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Literary Skills Evaluate the philosophical, political, Gary Q. Arpin religious, ethical, and The following essay provides highlights of the historical period. social influences of a historical For a more detailed version of this essay, see period. Elements of , pages 162-173.

The Romantic Sensibility: Celebrating Notes In general, is the name given to those schools of thought that value feeling and intuition over reason. The first rumblings of Romanticism were felt in in the second half of the eighteenth century. Romanticism had a strong influ- ence on literature, , and in Europe and well into the nineteenth century. When it finally arrived in America, it took different forms. 10 Romanticism, especially in Europe, developed as part of a What did the Romantics reaction against rationalism. The Romantics came to believe value (lines 3-4)? Circle the that, through the imagination, you could discover truths that the details that give you that . rational mind could not reach. To the Romantics, the imagina- tion, individual feelings, and wild nature were of greater value

than reason and logic. The word rationalism in line was considered the highest embodiment of the 11 refers to the practice of accepting reason as the only Romantic imagination. Romantic artists often contrasted poetry authority in forming one’s opinions or choosing a with , which they saw as destroying the very truth it claimed course of action. It comes to seek. , for example, called science a “vulture” from the word rational, which means “based on 20 with wings of “dull ,” preying on the hearts of . reason.” Copyright © by Holt, © by Copyright Winston. Rinehart and All rights reserved. What was considered to be the highest embodiment of the Romantic imagination (lines 16-17)? Circle the answer.

American Romanticism 67 Mark Riedy. Romantic : From Dull Realities to Higher Truths Underline the two ways in The Romantics wanted to rise above the “dull realities” to a which the Romantics sought a higher truth (lines 25-30). realm of higher truth. They did this in two principal ways. Restate these characteristics First, the Romantics searched for exotic settings in the more of Romanticism in your own words. “natural” past, far from the grimy and noisy industrial age. Sometimes they found this world in the realm or in old legends and folklore. Second, the Romantics tried to reflect on the natural world until dull fell away to reveal 30 underlying truth and . This second Romantic approach is evident in many lyric poems. In a typical Romantic poem, the speaker sees an ordinary object or scene. A flower found by a stream or a bird flying overhead brings the speaker to some important, deeply felt , which is then recorded in the poem. This process is similar to the way the Puritans drew moral lessons from nature. The Puritans’ lessons were defined by their . The Romantics, on the other hand, found a less clearly defined divinity in nature. Their contemplation of the natural world led to a more generalized emotional and Re-read lines 36-40. How did the Puritan view of nature 40 intellectual awakening. differ from the Romantic

view? ved. The American and the Wilderness Experience The development of the American novel coincided with west- ward expansion, with the growth of nationalist spirit, and with the rapid spread of . A geography of the imagination developed, in which town, country and frontier would a powerful role in American life and literature—as they continue to do today. We can see how the novel developed by looking at the

50 career of (1789–1851). Cooper explored Holt, © by Copyright Winston. Rinehart and All rights reser uniquely American settings and characters: frontier communities, Pause at line 48. What did the development of the American Indians, and the wilderness of western and American novel coincide with? Circle the answer. Pennsylvania. Most of all, he created the first American heroic

68 Part 1 Collection 2: American Romanticism figure: Natty Bumppo (also known as Hawkeye, Deerslayer, and Leatherstocking), a skilled frontiersman whose simple morality

and almost superhuman resourcefulness mark him as a true Re-read lines 59-66. . Underline the characteristics of the typical hero of Romantic fiction. ■ A New Kind of Hero Cooper’s Natty Bumppo is a triumph of American innocence 60 and an example of one of the most important outgrowths of the Re-read the last paragraph on this page. Underline the early American novel: the American Romantic hero. Here was a pop- heroes that are new kind of heroic figure, one quite different from the hero of descendants of Natty Bumppo. the Age of Reason. The rationalist hero was worldly, educated, Notes sophisticated, and bent on making a place for himself in civiliza- tion. The typical hero of American Romantic fiction, on the other hand, was youthful, innocent, intuitive, and close to nature. Today, Americans still create Romantic heroes; the twenti- eth- and twenty-first-century descendants of Natty Bumppo are all around us. They can be found in dozens of pop-culture 70 heroes: the Lone Ranger, , Luke Skywalker, Indiana Jones, and any number of western, detective, and heroes. ved. Copyright © by Holt, © by Copyright Winston. Rinehart and All rights reser 20th Century Fox (Courtesy Kobal). Daniel Day-Lewis as Natty Bumppo in the movie The Last of the Mohicans (1992).

