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Period Name: Native Americans

Period Characteristics: 1. Oral literature: epic narratives, creation myths, stories, poems, songs.

2. Use stories to teach moral lessons and convey practical information about the natural world.

3. Deep respect for nature and animals.

4. Cyclical worldview.

5. Figurative language/parallelism.

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2200 B.C.—Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9)

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2200 B.C. to 1600 A.D.

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1607—Early settlement at Jamestown

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1. Oral literature: epic narratives, creation myths, stories, poems, songs.

2. Use stories to teach moral lessons and convey practical information about the natural world.

3. Deep respect for nature and animals.

4. Cyclical worldview.

5. Figurative language/parallelism.

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Literature was handed verbally during this time.

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Fun Fact #1: Native Americans made the oldest cotton cloth ever found

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Native Americans facts#2

spoke more than 300 languages.

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Period name: Puritanism and Early Settlement of First "American" colonies 1600-1800

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Period special dates: 1507: Early Settlement of the first American colonies- Jamestown

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1692: Salem Witch Trials

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1741: Jonathan Edwards "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"

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Period Characteristics: 1. Wrote mostly diaries and histories, which expressed the connections between God and their everyday lives.
2. South to "purify" the Church of England by reforming to the simpler forms of worship and church organization described in the New Testament.
3. Saw religion as a personal, inner experience.
4. Believed in original sin and "elect" who would be saved.
5. Used a plain style of writing.

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Period Characteristics: 1. Wrote mostly diaries and histories, which expressed the connections between God and their everyday lives.
2. South to "purify" the Church of England by reforming to the simpler forms of worship and church organization described in the New Testament.
3. Saw religion as a personal, inner experience.
4. Believed in original sin and "elect" who would be saved.
5. Used a plain style of writing.

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William Bradford
-"Of Plymouth Plantation"

Anne Bradstreet (poetry)

John Edwards
-"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"

Edward Taylor
-"Huswifery"

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Fun Fact 1: The puritans believe "Original Sin (humans are innately sinful, tainted by the sins of Adam & Eve; good can be accomplished only through hard work & self-discipline)"

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Fun fact 2: Judgmental God (rewards good/punishes evil)

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Period name: Rationalism

"The Age of Reason"

"The Enlightenment"

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Period Special Dates

1607 Early Settlement—Jamestown

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Period Special Dates

1775-1783 Revolutionary War

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1. Mostly comprised of philosophers, scientists, writing speeches and pamphlets

2. Human beings can arrive at truth (God's rules) by using deductive reasoning, rather than relying on the authority of the past, on religious faith, or intuition

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Famous Authors and Works

Benjamin Franklin
—Autobiography

Patrick Henry
—"Speech to the Virginia Convention"

Thomas Paine
—"The Crisis"

Phyllis Wheatley
—poetry

The Constitution

The Bill of Rights

The Declaration of Independence

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Fun fact:

Roughly 5,000 members of the Continental Army, 5 percent of the total number, were black.

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Most kids know that July 4th is famous, but do they know any Revolutionary War facts leading up to the origin of that date? Sometimes a quick fact or two can help generate interest in broader historical periods - such as the American Revolution - and give you a helpful boost in the classroom!

The Revolutionary War may have occurred more than 200 years ago, but there are some fascinating events and people that defined the start of the America that we know today. Did your students know pirates helped the revolutionary cause? How about the spy ring that helped George Washington win the war? Read on for fun facts and answers to some of the biggest questions about the war, from how the American Revolution influenced the French Revolution to how the Stamp Act led to the revolution.

The teachers at Teach Starter have not only selected these fun facts for you and your students, but they've also designed curriculum-aligned resources to bring this integral period of American history to life in your 21st-century classroom.

Need to dive right into revolutionary resources? Browse our Revolutionary War learning area for relevant worksheets, activities, crafts, comprehension strategies and much more.

Revolutionary War Facts for Kids

Use the following facts with your students to introduce new lessons, discuss as a class or use as trivia! Keep reading for more ideas on how to use them in the classroom, plus related books you can add to your lessons or classroom library.

1. The British ruled over the 13 American colonies for more than 168 years, but it only took the colonists seven years to overthrow the British government!

2. Georgia was the last colony to join the 13 colonies in 1733.

3. The Stamp Act imposed upon colonists by the British government backfired as it helped lead to the Revolutionary War. The British Empire saw the colonies as a form of income to help them with their debt from the French and Indian War. They taxed colonists on all imported goods (including paper products under The Stamp Act) which led to protests such as burning paper in the streets and boycotting British products.

4. When British soldiers opened fire on a crowd of angry colonists on March 5, 1770, they caused what we now call The Boston Massacre. This violent event is considered one of the major events leading up to the Revolutionary War, but you might just be surprised to hear who came out to act as a defense attorney for those British soldiers. It was none other than John Adams, a future American president!

5. The Boston Tea Party wasn't a group of people sitting down for a cup of tea; it was actually a form of rebellion! Great Britain taxed colonists on goods that were shipped to them (such as paper, paint and tea) that were part of the Townshend Acts. However, all these taxes were lifted except for tea in 1770, which enraged the colonists. They eventually became so fed up that they dumped 300 chests of tea into Boston Harbor on December 16, 1773. On board the ship the Fortune, a second Boston Tea Party occurred in March 1774. This time, only 30 chests of tea were dumped into the water.

6. The tea thrown in the Boston Harbor was mostly green tea from China. Although the East India Company exported tea to the British colonies, it didn't install its first tea plantations in India until the 1830s.

7. Before he became the first president of the United States, George Washington served as head of the army for five years against the British during the Revolutionary War.

8. When voluntary enlistments were low later in the war, many states offered freedom to enslaved people, but only if they fought on the Continental side.

9. More soldiers died from a disease called smallpox during the Revolutionary War than actually fighting the British. General George Washington made the controversial decision to require his troops to be inoculated to stop the spread of the disease among revolutionaries.

10. Britain defeated France in the French and Indian War, which resulted in them losing their territories in North America. To humiliate and gain revenge against Britain, France helped the revolutionary cause, ultimately helping American soldiers gain independence.

11. Paul Revere is most famous for his "midnight ride" on horseback to warn patriots of impending British forces, but did you know he didn't ride alone? Revere rode with two other men: William Dawes and Samuel Prescott. Another famous rider, also known as the "female Paul Revere," was Sybil Ludington. This 16-year-old helped warn her father's (Colonel Ludington) men that the British had attacked Danbury, Connecticut.

12. Those involved in the Revolutionary War developed many monikers and names as the war developed. Here are some terms to be aware of:

Redcoats, lobster backs, regulars and the Crown all referred to British soldiers.

Loyalists, Royalists, Tories or the King's Men were names that referred to those who lived in the colonies and remained faithful to the Crown or the British government.

Patriots, revolutionaries, continentals, rebels, Yankees, Whigs and colonials were all names used for the colonists living in the colonies who rebelled against the British government.

13. American soldiers were also known as Minutemen because they were prepared to fight at a "minute's notice."

14. Under normal circumstances, the following daily rations were supposed to be given to each soldier:

1 1/2 pounds of flour or bread

1 pound of fish or beef

1 gill of whisky (which equals 4 ounces)

15. Tar and feathering was a common form of public humiliation and punishment in colonial America that had been used in Europe since the Middle Ages. The victims, often loyalists and tax collectors, would be stripped of their clothing before being covered in hot pine tar and feathers.

16. Thousands of women traveled with the Continental Army working as cooks, laundresses, nurses, couriers and even spies!

17. The Culper Spy Ring played an important role during the Revolutionary War and no spies were ever unmasked! Benjamin Tallmadge was the head of military intelligence thanks to George Washington and formed the ring with friends he met at school. The ring operated around New York for five years and uncovered important information, such as calling out the suspicions of British spy John André.

18. George Washington and his commanders used invisible ink to send messages throughout the war! This ink was made with water and ferrous sulfate, which required heat to be able to read.

19. "Molly Pitcher," or Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley, is one of the most famous women of the war. She carried water to tired American soldiers and to cool cannons during the Battle of Monmouth. Legend has it that Pitcher took her husband's place at the cannon for the rest of the battle after he was wounded.

