Term
| Melville's Literary Reputation (19th Century) |
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Definition
1. Not widely read
2. only 2500 copies sold in 1st five years and fewer than 3,000 in next 30
3. Not for female audience, who was the primary consumer of novels at the time |
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Term
| Melville's Literary Reputation (20th Century) |
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Definition
1. Between 1890's and 1920's, the novel gained momentum
2. 1917: recognized as Melville's greatest work
3. 1920's: Melville revival
4. Now seen as a great American novel and the greatest work of the American Renaissance |
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Term
| Thoreau Reputation (19th Century) |
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Definition
1. Dismissed as a minor writer who would soon be forgotten
2. Emerson's eulogy was the best known piece on him at the time |
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Term
| Thoreau Reputation (20th Century) |
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Definition
1. Most widely read transcendentalist
2. Vastly more influential than any other transcendentalist |
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Term
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Definition
1. Thoreau's most transcendental work
2. Most transcendental book in our literature
3. Artistic culmination of the movement
4. The one indisputable book-length masterpiece
5. On of the classics of world literature |
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Term
| Civil Disobedience Reputation |
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Definition
1. One of the world's classic treatises on political justice/action
2. Chief inspirer of Gandhi
3. Most specific and dramatic transcendental work
4. Contributes to Thoreau's fame and reputation |
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Term
| Leaves of Grass Reputation |
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Definition
| program for American poetry and a description of Whitman's work and intention |
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Term
| "Song of Myself" Reputation |
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Definition
1. Whitman's most important poem
2. Whitman's best known poem for frank sexual imagery |
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Term
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Definition
1. Sea Novel
2. Apprenticeship Novel
3. Romance (extravagant characters, exotic places, heroic events, passionate love, supernatural experience)
Hard to categorize! |
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Term
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Definition
1. Autobiography- based on journals he kept and records adjustment and purpose to nature; explains spiritual enrichment
2. Social Criticism/Satire- Thoreau tears down the world instead of building his new one; rejected materialism; hated inhumanity and political corruption; opposed alienation from the organic life of nature
4. Inspirational- emphasizes optimism; encourages man to discipline and spiritualize his life while incorporating transcendental beliefs |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
| "When Lilacs Last at the Dooryard Bloom'd" Genre |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
1. Definition Poems
2. Riddles
3. Satires |
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Term
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Definition
1. Whale: primitive forces in nature, Ahab sees as evil, devil incarnate; Ishmael sees as Christ figure and all powerful; innocence or terror in whiteness
Open ended symbol so that reader can interpret how they please
2. White whale, bear, shark, albatross, albino man
3. Ahab as Prometheus
4. Fedallah as the Devil |
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Term
| "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" Symbolism |
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Definition
1. Lilac: poet's love (in bloom when Lincoln's body was carried to IL)
2. Evening Star: Venus (Lincoln)
3. Song of the Swamp: solitary song bird; hermit thrush |
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Term
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Definition
| Men should lead sincere, joyous lives instead of the toilsome sham existences which they now live |
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Term
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Definition
1. Grim realities of war
2. Idealism
3. Enemy is "a man divine as myself"
4. Christ seen in a dead soldier's face
5. End to conflict is envisioned |
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Term
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Definition
1. Theory of Universality- Whitman is of every rank and religion
2. Whitman is equal to all and all to him |
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Term
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Definition
1. Nature
2. Love
3. Friendship
4. Immortality
5. Death |
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Term
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Definition
1. Marked by violence, monomania, and revenge
2. Compared to Faust
3. Prometheus |
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Term
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Definition
1. First innocent
2. Then lost innocence after jumping ship
3. Now insane as a lonely castaway; sea drowned his soul |
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