American Romanticism 69 American Romantic Poetry: Read at Every Fireside Re-read lines 74-81. Why The American Romantic novelists looked for new subject matter didn’t Romantic poets try to craft a unique American and new themes, but the opposite tendency appears in the works voice? of the Romantic poets. They attempted to prove their sophisti- cation by working solidly within European literary traditions rather than crafting a unique American voice. Even when they constructed poems with American settings and subject matter, 80 the American Romantic poets used typically English themes, meter, and imagery. The Fireside Poets—as the Boston group of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (page 73), John Greenleaf Whittier, Pause at line 88. How did Oliver Wendell Holmes, and was called— the Fireside Poets get their name? Underline the answer. were, in their own time and for many decades afterward, the most popular poets America had ever produced. They were called Fireside Poets because their poems were often read aloud at the fireside as family . Who were the Transcendentalists The Fireside Poets were unable to recognize the poetry of (lines 98-103)? 90 the future, which was being written right under their noses. Whittier’s response in 1855 to the first volume of a certain ’s work was to throw the book into the fire. ’s response was much more farsighted. “I greet you,” ved. Emerson wrote to this new poet , “at the beginning of a great career.”

The Transcendentalists: True Reality Is Spiritual At the heart of America’s coming-of-age were the Transcen- dentalists, who were led by Massachusetts and lecturer 100 Ralph Waldo Emerson (page 76). Transcendental refers to the idea that in determining the ultimate reality of God, the universe, Copyright © by Holt, © by Copyright Winston. Rinehart and All rights reser the self, and other important matters, one must transcend, or go beyond, everyday human experience in the physical world. For Emerson, was not a new but “the very oldest of thoughts cast into the mold of these new

70 Part 1 Collection 2: American Romanticism times.” That “oldest of thoughts” was idealism. Idealists said that true real-

ity was found in ideas rather than in Pause at line 118. What were the world as perceived by the senses. the beliefs of the idealists? Underline the answer. 110 Idealists sought the permanent reality that underlies physical appearances. The Americans who called them- Re-read lines 129-135. selves Transcendentalists were ideal- Underline the definition of ists but in a broader, more practical intuition. Ralph Waldo Emerson. sense. Like many Americans today, Drawing by David Levine. Reprinted with permission from they also believed in human The New York Review of Books. Copyright ©1968 NYREV, Inc. perfectibility, and they worked to achieve this goal. Pause at line 137. In what way did Emerson’s and Franklin’s approaches to ■ Emerson and Transcendentalism: knowledge differ? 120 The American Roots Emerson was the most influential and best-known member of the Transcendentalist group. His writing and that of his friend Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) clearly and forcefully expressed Transcendentalist ideas. As developed by Emerson, Transcendentalism grafted ideas from Europe and Asia onto a homegrown American philosophical stem. Its American roots ved. included Puritan thought and Romantic tradition. “Every natu- ral fact,” Emerson wrote, “is a symbol of some spiritual fact.”

■ Emerson’s Optimistic Outlook

130 Emerson’s view of the world sprang not from logic but from in- tuition. Intuition is our capacity to know things spontaneously and immediately through our emotions rather than through our reasoning abilities. Intuitive thought—the kind Emerson believed in—contrasts with the rational thinking of someone like Benjamin Franklin. Franklin did not on nature and feel the

Copyright © by Holt, © by Copyright Winston. Rinehart and All rights reser presence of a Divine Soul; he looked at nature and saw something to be examined scientifically and used to help humanity. An intense feeling of optimism was one product of Emerson’s that we can find God directly in nature. God is 140 good, and God works through nature, Emerson believed. If we

American Romanticism 71 can simply trust ourselves—that is, trust in the power each of us has to know God directly—then we will realize that each of us is

Re-read lines 144-150. Why also part of the Divine Soul, the source of all good. was Emerson’s optimism Emerson’s sense of optimism and hope appealed to audi- appealing to the of his day? ences who lived in a period of economic downturns, regional strife, and conflict over . Your condition today, Emerson seemed to tell his readers and his listeners, may seem dull and disheartening, but it need not be. If you discover the God within you, he suggested, your lives will become a part of the grandeur 150 of the universe.