20. Pirates - or privateers - fought for the Revolutionary cause by disrupting British ships throughout the war. By the end of the Revolutionary War, privateers stole about $18 million, which is about $302 million in today's money.

21. A number of British soldiers spent time acting on stage in cities they controlled, including New York, Philadelphia and Boston. For some, theater was an escape and helped soldiers cope with living in a strange country different from their own.

22. Betsy Ross is often credited with sewing the first American flag, but no official documentation confirms it. Some historians believe that Francis Hopkinson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and New Jersey delegate to the Continental Congress, is the real designer of our flag.

23. General Benedict Arnold was a famous figure of the Revolutionary War, first fighting for the American side but then becoming a "turncoat" when he switched his loyalties to the British. A turncoat describes a traitor - a person who deserts one group to join the opposing one.

24. The Continental Congress officially adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Recognize the date? We celebrate the 4th of July each year to honor the date when colonists declared their desire to be independent of British rule.

25. Only 200 original copies of the Declaration of Independence were ever printed. The National Archives in Washington D.C. displays one fully signed and preserved copy.

26. The success of the American Revolution helped spark the French Revolution. Americans' ideas of democracy, independence and enlightenment resonated with the French people who were struggling in a weak economy and ruled by an unpopular monarchy.

How to Use These Revolutionary War Facts in the Classroom

Write one (or more) of the above facts on the whiteboard during your Revolutionary War unit to spark discussion and introductions to different lesson plans.

Have your students recreate a map of the 13 colonies or of the East Coast, Atlantic Ocean and England. By having kids draw out their own map will help reinforce their geography of the Revolutionary War while also practicing fine motor skills.

Watch Beyond the Battlefield with your class: a virtual field trip of the Museum of the American Revolution hosted by Scholastic.

Research your local area and see if there are any Revolutionary War reenactments you can watch for a class field trip.

Play The Road to Independence: American Revolution Game with our printable PDF. This is a fun way for kids to review their historical facts in board game form.

Challenge your students to pretend they are a soldier during the Revolutionary War and want to write a letter to their family back home. Go a step further after writing and have your kids crumple up their letters, soak in a tea bath and dry to make them look old!

Explore maps, videos and articles with your class through National Geographic's American Revolution page intended for kids in grades 3-12+.

Create a new Declaration of Independence: Challenge your class to create an updated Declaration of Independence. They can do this individually or in small groups, deciding the most important wants and needs of the American people.

Choose an episode from PBS Kids, Liberty's Kids, as a fun way to introduce or reinforce lessons about the Revolutionary War. Voices for the show's characters include Walter Cronkite as Benjamin Franklin, Billy Crystal as John Adams and Annette Bening as Abigail Adams.

Explore our entire Revolutionary War Teaching Resources collection for more worksheets, mini books, word finds and more.

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26 Interesting Revolutionary War Facts for Kids to Add to Your Lesson Plans

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These fascinating Revolutionary War facts will help make your history and social studies lessons exciting and thought-provoking for your young learners. See...

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Fun Fact #2

The American Revolution was the United States' longest military conflict before the Vietnam War.

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"The Age of Reason"

"The Enlightenment"

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1775-1783 Revolutionary War

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1. Mostly comprised of philosophers, scientists, writing speeches and pamphlets

2. Human beings can arrive at truth (God's rules) by using deductive reasoning, rather than relying on the authority of the past, on religious faith, or intuition

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Benjamin Franklin
—Autobiography

Patrick Henry
—"Speech to the Virginia Convention"

Thomas Paine
—"The Crisis"

Phyllis Wheatley
—poetry

The Constitution

The Bill of Rights

The Declaration of Independence

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The Enlightenment brought with it many books, scientists, artists, inventions, laws etc

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Table of Contents

1. The Early Enlightenment: 1685-1730

2. The High Enlightenment: 1730-1780

3. The Late Enlightenment and Beyond: 1780-1815

European politics, philosophy, science and communications were radically reoriented during the course of the "long 18th century" (1685-1815) as part of a movement referred to by its participants as the Age of Reason, or simply the Enlightenment. Enlightenment thinkers in Britain, in France and throughout Europe questioned traditional authority and embraced the notion that humanity could be improved through rational change.

The Enlightenment produced numerous books, essays, inventions, scientific discoveries, laws, wars and revolutions. The American and French Revolutions were directly inspired by Enlightenment ideals and respectively marked the peak of its influence and the beginning of its decline. The Enlightenment ultimately gave way to 19th-century Romanticism.

The Early Enlightenment: 1685-1730

The Enlightenment's important 17th-century precursors included the Englishmen Francis Bacon and Thomas Hobbes, the Frenchman René Descartes and the key natural philosophers of the Scientific Revolution, including Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. Its roots are usually traced to 1680s England, where in the span of three years Isaac Newton published his "Principia Mathematica" (1686) and John Locke his "Essay Concerning Human Understanding" (1689)-two works that provided the scientific, mathematical and philosophical toolkit for the Enlightenment's major advances.

Did you know? In his essay 'What Is Enlightenment?' (1784), the German philosopher Immanuel Kant summed up the era's motto in the following terms: 'Dare to know! Have courage to use your own reason!'

Locke argued that human nature was mutable and that knowledge was gained through accumulated experience rather than by accessing some sort of outside truth. Newton's calculus and optical theories provided the powerful Enlightenment metaphors for precisely measured change and illumination.

There was no single, unified Enlightenment. Instead, it is possible to speak of the French Enlightenment, the Scottish Enlightenment and the English, German, Swiss or American Enlightenment. Individual Enlightenment thinkers often had very different approaches. Locke differed from David Hume, Jean-Jacques Rousseau from Voltaire, Thomas Jefferson from Frederick the Great. Their differences and disagreements, though, emerged out of the common Enlightenment themes of rational questioning and belief in progress through dialogue.

The High Enlightenment: 1730-1780

Centered on the dialogues and publications of the French "philosophes" (Voltaire, Rousseau, Montesquieu, Buffon and Denis Diderot), the High Enlightenment might best be summed up by one historian's summary of Voltaire's "Philosophical Dictionary": "a chaos of clear ideas." Foremost among these was the notion that everything in the universe could be rationally demystified and cataloged. The signature publication of the period was Diderot's "Encyclopédie" (1751-77), which brought together leading authors to produce an ambitious compilation of human knowledge.

It was an age of enlightened despots like Frederick the Great, who unified, rationalized and modernized Prussia in between brutal multi-year wars with Austria, and of enlightened would-be revolutionaries like Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson, whose "Declaration of Independence" (1776) framed the American Revolution in terms taken from of Locke's essays.

It was also a time of religious (and anti-religious) innovation, as Christians sought to reposition their faith along rational lines and deists and materialists argued that the universe seemed to determine its own course without God's intervention. Locke, along with French philosopher Pierre Bayle, began to champion the idea of the separation of Church and State. Secret societies-like the Freemasons, the Bavarian Illuminati and the Rosicrucians-flourished, offering European men (and a few women) new modes of fellowship, esoteric ritual and mutual assistance. Coffeehouses, newspapers and literary salons emerged as new venues for ideas to circulate.

The Late Enlightenment and Beyond: 1780-1815

The French Revolution of 1789 was the culmination of the High Enlightenment vision of throwing out the old authorities to remake society along rational lines, but it devolved into bloody terror that showed the limits of its own ideas and led, a decade later, to the rise of Napoleon. Still, its goal of egalitarianism attracted the admiration of the early feminist Mary Wollstonecraft (mother of "Frankenstein" author Mary Shelley) and inspired both the Haitian war of independence and the radical racial inclusivism of Paraguay's first post-independence government.

Enlightened rationality gave way to the wildness of Romanticism, but 19th-century Liberalism and Classicism-not to mention 20th-century Modernism -all owe a heavy debt to the thinkers of the Enlightenment.

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Enlightenment Period: Thinkers & Ideas | HISTORY

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Enlightenment was a movement of politics, philosophy, science and communications in Europe during the 19th century.

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" At the center of the Enlightenment was a belief that it was the reason in which humans were trying to understand the universe and improve their own conditions"

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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

The Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, was a philosophical movement in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries. At its core was a belief in the use and celebration of reason, the power by which humans understand the universe and improve their own condition. The goals of rational humanity were considered to be knowledge, freedom, and happiness.

