DEFINITIONS ASSIGNMENT

This assignment aimed to distinguish the varying levels of detail found in different definitions. I chose to explain the term romanticism to nontechnical readers by providing three different definitions: (1) a parenthetical definition, (2) a sentence definition, and (3) an expanded definition. The reading situation entails an English Literature student explaining the different literary movements that originated in Europe to their science-oriented friend.

Term: Romanticism

Parenthetical definition:
Romanticism (an artistic and literary movement fixated on how individual imagination and intuition are important in understanding the natural world) originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century and peaked in the approximate period from 1800 to 1850.

Sentence Definition:
Romanticism was an intellectual movement in literature and art that originated in the late 18th and 19th centuries and is characterized by the individuality of the creator’s expression, specifically highlighting the role of emotions and subjective experience with nature.

Expanded Definition (4):

1. Etymology:
The synonymous usage for romantic shows that it is an example of a term that holds a variety of meanings in accordance with personal and individual needs, an idea naturally highlighted by the Romantic era. The word romantic (ism) derives from its original old French stem, romanz, referring to a literary work produced in the vernacular and relating to a romant, an imaginative work. In the 18th century, the term developed in close association with romantique, connoting a tendency towards romantic ideas, in which case the word-forming element “ism” highlights its status as an artistic movement (Harper).

2. History:
Romantic art and literature emerged as the 19th-century movement that began in Germany and developed in Europe as a response to the Age of Enlightenment. Romanticists felt that logic and reason were overemphasized during the Industrial Revolution, and were dissatisfied with the existing culture of the Enlightenment. After the French Revolution that caused a relevant social change in 1789, Romanticism was introduced through a new philosophy about forms in art and thought: it placed importance on attributes of human experience such as aesthetic beauty, irrational emotions, and freedom of expression (Motta).

Below are two examples of works from the Romantic era:

Figure 1: “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth (1802)

Wordsworth’s poem is written from a subjective point of view as it details the narrator’s encounters with wildflowers beside the lake. It is considered a classic work for describing human involvement with the natural world through simple and elegant language.

Figure 2: Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich (1818)

Friedrich’s artwork depicts a man looking beyond a dense sea of fog, suggesting his diminished power in the vast magnitude of life. Art historians state that this work is a portrayal of Friedrich’s emotional state, one that depicts “ideas of roaming and infinity, of the imperfection of emotions and the soul” (artincontext).

3. Negation:
Romanticism was an intellectual movement in literature and art that appeals to the emotions rather than to the intellect, emphasizing the individuality of the creator’s expression and their relationship to the natural world: it steers away from—and revolts against—neoclassicism (a Western cultural movement motivated by the art of classical antiquity) that evoked emotional restraint, order, logic, and an emphasis of form over content.

4. Analysis of Parts:
Romanticism was an art and literature movement spanning roughly from 1790 to 1850. Any list of particular characteristics of romantic works includes (but is not exclusive to):

• • • An emphasis on the natural world as a symbol of power or infinite beauty that deserves detailed descriptions of its glorifying qualities by using literary techniques.
    • Individual experience and spirituality as the focal points of the work—themes of isolation and solitude are encouraged as being necessary for artistic development. Romanticism places a high value on the emotions and creative impulses of artists and writers who are guided by their personal relationships with the world.
    • The idealized portrayal of women through the concept of female beauty—female characters are presented as innocent, pure, and beautiful with the sole purpose of being love interests to their male counterparts.

Works Cited
Artincontext. “Famous Romanticism Paintings – the Best Examples of Romantic-Era Art.” Artincontext.org, 9 Feb. 2022, artincontext.org/famous-romanticism-paintings/. Accessed 11 June 2022.

Harper, Douglas. “Etymology of Romanticism.” Online Etymology Dictionary, www.etymonline.com/word/romanticism. Accessed 8 June 2022.

Motta, Cristina. “Romanticism: History of Romanticism.” USEUM Beta, 2012, useum.org/Romanticism/History-of Romanticism. Accessed 8 June 2022.

Somers, Jeffrey. “Romanticism in Literature: Definition and Examples.” ThoughtCo, 2019, www.thoughtco.com/romanticism-definition. Accessed 8 June 2022.‌

Wordsworth, William. “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud by William Wordsworth | Poetry Foundation.” Poetry Foundation, 2015, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45521/i-wandered-lonely-as-a-cloud. Accessed 13 June 2022.