The Dark Romantics Emerson’s idealism was exciting for his audiences, but not all the and thinkers of the time agreed with Transcendentalist thought. “To one who has weathered Cape Horn as a common Read the boxed passage aloud twice. In your second sailor,” Herman Melville wrote scornfully of Emerson’s ideas, , try to improve your speed as well as your “what stuff all this is.” comprehension. Some people think of , Herman Melville, and Edgar Allan Poe as anti-Transcendentalists, because their views of the world seem opposed to the optimistic views

Pause at line 174. Why are 160 of Emerson and his followers. But these Dark Romantics, as they ved. Hawthorne, Melville, and are known, had much in common with the Transcendentalists. Poe called Dark Romantics? Both groups valued intuition over logic and reason. Both groups, like the Puritans before them, saw signs and symbols in all events—as Anne Bradstreet found spiritual significance in the fire that destroyed her house (page 15). In contrast to Emerson, however, the Dark Romantics did not believe that nature is necessarily good or harmless. Their view of existence developed from both the mystical and melan- choly features of Puritan thought. In their works they explored 170 the conflict between good and evil, the psychological effects of

guilt and sin, and even madness. Behind the pasteboard Holt, © by Copyright Winston. Rinehart and All rights reser of social respectability, the Dark Romantics saw the blankness and the horror of evil. From this imaginative, unflinching vision they shaped a uniquely American literature.

72 Part 1 Collection 2: American Romanticism Collection 2 Student pages 66–67 67 s ’ in line Literary Skills Evaluate the philosophical, political, religious, ethical, and social influences of a historical period. rational, based on 4)? Circle the “ - rationalism 17)? Circle the - ” American Romanticism Notes 11 refers to the practice of accepting reason as the only authority in forming one opinions or choosing a course of action. It comes from the word which means Notes What did the Romantics value (lines 3 The word What was considered to be the highest embodiment of the Romantic imagination (lines 16 reason. details that give you information. answer. ” 173. vulture - “ pages 162 The Romantics came to believe came to The Romantics Gary Q. Arpin preying on the hearts of poets. ” Mark Riedy. Elements of Literature, For a more detailed version of this essay, see For a more detailed version of this essay, rationalism. dull realities, “ The following essay provides highlights of the historical period. Romanticism, especially in Europe, as part developed of a the highest embodiment of was considered Poetry the The Romantic Sensibility: Celebrating Imagination general,In of those schools to is the name given Romanticism reason.thought that value feeling and intuition over The first rumblings of in the second felt in Germany were Romanticism half of the eighteenth century. influ- had a strong Romanticism on literature,ence music, and England and painting in Europe century. the nineteenth into well in it finally arrived When America, forms. different it took against reaction that, the imagination, through truths that the discover could you not reach.rational mind could the Romantics, To the imagina- tion, individual feelings, of and wild were nature value greater and logic. than reason imagination.Romantic poetry artists contrasted often Romantic with science, the very truth as destroying it claimed they which saw seek.to Allan Poe, Edgar for example, a called science with wings of

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Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved. rights All Winston. and Rinehart Holt, by © Copyright Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved. rights All Winston. and Rinehart Holt, by © Copyright s ” ’ by Wilfred Satty and Edgar The Fall of the House Usher. “ Allan Poe. Copyright © 1976. All rights reserved. The Illustrated Edgar Allan Poe short story From Illustration by Wilfred Satty for Edgar Allan Poe Reprinted by permission of Warner Books, Inc., New York, NY, USA. NY, Books, Inc., New York, Reprinted by permission of Warner

Student Pages with Answers 35 Collection 2 Student pages 68–69 69 66. - this page. Underline the American Romanticism