The Enlightenment had its roots in the past. Three of the chief sources for Enlightenment thought were the ideas of the ancient Greek philosophers, the Renaissance, and the scientific revolution of the late Middle Ages.

The ancient philosophers had noticed the regularity in the operation of the natural world and concluded that the reasoning mind could see and explain this regularity. Among these philosophers Aristotle was preeminent in discovering and explaining the natural world.

The birth of Christianity interrupted philosophical attempts to analyze and explain purely on the basis of reason. Christianity built a complicated worldview that relied on both faith and reason to explain reality. The Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation ended the worldview that the church had presented for a thousand years. The Renaissance revived classical learning, while the Reformation broke up the Christian church in western Europe.

Among other achievements Newton captured in a few mathematical equations the laws that govern the motions of the planets. His success contributed to a growing faith in the capacity of human beings to attain knowledge.

philosophes: Encyclopédie From Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, 1751

The Enlightenment was especially prominent in France, where its leaders were known as the philosophes. One of the great works of the philosophes was the publication of the multivolume Encyclopédie. Under the direction of Denis Diderot and initially aided by Jean Le Rond d'Alembert, 17 volumes of text were published between 1751 and 1765; other volumes were added to the Encyclopédie, which eventually totaled 35 by 1780.

Deism found many followers during the Enlightenment, but it was never an organized religion like Christianity. Diests expressed a belief in a God who was the architect of nature's wonders, a God who had set the world in motion and formulated the laws by which it operated. They believed in the existence of a system of rewards and punishments in the next world administered by that God. They also believed in the obligation of people to lead virtuous and pious lives.

Many historians contend that the Enlightenment ended with the French Revolution (1787-99), which witnessed a notorious period in which revolutionaries executed thousands of nobles, priests, and others suspected of being political opponents. This Reign of Terror (1793-94) severely tested the belief that an egalitarian society could govern itself.

Nevertheless, Enlightenment principles continue to influence human societies. The world's constitutional democracies, with their emphasis on the secular rule of law, protection of human rights, and separation of powers, are firmly rooted in Enlightenment ideals.

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List of important facts regarding the Enlightenment. This European intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries gained wide acceptance in the West and instigated revolutionary developments in art, philosophy, and politics. Central to Enlightenment thought were the use and celebration of reason.

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Transcendentalism

"The American Renaissance"

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1840-1860
Transcendentalism

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1. Everything in the world, including human beings, is a reflection of the Divine Soul.

2. People can use their intuition to behold God's spirit revealed in nature or in their own souls.

3. Self-reliance and individualism must outweigh external authority and link conformity to tradition.

4. Important social and political movements include the Abolitionist, Utopian, and Women's Suffrage Movements

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Ralph Waldo Emerson
—Nature
—"Self-Reliance"

Henry David Thoreau
—Walden
—Life in the Woods

Louisa May Alcott
—Little Women

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After the transcendentalism was brought to America, the took progressive stands on women's rights, abolition, reform, and education.

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Transcendentalism is a school of philosophical thought that developed in 19th century America. Important trancendentalist thinkers include Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, and Henry David Thoreau. The transcendentalists supported women's rights and the abolition of slavery, and were critical of organized religion and government.

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Transcendentalism was a 19th century movement with writers and philosophers

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What is Transcendentalism?

What inspired Transcendentalism?

This article was most recently revised and updated by

Transcendentalism, 19th-century movement of writers and philosophers in New England who were loosely bound together by adherence to an idealistic system of thought based on a belief in the essential unity of all creation, the innate goodness of humanity, and the supremacy of insight over logic and experience for the revelation of the deepest truths. German transcendentalism (especially as it was refracted by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Thomas Carlyle), Platonism and Neoplatonism, the Indian and Chinese scriptures, and the writings of such mystics as Emanuel Swedenborg and Jakob Böhme were sources to which the New England Transcendentalists turned in their search for a liberating philosophy.

Eclectic and cosmopolitan in its sources and part of the Romantic movement, New England Transcendentalism originated in the area around Concord, Massachusetts, and from 1830 to 1855 represented a battle between the younger and older generations and the emergence of a new national culture based on native materials. It attracted such diverse and highly individualistic figures as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Orestes Brownson, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, and James Freeman Clarke, as well as George Ripley, Bronson Alcott, the younger W.E. Channing, and W.H. Channing. In 1840 Emerson and Margaret Fuller founded The Dial (1840-44), the prototypal "little magazine" wherein some of the best writings by minor Transcendentalists appeared. The writings of the Transcendentalists and those of contemporaries such as Walt Whitman, Herman Melville, and Nathaniel Hawthorne, for whom they prepared the ground, represent the first flowering of the American artistic genius and introduced the American Renaissance in literature ( see also American literature: American Renaissance).

In their religious quest, the Transcendentalists rejected the conventions of 18th-century thought, and what began in a dissatisfaction with Unitarianism developed into a repudiation of the whole established order. They were leaders in experimental schemes for living (Thoreau at Walden Pond, Alcott at Fruitlands, Ripley at Brook Farm); women's suffrage; better conditions for workers; temperance for all; modifications of dress and diet; the rise of free religion; educational innovation; and other humanitarian causes.

Heavily indebted to the Transcendentalists' organic philosophy, aesthetics, and democratic aspirations were the pragmatism of William James and John Dewey, the environmental planning of Benton MacKaye and Lewis Mumford, the architecture (and writings) of Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, and the American "modernism" in the arts promoted by Alfred Stieglitz.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Adam Augustyn.

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Transcendentalism | Definition, Characteristics, Beliefs, Authors, & Facts

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Transcendentalism, 19th-century movement of writers and philosophers in New England who were loosely bound together by adherence to an idealistic system of thought based on belief in the essential unity of all creation, the innate goodness of humanity, and the supremacy of insight over logic and experience.

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Russia attacked Ukraine and the Ukrainians called for countries like the United States and Europe to support them in fighting back and keeping their entire country.

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On this day two years ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine, triggering a brutal war with no end in sight [File: Yevhen Titov/Reuters]

Here is the situation on Saturday, February 24, 2024.

Second anniversary of the war

On this day two years ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine, triggering a brutal war with no end in sight.

To mark the anniversary, the United States issued sanctions against more than 500 Russian-linked targets and imposed new export restrictions on nearly 100 entities for providing support to Russia in the largest single tranche of penalties since the start of the conflict.

The European Union announced its 13th package of sanctions against Russia, banning nearly 200 additional entities and individuals accused of involvement in the two-year war.

The United Kingdom also imposed sanctions on six officials overseeing the penal colony where Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny died in mysterious circumstances last week.

The prime ministers of Italy, Canada and Belgium, Giorgia Meloni, Justin Trudeau and Alexander De Croo, and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, travelled to the Ukrainian capital together by train from neighbouring Poland in a show of solidarity.

Von der Leyen has praised Ukraine's "extraordinary resistance" as she arrived in Kyiv.

Meloni and Trudeau are expected to sign security pacts with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in line with deals recently agreed to with France and Germany that are worth billions of dollars.
US President Joe Biden is due to take part in a video conference call of fellow leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) major democracies, which will be chaired by Meloni, with Zelenskyy invited to join the discussion. Italy holds the rotating G7 presidency and organised the call.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for Germany and Europe to make a bigger effort when it comes to defence. "Russia is not only attacking Ukraine, it is also destroying peace in Europe," Scholz said, adding that Ukraine would be supported in its self-defence "for as long as necessary".

During the two years since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, more than 14 million people - nearly one-third of Ukraine's population - have fled their homes, according to the International Organization for Migration.

The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine says at least 10,582 civilians have been killed and nearly 20,000 have been wounded since the start of the war.

Switzerland has told the United Nations that it intends to organise a high-level Ukraine peace conference "by the summer".

Fighting, weapons

Putin has claimed that 95 percent of Russia's strategic nuclear forces had been modernised and that the Air Force had just taken delivery of four new supersonic nuclear-capable bombers.

The Ukrainian Air Force says it downed a rare Russian spy plane, an A-50, over the Azov Sea, its chief Mykola Oleshchuk said.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu visited Moscow's forces in occupied Ukraine where he was briefed that Russian forces were on the offensive after taking full control of the industrial hub of Avdiivka, according to an army statement.

