Your Assignment

Your Assignment

Your assignment:

  1. Read the paragraph (below) on Dark Romanticism
  2. Read “Rappacini’s Daughter.” TURN COPY BACK IN! It’s a class set.
  3. Answer ONE of the follow-up QUESTION LISTS. TURN IN! (Do NOT take home to finish because you have enough to read at home already. This counts as your reading quiz for today.
  4. If you finish early, you may work on your Scarlet Letter reading and paideia preparation.
  5. YOU WILL HAVE ACCESS TO THIS SHEET, THE STORY, AND YOUR RESPONSE ON THE FINAL PAIDEIA IN CASE YOU WISH TO MAKE CONNECTIONS.

Dark Romanticism

We will soon study Romanticism and Transcendentalism, but it is important that we at least mention it during our reading of The Scarlet Letter. This is because the novel, even though it is about Puritan times, was written during the late Romantic period by Nathanial Hawthorne. Hawthorne, Herman Melville (who wrote Moby Dick) and Edgar Allan Poe (who needs no introduction!) were considered to be the three Anti-Transcendentalists or Dark Romantics.

Dark Romanticism shared the basic characteristics of Romanticism (valuing intuition over reason, seeing symbols in all events (critics consider The Scarlet Letter the first symbolic novel written in America), and a belief that spirituality is located primarily in nature. However, the Dark Romantics twisted the Romantic concept a bit. They believed that nature was NOT necessarily good or harmless, and that it could sometimes actually be evil. They were fascinated by the psychological effects of sin, guilt, and even madness. We have already studied how “duality,” or the good and evil sides of a person are thought to coexist in each of us.

“Rappaccini’s Daughter”, written in 1844 (six years before The Scarlet Letter) is one of Hawthorne’s most well-known stories.

Questions (ANSWER ON THE BACK OF THIS SHEET)

PICK ONE, A, B, OR C !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A)How does this story fit the characteristics of Dark Romanticism?

B)Some critics have called “Rappaccini’s Daughter” a “retelling of the Garden of Eden” story. Support this position.

C)Connect “Rappaccini’s Daughter” to The Scarlet Letter. Consider, plot, theme, style, characterization etc.

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