Re-read lines 59 Underline the characteristics of the typical hero Romantic fiction. Re-read the last paragraph on pop-culture heroes that are descendants of Natty Bumppo. Notes Notes 20th Century Fox (Courtesy Kobal). (Courtesy Fox Century 20th (1992). day, heroes; Romantic Americans still create the twenti- Daniel Day-Lewis as Natty Bumppo in the movie The Last of the Mohicans To oper’s Natty Bumppo is a triumph Bumppo of Natty oper’s American innocence mantic hero. A New Kind of Hero nes, of number and any western, detective, and fantasy heroes. eatherstocking), whose simple morality a skilled frontiersman figure: (also known as Hawkeye, Bumppo Natty Deerslayer, and L mark him as a true and almost superhuman resourcefulness Ro ■ Co ofand an example one of the most important outgrowths of the American novel:early hero.American Romantic the was a Here new kind of figure, heroic of the hero from different one quite ofAge the Reason. was worldly, The rationalist hero educated, sophisticated, for himself and bent on making a place in civiliza- tion. The typical of hero fiction, American Romantic on the other hand, was youthful, innocent, intuitive, nature. and close to eth- and twenty-first-century of descendants are Bumppo Natty us.all around of They can be found in dozens pop-culture heroes: the Lone Ranger, Superman, Skywalker, Luke Indiana Jo

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Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved. rights All Winston. and Rinehart Holt, by © Copyright Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved. rights All Winston. and Rinehart Holt, by © Copyright as they continue — 1851). explored Cooper – can see how the novel developed by looking at the by developed the novel can see how

We erican Indians, and the wilderness of and York New western their religion. The Romantics, on the other hand, found a

nnsylvania. of Most all,American heroic the first he created flect on the natural world until dull reality fell away to reveal to until dull reality fell away flect on the natural world natural” past, the grimy and noisy industrial far from age. ealm of higher truth. principal They did this in two ways. less clearly defined divinity in nature. of Their contemplation generalized emotional and a more led to the natural world awakening. intellectual to do today. ofcareer (1789 Cooper Fenimore James American settings and characters:uniquely communities, frontier Am Pe Romantic Escapism: Dull Realities to Higher Truths From realities”“dull the rise to above wanted The Romantics a to r First, settings in the more for exotic searched the Romantics “ in the supernatural or Sometimes they found this world realm in old legends and folklore. Second, tried to the Romantics re underlying truth and beauty. approach Romantic This second lyricis evident in many poems. a typical In poem, Romantic sees an ordinarythe speaker object or scene. found by A flower some brings flying to or a bird the speaker overhead a stream important, deeply felt insight, in the is then recorded which poem. drew the Puritans the way is similar to This process nature.moral lessons from The Puritans’ defined lessons were by The American Novel and the Wilderness Experience ofThe development with coincided west- American novel the expansion,ward with the growth of nationalist spirit, and with ofthe rapid spread cities. of A geography the imagination developed, town, in which a play country would and frontier American life and literature in role powerful 30 40 50 30). - Collection 2: American Romanticism 40. How did - Part 1 Underline the two ways in which the Romantics sought a higher truth (lines 25 Restate these characteristics of Romanticism in your own words. They looked at the natural world as well as legends, folklore, and the supernatural. They also tried to find beauty through nature. Re-read lines 36 the Puritan view of nature from the Romantic differ view? The Puritans saw moral lessons in The Romantics nature. found a general emo- tional and intellectual awakening through nature. Pause at line 48. What did the development of American novel coincide with? Circle the answer. 68

36 The Holt Reader: Teacher’s Manual Collection 2 Student pages 70–71 71 135. - American Romanticism esult of scientific Pause at line 118. What were the beliefs of idealists? Underline the answer. Re-read lines 129 Underline the definition of intuition. Pause at line 137. In what and way did Emerson’s approaches to Franklin’s knowledge differ? Emerson believed that knowledge came spontaneously, emotions. through Franklin believed that knowledge was the r inquiry and logic. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Ralph Waldo Drawing by David Levine. Reprinted with permission from Review of Books. The New York Inc. Copyright ©1968 NYREV, the kind Emerson believed — 1862) clearly and forcefully – intense feeling ofintense of optimism was one product

ntrasts with the rational thinking of someone like An co nry (1817 Thoreau David be examined scientifically and used to help humanity. scientifically and used to be examined Emerson and Transcendentalism: Emerson and Transcendentalism: The American Roots Optimistic Outlook Emerson’s pressed Transcendentalist ideas. Transcendentalist pressed Emerson, by developed As anscendentalism grafted ideas from Europe and Asia onto a onto Asia and Europe graftedanscendentalism ideas from ealists sought the permanent reality

