Minister’s Black Veil" -p. 340
- The Scarlet Letter

Oliver Wendell Holmes

- "The Chambered Nautilus" - a Holmes poem from The Academy of American Poets.
- Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources:
  - - Poem: "Old Ironsides" -p. 280
    - Click here to learn how the Holmes' poetry saved the USS Constitution( also known as Old Ironsides).
    - USS Constitution" - check out this cool source from the US Navy.
    - Visit the USS Constitution Museum with this link.
    - "Old Ironsides" Earns Its Name- a cool resource from Eyewitness to History.

Washington Irving

- Read Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" - e-text from Project Gutenberg
- Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources:
  - - Short Story: "The Devil and Tom Walker" -p. 258

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - a collection of his works and some biographical information as well from the Academy of American Poets
- "Paul Revere's Ride" - connect to the full e-text of Longfellow's famous poem.
- Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources:
  - - Poem: "The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls" -p. 275

Herman Melville

- Moby Dick

Edgar Allan Poe

- The Edgar Allan Poe Museum - cool virtual tour and lots of link to great sites to the father of science fiction/horror.
- Edgar Allan Poe - biographical information and e-text of some of his most famous poems from the Academy of American Poets.
- The Raven: An Interactive Study Resource- great site from www.teachersfirst.com. Thanks to Mrs. Currier for letting us know about this cool site!
- Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources:
  - - Short Story: "The Fall of the House of Usher" -p. 312
    - Poem: "The Raven" -p. 330

Audio Book/MP3

Poe's classic short story - "The Tell-Tale Heart" is available as "literature for your eyes and ears" through LoudLit.org! Here are some more works by Poe also available as "literature for your eyes and ears": "Alone", "Annabel Lee", "A Dream within a Dream", "Eldorado", "The Raven".

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Harriet Beecher Stowe- A collection of Stowe's works from Online Literature.
Books by Stowe Sorted by Popularity- a large collection of e-texts from Project Gutenberg.

Henry David Thoreau

- Walden
- Walking

John Greenleaf Whittier

- John Greenleaf Whittier- biography and links to some Whittier poems from The American Academy of Poets.
- Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience - Selected Textbook Resources:
  - - Excerpt from Poem: "Snowbound" -p. 282

Overall "Text to World" & "Text to Text" Connections for this Literary Period

- American Memory Timeline - from the Learning Page at The Library of Congress, this link will help you connect American history to American literature.