Russian forces launched 28 attacks on Ukraine's northeastern Sumy province targeting five communities, the Kyiv Independent newspaper has reported citing local authorities.

At least one man was killed in a Russian drone attack in the southern city of Odesa, regional governor Oleh Kiper wrote on social media, adding that three other people were wounded.

Russian strikes also killed one civilian in the town of Myrnohrad, in the Donetsk province, and two others in the southeastern city of Dnipro, local officials say.

Biden has renewed calls for lawmakers in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to unblock a $60bn aid package for Ukraine, warning that "history is waiting" and "failure to support Ukraine at this critical moment will not be forgotten".

Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies

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Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 731

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These are the main developments on the second anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

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On this day, Hamas attacked the Supernova Music Festival in Israel taking a significant stand against the Israeli suppression of the Palestinian people. Very sadly many young people were killed.

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What to know about the deadly Hamas attack on an Israeli music festival

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At least 260 people died at the Supernova music festival after armed fighters arrived in trucks and on motorcycles.

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Romanticism

Industrialization

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1800-1860

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The War of 1812
1812-1815

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California Gold Rush 1848 January 24th

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1. Valued feeling, intuition, idealism, and inductive reasoning.

2. Placed faith in inner experience and the power of the imagination.

3. Shunned the artificiality of civilization and sought unspoiled nature as a path to spirituality.

4. Championed individual freedom and the worth of the individual

5. Saw poetry as the highest expression of the imagination

6. Dark Romantics: used dark and supernatural themes/settings (Gothic style)

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Washington Irving
—"Rip van Winkle"

Emily Dickinson
—poetry

Walt Whitman
—Leaves of Grass

Edgar Allan Poe
—"The Raven"

Nathaniel Hawthorne
—The Scarlet Letter

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Romanticism celebrates and awes the power of nature and human creativity

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Romanticism is also known as the art movement that added emotion to art

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Her experiences from being a single mother influenced her with her poetry

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This article was most recently revised and updated by

Nikki Giovanni, byname of Yolande Cornelia Giovanni, Jr., (born June 7, 1943, Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.), American poet whose writings ranged from calls for black power to poems for children and intimate personal statements.

Giovanni grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Knoxville, Tennessee, and in 1960 she entered Nashville's Fisk University. By 1967, when she received a B.A., she was firmly committed to the civil rights movement and the concept of black power. In her first three collections of poems, Black Feeling, Black Talk (1968), Black Judgement (1968), and Re: Creation (1970), her content was urgently revolutionary and suffused with deliberate interpretation of experience through a black consciousness.

Giovanni's experiences as a single mother then began to influence her poetry. Spin a Soft Black Song (1971), Ego-Tripping (1973), Vacation Time (1980), The Sun Is So Quiet (1996), and I Am Loved (2018) were collections of poems for children. Loneliness, thwarted hopes, and the theme of family affection became increasingly important in her poetry during the 1970s. She returned to political concerns in Those Who Ride the Night Winds (1983), with dedications to black American heroes and heroines. Her later poetry collections included Love Poems (1997) and Bicycles (2009). Chasing Utopia (2013) features poetry, prose, and recipes. In Gemini (1971) she presented autobiographical reminiscences, and Sacred Cows...and Other Edibles (1988) was a collection of her essays.

From the late 1960s Giovanni was a popular reader of her own poetry, with performances issued on several recordings, and a respected speaker as well. She taught at various universities, including Virginia Tech. In 2007 the school was the site of a mass shooting. The gunman was a former student of Giovanni's, and she had earlier alerted school authorities about his troubling behaviour. At a memorial service she gave a powerful reading of a poem she had written following the tragedy.

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Fisk University, private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. One of the most notable historically black colleges, it is affiliated with the United Church of Christ. It offers undergraduate degree programs in business administration; humanities and fine arts, including religion and philosophy; natural science and mathematics, including...

American civil rights movement

American civil rights movement, mass protest movement against racial segregation and discrimination in the southern United States that came to national prominence during the mid-1950s. This movement had its roots in the centuries-long efforts of enslaved Africans and their descendants to resist racial oppression and abolish the institution of slavery....

Virginia Tech, public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S. Virginia Tech is a comprehensive, land-grant university, consisting of colleges of agriculture and life sciences, architecture and urban studies, arts and sciences, business, human resources and education, engineering, forestry and...

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Nikki Giovanni | Biography, Books, Poetry, & Facts

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Nikki Giovanni, American poet whose writings ranged from calls for black power to poems for children and intimate personal statements. Her works often reflected her commitment to the civil rights movement and were suffused with deliberate interpretation of experience through a black consciousness.

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She taught at many Universities and one of them had a mass shooting in 2007

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One of the students she taught was acclaimed poet Kwame Alexander

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Outside the new England Circle was the Southern genius Edgar Allan Poe who later had a strong impact on European Literature.

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American Renaissance, period from the 1830s roughly until the end of the American Civil War in which American literature, in the wake of the Romantic movement, came of age as an expression of a national spirit.

The literary scene of the period was dominated by a group of New England writers, the " Brahmins," notably Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and James Russell Lowell. They were aristocrats, steeped in foreign culture, active as professors at Harvard College, and interested in creating a genteel American literature based on foreign models. Longfellow adapted European methods of storytelling and versifying to narrative poems dealing with American history. Holmes, in his occasional poems and his "Breakfast-Table" series (1858-91), brought touches of urbanity and jocosity to polite literature. Lowell put much of his homeland's outlook and values into verse, especially in his satirical Biglow Papers (1848-67).

One of the most important influences in the period was that of the Transcendentalists ( see Transcendentalism), centred in the village of Concord, Massachusetts, and including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Bronson Alcott, George Ripley, and Margaret Fuller. The Transcendentalists contributed to the founding of a new national culture based on native elements. They advocated reforms in church, state, and society, contributing to the rise of free religion and the abolition movement and to the formation of various utopian communities, such as Brook Farm. The abolition movement was also bolstered by other New England writers, including the Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier and the novelist Harriet Beecher Stowe, whose Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) dramatized the plight of the black slave.

Apart from the Transcendentalists, there emerged during this period great imaginative writers- Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Walt Whitman-whose novels and poetry left a permanent imprint on American literature. Contemporary with these writers but outside the New England circle was the Southern genius Edgar Allan Poe, who later in the century had a strong impact on European literature.

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American Renaissance, period from the 1830s roughly until the end of the American Civil War in which American literature, in the wake of the Romantic movement, came of age as an expression of a national spirit.

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The Puritans believed that God had chosen a few people "The Elect"

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The Pilgrims

The Pilgrims

During the reign of Elizabeth I, the English Parliament introduced a series of measures intended to reform the theology and rituals of the Church of England established during the reign of her father, Henry VIII. But some Protestants believed that these reforms had not gone far enough. These Protestants believed that the Church of England was hopelessly corrupt and incapable of reform. They felt their only option was to leave the church and create new, separate churches.

Known as "separatists," these Puritans left their homeland and in 1609 moved to Leiden, Holland, where they hoped to worship freely, without harassment from church authorities. Some members of the Leiden church returned to England, and on Aug. 5, 1620, they sailed for America on the ship the Mayflower. Only 44 of these passengers were Pilgrims, or "Saints," as they called themselves.

Over time, the Pilgrims who clung to Plymouth's rocky shores were absorbed into the Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Like the Pilgrims, the Puritans believed that the Church of England needed to be reformed, but they elected to remain within the church, rather than separate from it. They arrived by the thousands, then the tens of thousands, building a thriving religious community that profoundly shaped American ideas of liberty of conscience, the nature of individual spiritual experience and the notion of Americans as a chosen people. The Pilgrims' legacy is less robust, yet they live on in historical memory, immortalized by a national holiday that commemorates their thanksgiving, but forgets the hardships they suffered and their eventual betrayal of their Indian allies.

The Puritans

Like the Pilgrims, the Puritans were English Protestants who believed that the reforms of the Church of England did not go far enough. In their view, the liturgy was still too Catholic. Bishops lived like princes. Ecclesiastical courts were corrupt. Because the king of England was head of both church and state, the Puritans' opposition to religious authority meant they also defied the civil authority of the state.