— al fact,” Emerson wrote, “is a symbol of some spiritual fact.” easoning abilities. thought Intuitive Benjamin Franklin. and feel the on nature did not gaze Franklin ofpresence a Divine Soul; something and saw at nature he looked to beliefEmerson’s in nature. can find God directly that we God is good, nature, through and God works Emerson believed. If we times.” That “oldest of thoughts” was idealism. said that true real- Idealists ity was found in ideas rather than in the senses. by as perceived the world Id appearances. that underlies physical Americans who called them- The ideal- were Transcendentalists selves ists but in a broader, practical more sense.Americans today, many Like they in human also believed perfectibility, to and they worked this goal. achieve ■ Emerson was the most influential and best-known member of group.the Transcendentalist writing His and that of his friend He ■ view ofEmerson’s in- logic sprang but from not from the world tuition. things spontaneously is our capacity know Intuition to our emotions rather through our than through and immediately r ex Tr American philosophical stem. homegrown American roots Its tradition. thoughtincluded Puritan and Romantic natu- “Every r in

110 120 130 140

Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved. rights All Winston. and Rinehart Holt, by © Copyright Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved. rights All Winston. and Rinehart Holt, by © Copyright — fers to the fers to re anscendental Tr as the Boston group of group as the Boston Henry — r Emerson, was not a new philosophy Transcendentalism in their own time and for many decades afterward,in their own time and for many the was to throw the book into the fire. the book into throw was to Waldo Ralph

The Fireside Poets were unable to recognize the poetry recognize unable to of were Poets The Fireside The Fireside Poets The Fireside Fo , dsworth (page 73), Longfellow Greenleaf John Whittier, rk the heart of the Transcen- were coming-of-age America’s re nstructed poems with Americannstructed settings poems with and subject matter, hittier’s response in 1855 to the first volume of the first volume in 1855 to response hittier’s a certain poet’s

rue Reality Is Spiritual ather than crafting a unique American voice.ather than crafting a unique when they Even Wa Holmes,Wendell was called Oliver Lowell Russell and James we produced.America had ever most popular poets They were aloud read often because their poems were Poets called Fireside as family entertainment. at the fireside the future, was being written which right under their noses. W wo American Romantic Poetry: Read at Every Fireside for new subject matter looked novelists American Romantic The and new themes, appears in the works tendency but the opposite of poets. the Romantic their sophisti- prove to They attempted literary solidly within traditions working European cation by r co poets used typicallyAmerican Romantic Englishthe themes, meter, and imagery. The Transcendentalists: T At dentalists, writer and lecturer Massachusetts led by who were Emerson (page 76). Waldo Ralph idea that in determining the ultimate reality of the ultimate idea that in determining God, the universe, the self, and other important matters, transcend, one must or go beyond, world. in the physical experience human everyday very oldest of“the but thoughts the mold of cast into these new Emerson’s response was much more farsighted. more was much response Emerson’s you,” “I greet Whitman, Walt the new poet “at this maverick to Emerson wrote beginning of career.” a great 80 90 100 Collection 2: American Romanticism 81. Why - Part 1 103)? - aldo Emerson. They hey wanted to prove he Transcendentalists ranscendentalists Re-read lines 74 Romantic poets try to didn’t craft a unique American voice? T their sophistication, so they imitated the English of writing. Pause at line 88. How did the Fireside Poets get their name? Underline the answer. Who were the T (lines 98 T of a group were thinkers led by Ralph W believed that one must transcend, or go beyond, everyday human experience to understand God or arrive at truths. 70

