4과 An American Renaissance 발표대본

20053022 오장영   20112506 이혜현  20112490  이효서

<혜현>

Hello everyone. We are going to give a presentation about chapter 4  An American Renaissance from now on. Please listen carefully.

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First let me introduce about our contents. First Background Second some information about transcendentalism and transcendentalist.

Third writers and their important works and last vocabulary and reference. Let's start with background.

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In the 1830s and 1840s, the frontier of American society was quickly moving toward West. Writers were beginning to look at the western frontier for ideas for a literature about American life.

At this time, Boston and its neighboring towns and villages were filled with intellectual excitement and activity. Many New Englanders became regular lecture goers. Among the younger people, there was much talk about  the "new spiritual era." They wanted to explore the inner life. They studied the Greek, German and Indian philosophers. Many kept diaries.

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then I'm gonna explain what is Transcendentalism and who are Transcendentalists.

Transcendentalism  is a philosophical movement that developed in the 1830s and 1840s in the New England region of the United States as a protest to the general state of culture and society.

And Transcendentalists, they formed a movement of feelings and beliefs rather than a system of philosophy. They rejected both the conservative Puritanism of their ancestors and newer, liberal faith of Unitarianism. They tried to find the truth through feeling and intuition rather than through logic. They found God everywhere, in man and in nature. In many ways, nature itself was their "Bible". The major figures among transcendentalists are Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.

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Now I'm going to introduce some Writers & their important works.

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- First person I will tell you is Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882).

Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century.

In 1836, he founded the "Transcendental Club".

In the same year he published 'Nature', the clearest statement of Transcendentalist ideas.

In 'Nature' he stated that man should not see nature merely as something to be used; that man's relationship with nature transcends the idea of usefulness. He saw an important difference between understanding and "Reason". In 1837, Emerson gave a famous speech at Harvard University = The American Scholar. He attacked the influence of tradition and the past, and called for a new burst of American creativity. Emerson helped open American Poetry to new possibilities. He also introduced the nation to entirely new poetic material, such as Hindu idea. He is best known as the author of the 'Concord Hymn'. 'Self-Reliance(1841)', 'The Over-Soul(1841)', 'The Poet(1844)', are his famous essays.

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I will tell you about Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) and His famous Walden.

Henry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, and leading transcendentalist. He was pure Transcendentalist all his life.

In 1846, he was arrested and put in jail for one night because he had refused to pay taxes. It was a protest against US government's acceptance of slavery in South and its war with Mexico. He wrote his experience in jail in his essay 'Civil Disobedience(1849)'. He is best known for his book ''Walden(1854)'.

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Walden is world-famous book written by Henry David Thoreau, The book is about his stay in the pondside hut. In its own strange way, it is one of the greatest works of American literature.

On the surface, it speaks only of the practical side of living alone in the woods, of the plants, animals and insects one finds there, and of the changing seasons. But in fact it is a completely Transcendentalist work. The author tries to "live through the visible to the invisible, through the temporal to the eternal. He rejects the things ordinary people desire in life, such as money and possessions. Instead, he emphasizes the search for true wisdom. Walden is a hopeful book, encouraging people to lead sincere, joyous lives. The author sees the world as "more wonderful than it is convenient; more beautiful than it is useful."

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Now I will tell you about Nathaniel Hawthorne and his famous work The Scarlet Letter(1850).

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. He entered Bowdoin College in 1821, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in 1824, and graduated in 1825. Hawthorne anonymously published his first work, a novel titled Fanshawe, in 1828. He published several short stories in various periodicals which he collected in 1837 as Twice-Told Tales.

The Scarlet Letter was published in 1850, followed by a succession of other novels. Much of Hawthorne's writing centers on New England, many works featuring moral allegories with a Puritan inspiration. His fiction works are considered part of the Romantic movement and, more specifically, dark romanticism. His themes often center on the inherent evil and sin of humanity, and his works often have moral messages and deep psychological complexity. His published works include novels, short stories, and a biography of his friend Franklin Pierce.

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I will tell you more about The Scarlet Letter.

The Scarlet Letter is an 1850 romantic work of fiction in a historical setting, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It is considered to be his magnum opus. Set in 17th-century Puritan Salem, Massachusetts during the years 1642 to 1649, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an adulterous affair and struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity. Throughout the book, Hawthorne explores themes of legalism, sin, and guilt.

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Im gonna introduce a novelist Melville (1819-1891) who made such a popular novel the Moby-Dick (1851)

he was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet.

Melville's most important experiences in his life started when he became a sailor at age twenty. His adventures as a seaman inspired Melville to write. When he began to write, life at sea became the most important material for his books and short stories.

In Melville's fiction, man lives in a world divided into two warring parts = good against evil, God against Satan, the "head" against the "heart". There is no way to overcome these opposites. Melville has a tragic view of life = he seems to feel that the universe itself is working against human happiness and peace of mind.

During 1850s he began to write poetry. The Civil War made a deep impression on Melville and became the principal subject of his verse. Unfortunately, Melville's remains relatively unrecognized as a poet.

He wrote many novels and short stories but his most famous novel is Moby-Dick. Mobi-Dick is considered perhaps the greatest novel of American literature.

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Mobi-Dick is about a man seeking revenge on a whale. But more than that, it is about the battle between good and evil, between the known and the unknown, between everything and nothing. In the novel Moby-Dick, the great White Whale, represents God or fate. Melville gives the reader a great deal of factual information about whale-hunting in order to make the world of Moby-Dick seem real. Moby-Dick is considered to be one of the Great American Novels and a treasure of world literature.

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Then the last one  I will let you know is

- Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)

He was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic. He is father of the modern mystery.

He was a writer interested in psychology and the darker side of human nature.

Poe made important contributions to American literature in three areas: the short story, literary criticism and poetry.

Many of Poe's tales of horror are known throughout the world. His method was to put his characters into unusual situations. Next, he would carefully describe their feelings of terror or guilt. Author rarely shows the actual object of horror. Rather, the reader must use his imagination. Poe was also one of the creators of the modern detective story.

The interest of Poe's poetry is in its sound, rather than its content. He consistently experimented with ways to make it musical, and defined poetry as "the rhythmic creation of beauty"

Poe's literary criticism is also important. He wanted to help develop a national literature for the young country and felt that intelligent criticism was the key.

He wrote story as "The Tell-Tale Heart(1843)" and "The Black Cat(1843)", "The Fall of the House of Usher(1839)" is the best known of Poe's tales. The Raven(1845) is his most famous poem.

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last we found some vocabularies to figure you out.

4. Vocabulary

* mercantile / adj / connected with trade and commercial affairs.

* transcend / verb / (formal) to be or go beyond the usual limits of sth.

* quadruped / noun / any creature with four feet.

* deity / noun / a god or GODDESS.

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* unpardonable / adj / that cannot be forgiven or excused

* pictorial / adj / using or containing pictures / connected with pictures.

* embattled / adj / surrounded by problems and difficulties. involved in war

* delude / verb / to make sb believe sth that is not true.

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these are web sources where we found out all informations.

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thank you for listening!!!