In 1630, the Puritans set sail for America. Unlike the Pilgrims who had left 10 years earlier, the Puritans did not break with the Church of England, but instead sought to reform it. Seeking comfort and reassurance in the Bible, they imagined themselves re-enacting the story of the Exodus. Onboard the flagship Arbella, their leader John Winthrop reminded them of their duties and obligations under the covenant. If they honored their obligations to God, they would be blessed; if they failed, they would be punished.

Arriving in New England, the Puritans established the Massachusetts Bay Colony in a town they named Boston. Life was hard, but in this stern and unforgiving place they were free to worship as they chose. The Bible was central to their worship. Their church services were simple. The organ and all musical instruments were forbidden. Puritans sang psalms a cappella.

The Puritans believed God had chosen a few people, "the elect," for salvation. The rest of humanity was condemned to eternal damnation. But no one really knew if he or she was saved or damned; Puritans lived in a constant state of spiritual anxiety, searching for signs of God's favor or anger. The experience of conversion was considered an important sign that an individual had been saved. Faith, not works, was the key to salvation.

But it was not only individual salvation that mattered; the spiritual health and welfare of the community as a whole was paramount as well, for it was the community that honored and kept the covenant.

Over time this religious fervor diminished. Scholars disagree about when and why this happened. The Puritans themselves found it difficult to maintain a society in a state of creative uncertainty.

The Pueblos

Following Christopher Columbus' voyage, Spain moved swiftly to claim and expand her territories in the New World, embarking on a moral crusade to spread Spanish culture and Catholicism to the non-Christians in present-day Mexico and the American Southwest. Here in the brooding desert and high mesas, two sacred worlds collided: the Catholicism of the Spanish friars and the spirit-filled religion of the indigenous peoples known as the Pueblos.

The Pueblos' religious rituals, beliefs and practices were deeply embedded in their culture and way of life. As Porter Swentzell of the Santa Clara Pueblo observes, "Our whole world around us is our religion -- our way of life is our religion. ... The very moment we wake up in the morning to the moment we go to bed, even when we are asleep, that's our religion."

The Pueblos first encountered Franciscan friars in the 15th century, but in 1630 the friars began a period of intense mission building and conversion. Thousands of Pueblos converted, but most did not abandon their old religion; they simply added new elements to it. But for the friars, there was only one true religion: the Catholic faith. When persuasion failed to get the Pueblo people to abandon their old rituals, the friars reverted to coercion and force. In the friars' view, their all-consuming goal of saving souls justified these extremely harsh means.

By the 1670s, Pueblos began to stage sporadic revolts. The Spanish cracked down, rounding up Native shamans, whipping them and choosing several for execution. Following the arrest and hanging of spiritual leaders, one of those leaders, a man named Po'pay, organized an uprising. Not all Pueblo communities chose to participate, but those that did killed 400 Spanish and 21 friars. The Spanish fled, and the Pueblos could once again honor the religious practices that their ancestors had sustained for generations.

Twelve years later, the Spanish friars returned; this time, they were more willing to accommodate Native religious rituals and practices.

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People and Ideas: Early American Groups | American Experience | PBS

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How Early American religious ideas and spiritual experiences from different groups have impacted American social, political and cultural life.

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One thing that turned the public against McCarthy was in 1954 when his investigation of security threats in the US army was televised.

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On December 2, 1954, the Senate voted to censure Senator Joseph McCarthy, who had led the fight in Congress to root out suspected Communists from the Federal Government. The censure described his behavior as "contrary to senatorial traditions."

The early years of the Cold War saw the United States facing a hostile Soviet Union, the "loss" of China to communism, and war in Korea. In this politically charged atmosphere, fears of Communist influence over American institutions spread easily.

On February 9, 1950, Joseph McCarthy, a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, claimed that he had a list of 205 State Department employees who were Communists. While he offered little proof, the claims gained the Senator great notoriety.

In June, Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Maine and six fellow Republicans issued a "Declaration of Conscience" asserting that because of McCarthy's tactics, the Senate had been "debased to the level of a forum for hate and character assassination." However, McCarthy took advantage of the Cold War atmosphere of fear and suspicion and with strong support in the opinion polls, McCarthy's attacks and interventions in senatorial elections brought defeat to some of his party's Democratic opponents.

After Republicans took control of the White House and Congress in 1953, McCarthy was named chairman of the Committee on Government Operations and its Subcommittee on Investigations. From these posts he continued to accuse Government agencies of being "soft" on communism, but he was now attacking a Republican administration.

In 1954 McCarthy's investigation of security threats in the U.S. Army was televised. McCarthy's bullying of witnesses turned public opinion against the Senator. On December 2, 1954, the Senate voted to censure him, describing his behavior as "contrary to senatorial traditions."

Republican Senators Ralph Flanders of Vermont, Arthur Watkins of Utah, and Margaret Chase Smith of Maine led the efforts to discipline McCarthy. Flanders introduced two separate resolutions against McCarthy, one removing McCarthy from his chairmanships and the other calling for his censure. The censure resolution moved forward with debate beginning July 30, 1954. The full Senate took up the resolution on November 5.

This copy of the resolution catches the debate on November 9 as the Senate refined the wording of its resolution. The substance of the first count, charging McCarthy with failure to cooperate with a Senate subcommittee, remained unchanged in the final resolution. The second count was dropped for a condemnation of McCarthy's attacks on the very members of the committee that considered his censure.

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Senate Resolution 301: Censure of Senator Joseph McCarthy (1954)

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EnlargeDownload Link Citation: Senate Resolution 301, December 2, 1954; SEN 83A-B4, Records of the United States Senate; Record Group 46; National Archives. View All Pages in the National Archives Catalog View Transcript On December 2, 1954, the Senate voted to censure Senator Joseph McCarthy, who had led the fight in Congress to root out suspected Communists from the Federal Government.

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Another interesting this is how The Crucible is connected with McCarthyism. "The Crucible," a dramatization of the 1692 Salem witch trials, was written as an allegory for the "witch-hunt" atmosphere that pervaded America when Joseph McCarthy, a Republican representative from Wisconsin, led the nation on a search for communists in the American government"

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Arthur Miller, the world-renowned playwright widely regarded as a pioneer of American drama, recounted his experiences with the anti-Communist hysteria of the 1940s and 1950s and the creation of "The Crucible" in a lecture Monday afternoon.

Miller's lecture, titled "History Around the Crucible" and delivered to a standing-room-only audience in the Science Center, focused on Congress's investigation of his personal life and his sense that he was living in "a perverse work of art."

"In one sense," he said, "'The Crucible' was an attempt to make life real again."

"The Crucible," a dramatization of the 1692 Salem witch trials, was written as an allegory for the "witch-hunt" atmosphere that pervaded America when Joseph McCarthy, a Republican representative from Wisconsin, led the nation on a search for communists in the American government. Miller said the search "paralyzed the nation."

"Suffice it to say, it was a time of great--no doubt unprecedented--fear," he said.

Miller, who also wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Death of a Salesman," called McCarthy and the anti-communist forces "silly."

His experience with the so-called McCarthy era began, Miller said, when Columbia Pictures was preparing to release the film version of "Death of a Salesman." Because many executives considered the play anti-capitalist, Columbia asked Miller to sign an anti-communist declaration. He refused.

"The air of terror was heavy," he said. "I was sure the whole thing would soon go away."

But it didn't, and as anti-communist "paranoia" swept the nation, Miller said he grew increasingly enraged by the rising hysteria.

The military banned performances of his plays on army bases, and his request for a passport renewal was denied--forcing him to miss the European premiere of "The Crucible."

"Rather than physical fear, there was a sense of impotence," he said.

In 1956, McCarthy's House Committee on Un-American Activities subpoenaed him to testify. But Miller said the subpoena was only because of his impending marriage to movie star Marilyn Monroe--and that House prosecutors were only seeking publicity in the waning years of the McCarthy era.

When he refused to identify writers that he had met at a conference organized by socialists, Miller was cited for contempt of Congress.

"I began to despair of my own silence," he said. "I longed to respond to this climate of fear."

"The Crucible," he said, was his response.

When he realized that the witch trials bore a direct connection to McCarthy's communist hunt, Miller spent three days in Salem's library reviewing court transcripts. He said he was most struck by the preponderance of "spectral" and circumstantial evidence in the proceedings.

