Dark Romanticism

1. Which side of the divide do you fall? Are you closer to being a Transcendentalist or a Dark Romantic? Explain your answer with a short paragraph.

1. I think I am a lot closer to the Transcendentalist beliefs. Why i think i relate to this the most because as soon as i read their beliefs it was exactly how i felt. I really like the fact that they believe that god talks to every one and that we were all born pure and not sinners. But most of all i like the fact that they understand how powerful your mind really is unlike other people who (the church) did not want people to learn how to read.

3. Write a 2-3 paragraph response to the story you read. You should explain what you thought of the story as well as how well it illustrates how the Dark Romantics disagreed with the Transcendantalists. You need to provide at least a line or two of direct textual evidence from the story you chose to prove your claim.

3. My thought on the story i just read was that it was nothing like i was expecting it to be. i had to read the story twice before i fully understood it. this author was such a bad person. i didn't understand how he went from a loving home to a happy marriage and then he just went crazy. i like how he loved animals and his wife. but then as he got older he started to drink heavily and then come home and abuse his wife and his pets. it seemed that he did not know how to control his emotions or his demons that he let it get the best im. he cut his cats eye out then he kills the cat. so weeks go by and he feels bad for mistreating his pets so he gets a new cat. so the same deal he likes the cat then it drives him crazy to the point he kills hi wife. i just hate the fact that he blames this all on the cat!! So the transendantalist belive that all people are good and that god talks to everyone thoughts and by that way the humans will know how to behave. However the dark romantics show "the black cat" as an example that not all people all good and some are just plain out evil. "The fury of a demon instantly possessed me.""I took from my waistcoat-pocket a pen-knife, opened it, grasped the poor beast by the throat, and deliberately cut one of its eyes from the socket "

5. Once of Poe's most famous works was "The Raven", a poem he wrote while his second wife was literally dying in the next room. Read the poem (more than once), and then write a response (at least two paragraphs) that includes a few lines that stuck out to you. Add another paragraph or two that should explain how this poem represents an anti-Transcendental idea. As always, responses with direct evidence are always better than those that do not.

5. the raven has always been a very interesting poem to me. I remembered the first time i heard it was on the Sampson's. i liked how they made it a dark cartoon but still funny. when i read the raven i thought of a man who is extremely sad that he is losing his wife. what gave me this idea is when he wrote "For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore". Also i think he didn't know what to do with him self (" I had sought to borrow From my books surcease of sorrow"). so with him not knowing what to do with himself he got so lonely that he thought a bird was staring at him and enjoying his sorrow that he was in. he thought the bird was smiling at him and that it just did not want to leave him and his dying wife alone.

5. the way this represents anti-Transcendental it that if god really spoke to each and every person that he would have helped him in his time of need and help him from going crazy. also he wouldn't see the raven as a sing of evil but as a sign that his sweet Leanor is being guided by a beautifull bird to heaven also he wouldn't be as sad as he is.