Download Dark Romaniticism Worksheet 2 / Microsoft Office Word 97

11A American Literature
Unit Three: American Romanticism
“The Devil and Tom Walker” – Washington Irving
*Read: Pages 290-299 (pay close attention to page 291)
Vocabulary:
Parsimony: n. excessive frugality; stinginess
Prevalent: adj. wide-spread
Melancholy: adj. depressing; dismal; gloomy
Obliterate: v. to remove all traces of; to erase
*Create four original sentences using each of the vocabulary words above.
1) Parsimony: _____________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
2) Prevalent: ______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
3) Melancholy: _____________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
4) Obliterate: ____________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Notes:
Romanticism was a movement in the arts that flourished in Europe and America throughout
much of the 19th century. Romantic writers glorified nature and celebrated individuality. Their
treatment of the subject was emotional rather than rational, intuitive rather than analytic.
The early Romantics were inspired by the beauty of nature, emphasized emotions and the
imagination over reason and celebrated the individual spirit. Early Romantics include: William
Cullen Bryant, Washington Irving and James Fenimore Cooper.
Other Romantics include:
The Fireside Poets: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, James Russell Lowell, Oliver Wendell
Homes and John Greenleaf Whittier
The Transcendentalists: Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau
The “brooding” Romantics (American Gothic): Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne
and Herman Melville
1
11A American Literature
Unit Three: American Romanticism
Satire is literature that exposes to ridicule the vices or follies of people or societies.
The story of Tom Walker is a variation on the legend of Faust, a 16th century magician and
astrologer who was said to have sold his soul to the devil for wisdom, money and power.
Washington Irving reinvented the tale, setting it in the 1720s in an area of New England settled
by Quakers and Puritans. In Irving’s comic retelling of the legend, the writer satirizes people
who present a pious public image as they “sell their soul” for money.
Historical note: During a period of months beginning in 1692, over one hundred people in
Salem, Massachusetts were accused of witchcraft and imprisoned. In 1693 all were released by
order of Governor William Phips. By then 19 had been hanged and one had been pressed to
death, a process in which heavy objects, such as stones, are piled on someone’s body until the
victim suffocates;.
*Answer questions below in complete sentences.
Questions:
1) Washington Irving included references to Captain William Kidd and Faust. Both of these
references would have been familiar to his audience. Who were Kidd and Faust?
2) The first paragraph is filled with vivid imagery. What details in the description suggest that this
is an ill-fated place?
3) In the paragraph that begins “The house and its inmates had altogether a bad name”, what is
Irving satirizing? What humorous details indicate this is satire?
4) In the paragraph that begins “As Tom waxed old…” Irving describes what type of churchgoer?
Irving uses satire in this paragraph to suggest what about this kind of individual?
5) What traits do Tom Walker and his wife share?
6) How does Tom try to avoid fulfilling his end of the bargain he makes with the stranger in the
forest?
2
11A American Literature
Unit Three: American Romanticism
“The Minister’s Black Veil”
*Read: Pages 304-313 (pay close attention to pages 305 and 306)
Vocabulary:
Iniquity: n. sin
Zealous: adj. filled with enthusiastic devotion; passionate
Irreproachable: adj. free of blame; faultless
Sagacious: adj. having or showing wisdom and keen perception
*Create four original sentences using each of the vocabulary words above.
1) Iniquity: _____________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
2) Zealous: ______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
3) Irreproachable: __________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
4) Sagacious: ____________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Notes:
A parable is a story that illustrates a moral lesson.
A symbol is something concrete—a person, a place, an object, or an action—used to stand for
an abstract idea or feeling.
Irony refers to a contrast between appearance and reality. Types of irony include:
Situational Irony: a contrast between what is expected to happen and what actually
does happen
Dramatic Irony: when readers know more about a situation or a character in a story
than the characters do.
Verbal Irony: when someone states one thing and means another
A motif is a repeated or dominant theme, idea or event.
3
11A American Literature
Unit Three: American Romanticism
The short story is a brief prose narrative that usually can be read in one sitting and generally
includes these elements:
Setting: the time and place in which the events occur
Characters: the participants in the story. The main character is the protagonist. There
may be an antagonist, a character in conflict with the protagonist.
Point of view: the perspective of the storyteller, or narrator
Theme: the central message of the story that readers can apply to life.
Plot: the sequence of related events in a story. Most plots deal with a problem and
develop around a conflict, a struggle between opposing forces.
One of Hawthorne’s great talents was his mastery of symbolism. He often chose symbols
whose meaning was ambiguous, forcing readers to think deeply about his characters and their
conflicts.
Historical note: One of Hawthorne’s great-great-grandfathers was a judge at the infamous
Salem witch trials—the only one who refused to apologize for his role in sentencing innocent
people to death.
The minister in “The Minister’s Black Veil” was modeled after a Mr. Joseph Moody who
according to Hawthorne “made himself remarkable by the same eccentricity that is here related
of the Reverend Mr. Hooper.” In his youth, Moody had killed “a beloved friend; and from that
day till the hour of his own death, hid his face from men.”
*Answer questions below in complete sentences.
Questions:
1) What is the topic of the first sermon Mr. Hooper gives while wearing the veil?
2) What reason does Mr. Hooper give Elizabeth for wearing the veil?
3) Hawthorne uses verbal irony to highlight his criticisms of Puritan society. In the paragraph that
begins “At the close of the services” Squire Saunders insults Mr. Hooper. What is ironic about the
narrator’s comments? What behavior, value or belief is being criticized?
4) Is the word “secret” a motif in this story?
5) List the main events of this story. What is the conflict?
6) What does Mr. Hooper say on his deathbed about veils?
4