"You could be at home asleep in bed, but your spirit could be out at your neighbor's home, feeling up his wife," Miller said.

Because of the connection he made to Salem, Miller said he more clearly understood the actions of the government in the 1950s.

"Salem...had taught me...that a kind of built-in pestilence has nestled in the human mind," he said.

In his introduction to Miller's speech, Director of the Loeb Drama Center Robert S. Brustein called Miller "our theater's elder statesman."

"For 50 years now, ever since 'Death of a Salesman,' the name of Arthur Miller has been synonymous with, indeed inseparable from, American drama," he said.

Miller's lecture was the opening of the William E. Massey Sr. Lectures in the History of American Civilization. Past lecturers in the series include Toni Morrison, Eudora Welty and Gore Vidal.

Miller, who is 83, received an honorary degree from Harvard at the 1997 Commencement exercises.

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Miller Recounts McCarthy Era, Origins of "The Crucible" | News | The Harvard Crimson

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Arthur Miller, the world-renowned playwright widely regarded as a pioneer of American drama, recounted his experiences with the anti-Communist hysteria of the 1940s and 1950s and the creation of "The Crucible" in a lecture Monday afternoon.

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His passion was drawn from his love of literary and even though it was hard for him to find a job he found one.

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Even though he wrote poetry, he never published any until the year 2008

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Fun facts: before fame, family life, popularity rankings, and more.

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His most famous poems are " Why I hate school and love education" and " I will not let an exam result decide my fate"

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Woah, lets mix it up, try reading the poem first today: Suli Breaks- Why I Hate School but Love Education

Today, I want to cover a poem I first experienced a few years ago (2013, I believe). Now way back then, I was 15 and just starting high school, I knew little of the processes in higher education. I was still only thinking about the days I would have to apply to colleges, and my mom was just beginning to bug me about SAT prep. I did not get the poem in the way I do now. I was not able to connect with it on a deeper level and actually empathize with Breaks, and those who read poetry know the ability to empathize with the poet or personally connect with the piece make it all that more special.

Every year, I stumble across this poem and read it again. Each time I have a new understanding. Now as a college freshman, my understanding of what Breaks was trying to convey has gotten deeper once again. During my short time here at school, I have had a lot of time to think about myself, my goals, and the path I am currently on in my attempt to get their. I don't know about everyone else, but I have become very introspective. Even though I haven't even been here a year, I've already thought about changing my major and my "career path" has been altered dramatically. As I have reread this poem throughout this school year, I have found it aligning with the viewpoints which I am beginning to develop in my own life.

He starts off by talking about the quality of a degree (in this case, university degrees). He acknowledges their benefits (which are numerous) but also discusses the societal pressures which have made them something we often perceive to be necessary. This however, according to Breaks, is a falsehood. It is more than possible to have success or a career or anything like that without one. He instead emphasizes the importance of an education. How are they different? School is a means to an end. Education is an engaging and enriching process. This is the main message which carries throughout the duration of the poem.

Another thing which he addresses is the current societal norm which equates monetary success to actual success. Yes, for some people these are the same, however for others, it was not money that made them successful. He uses the examples of Socrates, Malcolm X, and Mother Teresa to emphasize his point that educational "wealth" so to speak, can be just as, if not more effective.

Breaks continuously pushes this point, that education and the power which it has, can hold greater power than any other tool we are given. This is true education, not just going to school. Actually having knowledge or the mastery of a skill that you can implement in life.

I think anyone going through the educational process now can relate to the bones of this poem, and I urge all of you to keep this one tucked away and occasionally reference back to it in a bit (if you liked it at all) and see if it has changed with your perspective.

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Suli Breaks- Why I Hate School but Love Education

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Woah, lets mix it up, try reading the poem first today: Suli Breaks- Why I Hate School but Love Education Today, I want to cover a poem I first experienced a few years ago (2013, I believe). Now way back then, I was 15 and just starting high school, I knew little of the processes in higher education.

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His inspiration for writing started when he was stuck in a ship from Europe and from hearing the sound of the engine inspired him to write his first work "And to think I saw it on Mulberry street"

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The inspiration of Dr. Seuss

Before he was Dr. Seuss, Theodor Geisel was stuck on a ship returning to the States from Europe listening to the thump thump thump of the engine. Inspired by the rhythm, he wrote his first children's book: And to Think I Saw it on Mulberry Street.

The rejection of Dr. Seuss

He pitched the book and was rejected 27 times before a chance encounter with a friend who had just landed an editing job. Geisel told his friend about his book, about the rejection, and told him he was fed up and about to destroy the book. The friend read it and Dr. Seuss was born.

#28

You never know where inspiration is going to come from. It could be from a T-shirt or an engine.

Knowing when to listen to and when to reject the opinion of others is key. Imagine a room full of all of the people who have rejected your ideas and work. Geisel's room had 27 people in it. Now imagine going around that room and telling each of them your idea and each of them gives you a big thumbs down. Do you walk out of the room and go find #28?

Unless you do, you'll never know the places you'll go.

(Another blog post brought to you courtesy of NPR's Morning Edition)

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The inspiration of Dr. Seuss Before he was Dr. Seuss, Theodor Geisel was stuck on a ship returning to the States from Europe listening to the thump thump thump of the engine. Inspired by the rhyth...

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The reason he called him Dr Seus was to lend credibility to his writings and characters, and in reaction to his father's wish that his son would get a dotorate.

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While many know Dr. Seuss as the author of more than 50 books for children, many may not be aware of some little-known facts about the "good doctor."

He wrote under several different names. His real name was Theodor Seuss Geisel and he used several pennames, including: Theo LeSieg ("Geisel" spelled backwards), Rossetta Stone, Theophrastus Seuss, and (of course) Dr. Seuss.

He was not a doctor. He added the title "doctor" before Seuss (his mother's maiden name) while in college to lend credibility to his writings and characters, and in reaction to his father's wish that his son would get a doctorate.

He won several major awards, including: two Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards, the Pulitzer Price, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award and a Peabody Award.

He wrote Green Eggs and Ham on a dare. Ted Geisel's publisher bet that Geisel couldn't write a book using only 50 different words. In an effort to make learning to read more exciting for kids, he wrote a silly tale about a picky eater (a common complaint of many parents) and a fellow who won't take "No" for an answer. The result? Green Eggs and Ham.

Many of his stories touch on complex social and political themes, some of which were controversial in their day, long before that was the "in" thing to do in children's books.
Read more

Photos © Seuss Enterprises
Click here for 10 Dr. Seuss Quotes Everyone Should Know

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Little-Known Facts About Dr. Seuss | Hooked & Company Book Club

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While many know Dr. Seuss as the author of more than 50 books for children, many may not be aware of some little-known facts about the "good doctor," Theodor Seuss Geisel.

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He briefly studied English Literature after graduating and even though he never had a degree he ended up being a cartoonist.

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Tuesday is a special day for fans of children's books. Theodor Seuss Geisel, known around the world as the beloved children's author Dr. Seuss, who was born on this day 117 years ago.

His birthday is now recognized as Read Across America Day, where children all over the country celebrate their love of reading and learning.

We're celebrating Dr. Seuss with five facts about his life you may not have known.

1. Theodor Seuss Geisel says he adopted the pen name "Dr. Seuss" because he was saving his real name for the Great American Novel he intended to write one day.

2. Dr. Seuss was not a doctor. He briefly studied English literature at Oxford after graduating from Dartmouth but instead became a cartoonist. In 1955, Dartmouth awarded him an honorary doctorate.

3. Only four of the 44 books Dr. Seuss wrote and illustrated are written in prose.

4. Dr. Seuss wrote "The Cat in the Hat" because he was concerned about kids learning to read. A publisher reportedly challenged him to "Write me a story that first-graders can't put down!"

5. Dr. Seuss has received two Emmys, a Peabody Award and a Pulitzer Prize.

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Fun facts about the late Dr. Seuss in honor of his 117th birthday

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We're celebrating Dr. Seuss with five facts about his life you may not have known.

