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Romanticism 's Impact On America Essay

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Romanticism’s Impact on America
The period of Romanticism, occurring between the years 1800 and 1860, left a significant impact on not only the literature of that time, but the literature of today as well. Prior to romantic writings, the world focused on society and logic. Romanticism allowed people to start valuing individualism and to appeal to emotional responses. This new way of thinking brought new literary styles, themes, and genres that were never explored before and are still found today. The literature of Romanticism allowed people to escape the harshness of reality and enter a different world.
The establishment of a new nation encouraged the people to alter their philosophical way of thinking. The Enlightenment significantly impacted America due to the stress placed on logic and reason (“Romanticism”). The Enlightenment had a strict order and when combined with Romantic thinking, it created different reactions. Although Romantic writers still wanted to have reason, they wanted to also be in touch with emotions. Abandoning most of the logical thinking also lead the Romantics to discover darker literature that is referred to as gothic. This dark literature was never explored before Romanticism (Robinson). It is said that "[i]t was a revolt against established order, especially that which was established by the enlightenment," which shows the rebellious nature of the people of this time and how badly they wanted to be different ("Romanticism"). Along with the

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