Student Pages with Answers 37 Collection 2 Student pages 72–73 73 Literary Skills Understand meter. Reading Skills Paraphrase to clarify text. The Tide Rises, the Falls or paraphrase, √ ou can use special marks Y ˘ √ scanning. ˘ ) is placed over each stressed syllable. The √ ˘ √ √ Think of a line from a poem or song. Write it in Think of a line from poem or song. Write ˘ ˘ √ √ ˘ Along / the sea- sands damp and brown ˘ ) is placed over each unstressed syllable. Read aloud this line ” symbol and the unstressed syllables with a “˘.” Then, use As you read the poem, pause after each stanza. Paraphrase ˘ √ √ Happy birthday to you. Original Line Possible Paraphrase ” symbol. √ is a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry. Meter gives is a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry. Example: The twilight darkens, the curlewcalls Night is falling. A shorebird cries out. to scan a poem. The stress mark ( each line in the stanza, using your own words. Your paraphrase should each line in the stanza, using your own words. Your include the important details expressed in each stanza. the space below. Read the line aloud several times, marking stressed syl- the space below. lables with a “ “short” mark ( Meter can hear the meter of a poem when you read it aloud. poetry . You Stressed syllables are emphasized more than unstressed syllables. Analyzing the meter of a poem is called Why Does Meter Matter? One way to better understand the meaning of a text is Use the Skill restate its ideas in your own words. Here is an example of how a line from Falls” can be paraphrased. Rises, the Tide “The Tide from “The Tides Rises, the Tide Falls,” emphasizing the syllables marked Rises, the Tide from “The Tides with a “ your symbols to read the line aloud once more, emphasizing meter.

The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls the Tide Falls The Tide Rises, Longfellow Wadsworth by Henry FOCUS: METER LITERARY READING SKILLS: PARAPHRASING

Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved. rights All Winston. and Rinehart Holt, by © Copyright Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved. rights All Winston. and Rinehart Holt, by © Copyright that is, of each trust in the power us then we will realize that each of that each willthen we realize us is — — as Anne Bradstreet found spiritual Bradstreet Anne significance in as ntrast Emerson, to however, did the Dark Romantics — co

ille, as anti-Transcendentalists,Allan Poe and Edgar because Emerson’s sense ofEmerson’s audi- optimism and hope appealed to In Some people think of Hawthorne, Nathaniel Herman lv iters and thinkers of and thinkers iters with the time agreed Transcendentalist oups, them, before the Puritans like signs and symbols saw in ew of and melan- both the mystical from developed existence ou, he suggested, will a part become of lives your the grandeur holy features ofholy features thought. Puritan they their works explored In has to know God directly know has to also part of the Divine Soul, of the source all good. in a period of who lived ences downturns, economic regional strife, today, slavery. condition over and conflict Your Emerson and his listeners, his readers tell seemed to seem dull and may disheartening, it need not be. but If the God within discover you y of the universe. their views of the optimistic views seem opposed to the world of Emerson and his followers. these Dark Romantics, But as they known,are with in common the Transcendentalists. had much logic and reason. valued intuition over Both groups Both gr all events her house (page 15). that destroyed the fire is necessarily good or harmless. that nature not believe Their vi c good and evil, between the conflict effects of the psychological guilt and sin, madness. and even masks Behind the pasteboard of social respectability, the blankness saw the Dark Romantics ofand the horror evil. this imaginative, From vision unflinching American literature. they shaped a uniquely can simply trust ourselves The Dark Romantics for his audiences, idealism was exciting Emerson’s but not all the wr thought. as a common Cape Horn one who has weathered “To of scornfully sailor,” wrote Melville Herman ideas, Emerson’s “what stuff all this is.” Me 150 160 170 Collection 2: American Romanticism 150. Why - Part 1 was Emerson’s optimism was Emerson’s appealing to the audiences Re-read lines 144 of his day? Audiences of his day struggling, poor, were and conflicted over They appreci- slavery. ated hearing optimistic sentiments. Read the boxed passage aloud twice. In your second reading, try to improve your speed as well your comprehension. Pause at line 174. Why are Hawthorne, Melville, and Poe called Dark Romantics? such They explored issues as the conflict between good and evil, and the effects of sin, guilt, and madness. 72

38 The Holt Reader: Teacher’s Manual