Art and Literature of the 1800s
A New American Culture
Directions
- Open your notebook to the page indicated by your History teacher, p.__, and title it "Art and Literature of the 1800s"
- Scroll through the sections below and follow the directions.
- DO NOT SKIP AROUND!! Do not skip the videos! You might get lost!
CLICK on the pics for a closer look!
Why does this matter? (Read)
Do you recognize the story from below? Johnny Depp did not invent this character, but played the school teacher in a recent movie.
Recognize the scary creature in the back?
Even Johnny Depp joined in!
Disney even had a version!
Read the following passage.
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 a celebration of the American wilderness. Many books featured the wilderness. James Fenimore Cooper wrote five novels about the dramatic adventures of wilderness scout Natty Bumppo. One that remains popular is The Last of the Mohicans. Francis Parkman wrote a travel book, The Oregon Trail, about the frontier trail.
They even made it into a major motion picture!! The book is located in a library near you!
Continue reading and notes
Many writers 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, such as, “One if by land, and two if by sea; / And I on the opposite shore will be.”
(Read and take notes) Your next subtitle is bolded below.
European styles continued to influence American artists, 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 mountainous West. He produced huge paintings that convey the majesty of the American landscape.
Take a relaxing moment to view the beautiful landscape paintings of the Hudson River School Artists.
(Continue with notes and reading) no subtitle
EXAMINE THE BEAUTIFUL PICTURES BELOW BY CLICKING ON THEM.
Fun Fact: In March 2000 Sheikh Saud-Al Thani of Qatar purchased a copy of The Birds of America at a Christie's auction for $8.8 million, a record for any book at auction. WOW!!
(Read and take notes) subtitle below
By the 1840s, Americans took 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.
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 Henry 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 allowed slavery and fought the War with Mexico. Instead of paying taxes that helped to finance the war, Thoreau went to jail.
Another New England transcendentalist, Margaret Fuller, also called for change. In her magazine, The Dial, and in her book, Woman in the Nineteenth Century, Fuller argued for women’s rights.
Henry David Thoreau
Martin Luther King
Mohandas K. Gandhi
Transcendentalism
- Letting nature fuel us and that it is vital to life
- Believe in yourself and be confident
- Be a free thinker, explore knowledge and ask questions
- Self reliance and responsibility for one's own actions
- Be yourself because no one can be YOU better than YOU
WATCH the video below.
Your Assignment!! ON YOUR OWN PAPER
Instructions:
1. Create a list of 5 achievements, people, works, events and/or ideas from this Smore on Art and Literature.
2. Rewrite your list in order of importance with your top item being the most important down to five being the least important.
3. For each item write one complex sentence explaining why you ranked it where you did. (That would be 5 total sentences.) These can either be part of your ranking list or in a separate section at the bottom of your list.
Example: (If this assignment was on Reform)
1. Frederick Douglass- I think he was the most important to Abolitionists because he was a former slave who was brave enough to speak up about his experiences and denounced the idea that African Americans were inferior by nature.
2. "Declaration of Sentiments"-This document compared the ideas of freedom and the grievances of the colonies in the Declaration of Independence to the lack of freedom and grievances of women in the 1800s.
3. ( and so on.....)