American Literature Week Three－1820 to 1865 Overview and "Rip Van Winkle" by Washington Irving

A. Before formal class
a. Separation of powers-- Executive, Legislation, and Judiciary.
b. The most important thing which we definitely need to learn in university is the strategy of how to develop, manage, and access to the literature.
c. Define what "American Renaissance" and "American Transcendentalism" are.
   (a) American Renaissance-- American Renaissance was the period during 1876–1917 characterized by renewed national self-confidence. The American preoccupation with national identity in this period was expressed by modernism and technology as well as academic classicism. It expressed its self-confidence in new technologies, such as the wire cables of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York.
   (b) American Transcendentalism-- Transcendentalism is a religious and philosophical movement that was developed during the late 1820s and 1830s in the Eastern region of the United States as a protest against the general state of spirituality. Among the transcendentalists' core beliefs was the inherent goodness of both people and nature.

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B. Correction of Quiz 1&2
a. Immigrants of America mostly refers to Spanish, Dutch, and enslaved Africans, not British.
b. Great Awakening is a religious revival that maintain the truth of revealed religion while emphasizing the importance of human emotions and feelings such as the author, Jonathan Edwards. 
c. British Romanticism is almost the same as American Romanticism. Both of them are put focuses on individualistic, humanistic, and emotional.
d. Every period is the reaction or respond to the previous period such as Renaissance called "Late Classicism" and Romanticism call "Late Renaissance".
* Take the periods of British literature for example--
1+. Classicism  2－. Dark age (Medieval)  3+. Renaissance  4－. Neoclassicism 
5+. Romanticism  6－. Victorian Literature  7+. Modernism

e. Manifest destiny was the widely held belief in the United States that American settlers were destined to expand throughout the continent. Historians have for the most part agreed that there are three basic themes to Manifest Destiny. That is the reason why American always spread their Values of Ideas to everybody else over the world.

f. Transcendentalism never really a formalized movement, but instead a shared belief among a group of writers in the creative powers of the individual mind and the need to question established institutions and traditions. 

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C. The file of American Literature made Simple

a. Enlightenment Period-- There is a belief in this period that human mind could comprehend. For example, Benjamin Franklin wrote Poor Richard's Almanack. (Page 166)

                                           

b. Colonial literature mostly are navigation logbook, political brief, or propaganda. In 1960s, due to the rising of feminism, Anne Bradstreet was put into discussion in American literature.

c. Revolutionary literature-- The Declaration of Independence is the most representative work of this period and this declaration effects the independence of France and Canada. Also, the Federalist is a well-known book as well. Its authors are James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton.

*Quotation: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." (Page 166)

The Declaration of Independence

d."The best government is that which governs least." This sentence is from Common Sense by Thomas Paine. But in fact, Thoreau is the first person who said this sentence in his Civil Disobedience. (Page 167)

  Thoreau  v.s. Thomas

e. Famous quotation by Benjamin Franklin from an Advertisement video--

   (a) Sleeping fox catches no ham.

   (b) A money saved is a money earned.

   (c) Time is money.                                                                           (Page 166)

f. Romantic literature-- "Inferiority complex" is a lack of self-worth, a doubt and uncertainty, and feelings of not measuring up to standards. It is often subconscious, and is thought to drive afflicted individuals to overcompensate, resulting either in spectacular achievement or extreme asocial behavior. The term was coined to indicate a lack of covert self-esteem. (Page 167)

* the representative author of this age: Washington Irving. He was an American author, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (1820).

Washington Irving

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D. Vocabulary
a. immigrants-- "Migran" stands for move.
b. ratify-- is to make an agreement official which mean it need to be approved by congress or legislative institution.
c. concession-- something that is allowed or given up, often in order to end a disagreement, or the act of allowing or giving this
d. electoral college--  a group of people whose job is to choose a political or religious leader
e. manifest-- "Mani" stands for manipulating.