Gothic Literature, Romanticism, and Transcendentalism

Gothic Literature: is a genre of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. As a genre, it is generally believed to have been invented by the English author Horace Walpole, with his 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto. Prominent features of Gothic fiction include terror (both psychological and physical), mystery, the supernatural, ghostes, haunted houses, and Gothic architechure, castles, darkness, death, decay, doubles, madness, secrets, and hereditary curses.
Further contributions to the Gothic genre were provided in the work of the Romantic poets. Prominent examples include Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Christabel and Keats' La Belle Dame Sans Merci which feature mysteriously fey ladies.
hough it is sometimes asserted that the Gothic had played itself out by the Victorian era and had declined into the cheap horror fiction of the "Penny Blood" or "Penny Dreadful" type, exemplified by the serial novel Varney the Vampire, in many ways Gothic was now entering its most creative phase - even if it was no longer a dominant literary genre (in fact the form's popularity as an established genre had already begun to erode with the success of the historical romance).

Romanticism is a complex artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th centery in Western Europe, and gained strength during the Industerial Reveloution.It was partly a revolt against aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of Entertainment and a reaction against the scientific rationalization of nature, and was embodied most strongly in the visual arts, music, and literature.
In a basic sense, the term "Romanticism" has been used to refer to certain artists, poets, musicians, as well as potlictial and philosophical and social thinkers of the late 18th and early to mid 19th centuries. It has equally been used to refer to various artistic, intellectual, and social trends of that era.


Transcendentalism was a group of new ideas in liturature, religion, culture, philosophily, that emerged in New England in the early to middle 19th century.
One way to look at the Transcendentalists is to see them as a generation of well educated people who lived in the decades before the American Civil War and the national division that it both reflected and helped to create. These people, mostly New Englanders, mostly around Boston, were attempting to create a uniquely American body of literature. It was already decades since the Americans had won independence from England. Now, these people believed, it was time for literary independence. And so they deliberately went about creating literature, essays, novels, philosophy, poetry, and other writing that were clearly different from anything from England, France, Germany, or any other European nation.

Another way to look at the Transcendentalists is to see them as a generation of people struggling to define spirituality and religion (our words, not necessarily theirs) in a way that took into account the new understandings their age made available.

Work Cited:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcendentalism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_fiction
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticism
http://www.transcendentalists.com/what.htm

Act four
Proctor asks Elizabeth if she thinks that he should confess. He says that he does not hold out, like Rebecca and Martha, because of religious conviction. Rather, he does so out of spite because he wants his persecutors to feel the weight of guilt for seeing him hanged when they know he is innocent.
he men bring Rebecca to witness Proctor’s confession, hoping that she will follow his example. The sight of Rebecca shames Proctor. He offers his confession, and Danforth asks him if he ever saw Rebecca Nurse in the devil’s company. Proctor states that he did not. Danforth reads the names of the condemned out loud and asks if he ever saw any of them with the devil. Proctor again replies in the negative. Danforth pressures him to name other guilty parties, but Proctor declares that he will speak only about his own sins.

Proctor hesitates to sign the confession, saying that it is enough that the men have witnessed him admitting his alleged crimes. Under pressure, he signs his name but snatches the sheet from Danforth. Danforth demands the confession as proof to the village of Proctor’s witchcraft. Proctor refuses to allow him to nail the paper with his name on the church door and, after arguing with the magistrates, tears the confession in two and renounces it. Danforth calls for the marshal. Herrick leads the seven condemned prisoners, including Proctor, to the gallows. Hale and Parris plead with Elizabeth to remonstrate with Proctor, but she refuses to sway him from doing what he believes is just.

Act three
There is a trial in Salem. They ask Proctor about his personal beliefs. They also think that Proctors is trying to over through the court, but actually he only wants to free his wife.
John Proctor informs the court that Elizabeth is pregnant. So the court decides that she will not be hung until she gives birth to the baby.
John gets 91 farms to sign a paper stating the good characteristics of Elizabeth, marry and also Rebbecca.
In this chapter John Proctor leaps at Abigail and calls her a whore. He admits everything about the affair between him and Abigail. And explains that Elizabeth discovered it and fired Abigail. Danforth wants to know if this is true so he makes Abigail and John face opposite ways with there backs to each other and then he asks Elizabeth to come into the court room to answer the question about if John really did have an affair with Abigail. Elizabeth doesn't want to ruin her husbands name so she lies to the court about the affair. And Danforth then thinks that John is lieing about the affair.