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Realism was used to describe truthful and accurate things that an artist could see rather that imitating the past

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realism, in the arts, the accurate, detailed, unembellished depiction of nature or of contemporary life. Realism rejects imaginative idealization in favour of a close observation of outward appearances. As such, realism in its broad sense has comprised many artistic currents in different civilizations. In the visual arts, for example, realism can be found in ancient Hellenistic Greek sculptures accurately portraying boxers and decrepit old women. The works of such 17th-century painters as Caravaggio, the Dutch genre painters, the Spanish painters José de Ribera, Diego Velázquez, and Francisco de Zurbarán, and the Le Nain brothers in France are realist in approach. The works of the 18th-century English novelists Daniel Defoe, Henry Fielding, and Tobias Smollett may also be called realistic.

Realism was not consciously adopted as an aesthetic program until the mid-19th century in France, however. Indeed, realism may be viewed as a major trend in French novels and paintings between 1850 and 1880. One of the first appearances of the term realism was in the Mercure français du XIX siècle in 1826, in which the word is used to describe a doctrine based not upon imitating past artistic achievements but upon the truthful and accurate depiction of the models that nature and contemporary life offer the artist. The French proponents of realism were agreed in their rejection of the artificiality of both the Classicism and Romanticism of the academies and on the necessity for contemporaneity in an effective work of art. They attempted to portray the lives, appearances, problems, customs, and mores of the middle and lower classes, of the unexceptional, the ordinary, the humble, and the unadorned. Indeed, they conscientiously set themselves to reproducing all the hitherto-ignored aspects of contemporary life and society-its mental attitudes, physical settings, and material conditions.

Realism was stimulated by several intellectual developments in the first half of the 19th century. Among these were the anti-Romantic movement in Germany, with its emphasis on the common man as an artistic subject; Auguste Comte's Positivist philosophy, in which sociology's importance as the scientific study of society was emphasized; the rise of professional journalism, with its accurate and dispassionate recording of current events; and the development of photography, with its capability of mechanically reproducing visual appearances with extreme accuracy. All these developments stimulated interest in accurately recording contemporary life and society.

Gustave Courbet was the first artist to self-consciously proclaim and practice the realist aesthetic. After his huge canvas The Studio (1854-55) was rejected by the Exposition Universelle of 1855, the artist displayed it and other works under the label "Realism, G. Courbet" in a specially constructed pavilion. Courbet was strongly opposed to idealization in his art, and he urged other artists to instead make the commonplace and contemporary the focus of their art. He viewed the frank portrayal of scenes from everyday life as a truly democratic art. Such paintings as his Burial at Ornans (1849) and the Stone Breakers (1849), which he had exhibited in the Salon of 1850-51, had already shocked the public and critics by the frank and unadorned factuality with which they depicted humble peasants and labourers. The fact that Courbet did not glorify his peasants but presented them boldly and starkly created a violent reaction in the art world.

The style and subject matter of Courbet's work were built on ground already broken by the painters of the Barbizon School. Théodore Rousseau, Charles-François Daubigny, Jean-François Millet, and others in the early 1830s settled in the French village of Barbizon with the aim of faithfully reproducing the local character of the landscape. Though each Barbizon painter had his own style and specific interests, they all emphasized in their works the simple and ordinary rather than the grandiose and monumental aspects of nature. They turned away from melodramatic picturesqueness and painted solid, detailed forms that were the result of close observation. In such works as The Winnower (1848), Millet was one of the first artists to portray peasant labourers with a grandeur and monumentality hitherto reserved for more important persons.

Another major French artist often associated with the realist tradition, Honoré Daumier, drew satirical caricatures of French society and politics. He found his working-class heroes and heroines and his villainous lawyers and politicians in the slums and streets of Paris. Like Courbet, he was an ardent democrat, and he used his skill as a caricaturist directly in the service of political aims. Daumier used energetic linear style, boldly accentuated realistic detail, and an almost sculptural treatment of form to criticize the immorality and ugliness he saw in French society.

Pictorial realism outside of France was perhaps best represented in the 19th century in the United States. There, Winslow Homer's powerful and expressive paintings of marine subjects and Thomas Eakins 's portraits, boating scenes, and other works are frank, unsentimental, and acutely observed records of contemporary life.

Realism was a distinct current in 20th-century art and usually stemmed either from artists' desire to present more honest, searching, and unidealized views of everyday life or from their attempts to use art as a vehicle for social and political criticism. The rough, sketchy, almost journalistic scenes of seamy urban life by the group of American painters known as The Eight fall into the former category. The German art movement known as the Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity), on the other hand, worked in a realist style to express the cynicism and disillusionment of the post- World War I period in Germany. The Depression-era movement known as Social Realism adopted a similarly harsh and direct realism in its depictions of the injustices and evils of American society during that period.

Socialist Realism, which was the officially sponsored Marxist aesthetic in the Soviet Union from the early 1930s until that country's dissolution in 1991, actually had little to do with realism, though it purported to be a faithful and objective mirror of life. Its "truthfulness" was required to serve the ideology and the propagandistic needs of the state. Socialist Realism generally used techniques of naturalistic idealization to create portraits of dauntless workers and engineers who were strikingly alike in both their heroic positivism and their lack of lifelike credibility.

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Realism | History, Definition, & Characteristics

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Realism, in the arts, the accurate, detailed, unembellished depiction of nature or of contemporary life. Realism was a major trend in French novels and paintings between 1850 and 1880. Highlights included Gustave Courbet's painting Burial at Ornans (1849) and Gustave Flaubert's novel Madame Bovary (1857).

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Civil War
1861-1865

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Reconstruction Era
1865-1877

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1. Feelings of disillusionment.
2. Common subjects: slums of rapidly growing cities, factories replacing farmlands, poor factory workers, corrupt politicians.
3. Represented the manner and environment of everyday life and ordinary people as realistically as possible (Regionalism).
4. Sought to explain behavior (psychologically/socially).

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Mark Twain
-Huckleberry Finn

Jack London
-Call of the Wild
-"To Build a Fire"

Stephen Crane
-"The Open Boat"

Ambrose Bierce
-"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"

Kate Chopin
-"Story of an Hour"
-The Awakening

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The invention of photography in 1840 likely helped to spur on the realism movement.

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Kids learn about the Realism Art movement and its major artists such as Eduoard Manet and Winslow Homer.

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realism seeks the realistic truth.

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Before settling to be a writer, he was a teacher, and was even a stagecoach guard for Wells Fargo

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He drifted out of school at 13

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Harte did not like the name he was born with so he changed it

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Bret Harte was a 19th century author and poet famous for his stories about California mining towns, and about the pioneering life in the California of his day. Harte was born in Albany, New York, as Francis Brett Hart. He was named after his great grand father Francis Brett, and his family name was then Hart. Harte clearly did not like the names he was born with, and later in life eliminated his first given name, Francis, changed his second given name to Bret from Brett, and changed his family name from Hart to Harte. I guess he just wanted to be different.

Harte moved to California in 1853, when he was only 17 years old. It is not clear if he was a young adventurer or whether he moved with his family. Harte initially lived in Union [now Arcata], California, where he served as assistant editor for the "Northern Californian", a local newspaper. In 1860, a massacre occurred at Tutulwat, near Union, where between 80 and 200 native Americans were killed. Harte wrote a scathing editorial about the massacre, and published it in the "Northern Californian, the local newspaper.

By writing the critical article, Harte put his own survival at stake. His life was threatened, and he was forced to flee the area. He ended up in San Francisco, probably for the best of his writing career. A slightly modified excerpt of the editorial follows: "Old women wrinkled and decrepit lay weltering in blood, their brains dashed out and drabbled with their long gray hair. Infants scarcely a span long, with their faces cloven with hatchets, and their bodies were mutilated ghastly with wounds."

The massacre apparently had wide community approval in the area where it occurred. No one was ever brought to trial, despite the evidence of a planned attack and reference to specific individuals, and to members of the unofficial militia, the Humboldt Volunteers. But at least Harte survived by moving from the area around where it occurred.

An early literary journal, "The Californian", published by Charles Henry Webb published some of Harte's early poetry and prose which helped him become known in California literary circles. In 1868, Harte became editor of "The Overland Monthly", a literary journal focused more on the pioneering style of the California of that time period. His first famous story, "The Luck of Roaring Camp" appeared in "The Overland Monthly", and propelled Harte to nationwide fame.

