Washington Irving Edgar Allan Poe Nathaniel Hawthorne Herman

Washington Irving Edgar Allan Poe Nathaniel Hawthorne Herman Melville

Dark romantics/gothic writers Transcendentalist views Still valued intuition over logic and reason Symbolism Spiritual facts lie within nature These facts may be evil or harmful Balanced view of good v. evil Psychological effects of guilt and sin Madness and derangement in the human psyche

WASHINGTON IRVING 1783 -1859

BACKGROUND Minimal education Born in the final year of the Revolutionary War Named after George Washington Satirist England for 17 years International literary celebrity

STYLE Folk lore and legends Shared heritage of old ways, beliefs and tales provide a connection to the past Mixed realistic detail with elements of the supernatural Characters were stereotypes Setting Used humor, yet truth

WORKS Fictional narrators Jonathan Oldstyle, Gent. Diedrich Knickerbocker A History of New York… Satire of American History and political figures Geoffrey Crayon The Sketch Book Rip Van Winkle The Legend of Sleepy Hallow The Devil and Tom Walker

LITERARY ELEMENTS How does the setting reflect a romantic style? Plot structure Mood Atmosphere. Emotion created in the reader by using descriptive language and sensory details. Satire A type of writing that ridicules the shortcomings of people or institutions in an attempt to bring about a change.

Born in Boston 1809 Parents Elizabeth Arnold Poe-actress, died of TB David Poe-mediocre actor, alcoholic, abandoned Edgar as a baby Orphaned before age 3 Siblings (older brother, younger sister) were separated

John and Frances Allan Foster parents, never formally adopted John Successful merchant Disapproved of Edgar Frances Bragged about Poe Died of TB

University of Virginia Good student Money, gambling, debts Dropout/withdraw Joined Army U. S. Military Academy at West Point Discharged

Moved in with aunt Maria Poe Clemm in Baltimore, Maryland At age 26, Poe married 13 -year-old cousin (Maria’s daughter) Continued writing while editing several magazines Virginia died at 27 (1847) of TB

Two years later, Poe died at age 40 Controversial and mysterious death “Acute congestion of the brain” from drug and alcohol overdoses Rabies?

NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE Background • Born in Independence Day 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts. • Father died at sea • Mother raised him and two sisters • Married Sophia Peabody had three children • Friends with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, author, and Franklin Pierce, future president. • Participated in the utopian experiment • Died of gastrointestinal cancer in 1864 Family Skeletons • Hathorne to Hawthorne • William Hathorne, great-grandfather • John Hathorne, grandfather

WRITING • Spent twelve years in seclusion • Worked odd jobs-political positions often short-lived due to change in parties – Laid off from The Custom House and wrote The Scarlet Letter in one year – Twice-Told Tales, The Scarlet Letter, “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment, ” “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Minister’s Black Veil” – Dark side of human nature • Mysteries of the human heart and the question of human evil

Symbol Person, place, thing, or event that has meaning in itself and also stands for something more than itself. American Flag Parable Short, simple story from which a moral or religious lesson can be drawn. Many parables come from religious scriptures. Meaning can often be ambiguous.

HERMAN MELVILLE • • Prominent family; father died and left debt 19 he began sailing; lived among cannibals; enlisted in Navy. Wondered seas for 4 years. – • • • Whaling ship was his “Yale and Harvard” Familiar with people’s beliefs and customs and places of the world Writing-found early fame; wrote about personal adventures = popular. Couldn’t write about the truth, what moved him b/c it wasn’t popular, didn’t pay Wrote five novels from sailing experiences – – Typee-fictionalized history of his stay at Nuku Hiva- cannibals. South Seas adventure Omoo-Based on his experience in Tahiti Mardi-disappointing-travel narrative of the mind Moby-Dick – waling experiences and mysteries of human nature = unpopular • – – – • • Captain Ahab pursues white whale that took off his leg Pierre-tried to rebound, widely unpopular Fire in the publisher’s warehouse destroyed remaining stock of books. Billy Budd-written after retirement but published after his death Tried magazine writing-failed Writings reflect evil in all of existence