Name: ______Date:______Period:______
“The Dark Side of Individualism”
Directions: Read the article on pages 446-448 of your textbook and answer the following questions.
1. What is another term used to refer to the Dark Romantics?
2. Which novel triggered the Gothic tradition in European literature? When was it published?
3. The Gothic literature was inspired by what element from the Middle Ages?
4. What is the mascot of the Gothic?
5. Romantic writers believed in the power of the imagination. Some writers saw hope when they looked at the individual, but what did the Dark Romantics see?
6. Who are at least four American writers that can be considered Dark Romantics?
7. Describe the characteristics of Poe’s work.
8. Hawthorne used characteristics of the Gothic to examine what he felt were human truths. He wrote about the human heart when it faced which characteristics?
9. Eventually Realism replaced Romanticism, but the Gothic style revived in the 20th century. In which portion of the country did it resurface?
10. Who are some of the Gothic writers of the 20th century?
Read the “Author’s Study” about Edgar Allan Poe on pages 450-453 and answer the following questions.
11. Where and when was Poe born?
12. What happened to Poe after his mother died and his father abandoned him?
13. When did Poe start to develop an interest in writing? What were some of his first successes with writing?
14. What obstacles did Poe face in young adulthood? Why might these experiences have given him a more negative outlook on life?
15. Describe Poe’s involvement with the military.
16. Describe Poe’s experiences with the publishing world.
17. Poe finally achieved great success by 1843, where he won several financial prizes and his widely popular poem “The Raven” was published. What personal problems prevented him from enjoying this success?
18. When and where die Poe die?
19. Look at the Literary Contributions chart on pp. 451. Summarize the three major contributions to literature that Poe made.
A.
B.
C.
20. Now that you know more about Edgar Allan Poe, how would you characterize him? What is one character trait you would assign to this man? Explain why.
21. Explain how Poe’s life influenced his writing. How did his life fate him to become a Dark Romantic writer?