Act two-

Act two
John sits down at the table with Elizabeth and Mary warren. he says that 12 girls are already in jail. Who ever Abigail and the girls point to and accuse witchcraft, they go to jail. so the Abigail accuses Elizabeth. The people come with a warrant for her. Hale comes to john proctors house and discusses and asks lots of questions about their church life and other things. As the days go by Hales mind about witchcraft changes. He no longer thinks that the proctor family is bewitched. John gets very mad when they come for her and he rips up the warrant and asks Hale why the accuser is always Innocent.

Act 1!

Act one talks about how Betty is very sick and Parris does not want to admit that it is witchcraft even though that is what everyone is tell him. Parris is a preacher for the church. He is afraid that if Betty does have witchcraft, he will be fired from being the preacher and lose his good reputation.
there is a big crowd of people standing in the parlor. they are singing psalms and other gospel music. Abigail is the one that is controlling everyone. Shes telling the girls what to say. She says not to say anything. Parris is like drilling Abigail about what went on in the forest. She just keeps denying it.
Parris is having Reverend Hale to come to reveal any demons, or witchcraft. He is very smart and has been researching witchcraft for a long time. He comes to the house with lots of books.
Reverend hales asks Abigail about the dancing. She says it has nothing to do with witchcraft. They were just dancing. Parris then states that he saw a kettle. Abigail lies again and said it was only soup.
Abigail says that Tituba is the one who is doing witchcraft and who is possessing the children. Tituba also denies it. People don't know who to believe because they are all pointing fingers at each other.
Mr. Putnam suggests that it is Sarah Good or Goody Osburn who is bewitching the children because those to woman are outcasts.

The Puritans were religious groups, advocating for more purity of worship and doctrine.
in the family life, the parents choose who you would marry. Also your family would come first, and then god, and last common wealth. The husband in the family was always in control. The woman were supposed to encourage their husbands to worship and be a good follower of god.
Back then the children had to have schooling, but the girls did not get more. The boys and girls would take reading classes with their mothers usually and then after they achieved that the girls would be done with school and then the boys could go on and learn Latin, Hebrew, and also Greek.


Accused witches were drowned, burnt at the stake, hung, or crushed with boulders. To proves that they were witches, they would through them into the water. And if they floated they were proven to be witches, but if they drowned they were innocent.

Elizabeth Parris, in 1692, started displaying strange symptoms including speech and body problems. So they took her to the local doctor and he said the worst. He thought she was a witch. She was only 9 years old. Her friends later on started showing the same symptoms. They also were accused of witchcraft.

The Palo Duro canyon. the Kiowa abandoned this place, their crucial stores that they had here, and everything else they were use to in their normal lives. There lives were basically left here. They had to start all over.


This is an example of what happens when you get scurvy. Loss of teeth, sunken eyes, and also pale skin. These are just the first signs. You can die from this.


When the pilgrims came over they had many dieases. One was called scurvy, it was a sickness that you get when you lack a vitimean C. The Indians rain away from them because they were afraid they would get killed or get sick.



This was a Knoll in Oklahoma called Rainy Mountain. Every Indian knew this place.


The Sun dance was a very important religious ceremony of the Indians. Each tribe had a ceremony once a year usually around the time of the Summer Solstice.

The Way to Rainy Mountain

History- (57) In Palo Duro Canyon, they abandoned their crucial stores to pillage and had nothing but their lives.
(57) They acquired Tai-Me, the sacred sun dance doll, from that moment the object and symbol of their worship, and so shared in he divinity of sun.

Personal- (57) Her name was Aho, and she belonged to the last culture to envolve in North America.
(57) Her forbears came down from the high country in Western Montana nearly 3 centeries ago.

Geo. (56) Loneliness is an aspect of the land
(58) Yellowstone, it seemed to me, was top of the owrld. A region of deep lakes and dark timber, canyons and waterfalls.