When Charles Dickens passed away in 1870, Harte composed a poetic tribute, "Dickens in Camp". This poem was considered a masterpiece of verse, with an unusual quality of poetic expression.

It was during the late 1860's that Harte met his contemporary Mark Twain, apparently in California. Although Mark Twain was a year older than Harte, it was Twain who gave Harte credit for teaching him how to write. Twain told Thomas Aldrich Bailey in 1871, that, "Harte had trained and schooled him so patiently until he changed me from an awkward utterer of grotesquenesss to a writer of paragraphs and chapters that have found a certain favor in the eyes of even some of the very decentest people in the land." Later in life Mark Twain would, of course, continue on to become of the more famous writers of his era.

In 1871, Harte decided to pursue his writing career in the east, and travelled with his family to New York and eventually settled in Boston, Massachusetts. He contracted with "The Atlantic Monthly", to write prose and poetry. However, his California style which had served him well while living in California, apparently did not go over so well with the eastern establishment. His popularity waned, and he eventually decided to find other work to earn a living.

In 1878, Harte accepted a position as United States Consul in the town of Krefeld in Germany. He was later, in 1880, transferred to Glasgow, Scotland. Harte apparently liked the British Isles and settled in London in 1885. During the entire time he spent in Europe, about 24 years, Harte did not abandon his writing, and his stories retained the same freshness as his earlier work. Harte passed away in 1902 of throat cancer. He was buried in Frimley, Surrey, England. Mark Twain outlived Harte for another eight years.

Harte is best remembered in California. Numerous elementary and high schools are named after him, as well as many streets and roads. In 1987, Harte appeared on a United States postage stamp, as part of the "Great American Series" of postage stamp issues.
REFERENCES
Bret Harte, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bret_Harte

Kaplan, Justin, "Mr. Clemens and Mark Twain", NY: Simon and Shuster, 1966, p. 74.

Twain, Mark, "Mark Twain at the Buffalo Express", Edited by Joseph McCullough and Janice McIntyre-Strassburg, Northern Illinois University Press, 1979, p296, n. 126.
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Bret Harte was a 19th century author and poet famous for his stories about California mining towns, and about the pioneering life in the California of his day. Harte was born in Albany, New York, as Francis Brett Hart. He was named after his great grand father Francis Brett, and his family name was then Hart.

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Her most famous work is "The Color Purple" and she got awarded the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award in 1983.

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“different reasons for the book being banned, including religious objections, homosexuality, violence, African history, rape, incest, drug abuse, explicit language, and sexual scenes.”

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Alice Walker's The Color Purple has been one of the most and banned challenged books since its debut in 1982. As The Banned Books Project points out, there have been "different reasons for the book being banned, including religious objections, homosexuality, violence, African history, rape, incest, drug abuse, explicit language, and sexual scenes." The bans and challenges to The Color Purple, as we know, have nothing to do with the actual content of the novel. These bans and challenges arise from the fear that The Color Purple and other works hold a mirror up to those who attempt to ban the book. That mirror reflects white supremacy back at the person standing in front of it, and the white person looking at themselves in the mirror fears what the reflections says about themselves.

In 2013, Brunswick County North Carolin Commissioner Pat Sykes attempted to remove The Color Purple from local schools. Sykes called Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, "Trash in, trash out," and that "[t]o me, we should have standards for our kids." Olivia Cole asks who Sykes means when she says, "we." Sykes' "we" does not refer to everyone; rather, it refers to those who uphold a system that is "both white and Christian at its core." The Color Purple challenges this system, specifically in the ways that it addresses the impacts of white supremacy through Celie...

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Banned Books Week: Alice Walker's "The Color Purple"

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Alice Walker's The Color Purple has been one of the most and banned challenged books since its debut in 1982. As The Banned Books Project points out, there have been "different reasons for the book...

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While growing up she was accidentally blinded in one eye, and her mother gave her a typewriter, allowing her to write instead of doing chores.

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Alice Walker, in full Alice Malsenior Walker, (born February 9, 1944, Eatonton, Georgia, U.S.), American writer whose novels, short stories, and poems are noted for their insightful treatment of African American culture. Her novels, most notably The Color Purple (1982), focus particularly on women.

Walker was the eighth child of African American sharecroppers. While growing up she was accidentally blinded in one eye, and her mother gave her a typewriter, allowing her to write instead of doing chores. She received a scholarship to attend Spelman College, where she studied for two years before transferring to Sarah Lawrence College. After graduating in 1965, Walker moved to Mississippi and became involved in the civil rights movement. She also began teaching and publishing short stories and essays. She married in 1967, but the couple divorced in 1976.
(Read W.E.B. Du Bois' 1926 Britannica essay on African American literature.)
Walker's first book of poetry, Once, appeared in 1968, and her first novel, The Third Life of Grange Copeland (1970), a narrative that spans 60 years and three generations, followed two years later. A second volume of poetry, Revolutionary Petunias and Other Poems, and her first collection of short stories, In Love and Trouble: Stories of Black Woman, both appeared in 1973. The latter bears witness to sexist violence and abuse in the African American community. After moving to New York, Walker completed (1976), a novel describing the coming of age of several civil rights workers in the 1960s.

Walker later moved to California, where she wrote her most popular novel, The Color Purple (1982). An epistolary novel, it depicts the growing up and self-realization of an African American woman between 1909 and 1947 in a town in Georgia. The book won a Pulitzer Prize and was adapted into a film by Steven Spielberg in 1985. A musical version produced by Oprah Winfrey and Quincy Jones premiered in 2004.

Walker's later fiction includes The Temple of My Familiar, an ambitious examination of racial and sexual tensions (1989); Possessing the Secret of Joy (1992), a narrative centred on female genital mutilation; By the Light of My Father's Smile (1998), the story of a family of anthropologists posing as missionaries in order to gain access to a Mexican tribe; and Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart (2005), about an older woman's quest for identity. Reviewers complained that these novels employed New Age abstractions and poorly conceived characters, though Walker continued to draw praise for championing racial and gender equality in her work. She also released the volume of short stories The Way Forward Is with a Broken Heart (2000) and several other volumes of poetry, including Absolute Trust in the Goodness of the Earth (2003), A Poem Traveled Down My Arm (2003), Hard Times Require Furious Dancing (2010), and Taking the Arrow Out of the Heart (2018). Her Blue Body Everything We Know: Earthling Poems (1991) collects poetry from 1965 to 1990.
(Read Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s Britannica essay on "Monuments of Hope.")
Walker's essays were compiled in In Search of Our Mother's Gardens: Womanist Prose (1983), Sent by Earth: A Message from the Grandmother Spirit After the Bombing of the World Trade Center and Pentagon (2001), We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For (2006), and The Cushion in the Road: Meditation and Wandering as the Whole World Awakens to Being in Harm's Way (2013). Walker also wrote juvenile fiction and critical essays on such female writers as Flannery O'Connor and Zora Neale Hurston. She cofounded a short-lived press in 1984. Throughout her career Walker occasionally attracted criticism. Notably, some African Americans strongly objected to the perceived negative portrayal of Black men in The Color Purple. In later years Walker, who often spoke out against Israel's policies toward Palestinians, was accused of being anti-Semitic, with her support of a Holocaust denier drawing particular attention.

In the unconventional memoir The Chicken Chronicles (2011), Walker discussed caring for a flock of chickens while also musing on her life. Gathering Blossoms Under Fire (2022) is a collection of her journals. The documentary Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth was released in 2013.

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Alice Walker | Biography, Books, The Color Purple, & Facts

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Alice Walker, in full Alice Malsenior Walker, (born February 9, 1944, Eatonton, Georgia, U.S.), American writer whose novels, short stories, and poems are noted for their insightful treatment of African American culture. Her novels, most notably The Color Purple (1982), focus particularly on women. Walker was the eighth child of African American sharecroppers.

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Modernism
1900-1950

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World War I
1914-1918

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The Great Depression
1929-1939

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World War II
1939-1945

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1. Sense of disillusionment and loss of faith in the "American Dream": the independent, self-reliant, individual will triumph.
2. Emphasis on bold experimentation in style and form over the traditional.
3. Interest in the inner workings of the human mind (ex. Stream of consciousness).