Ryan Ryersen 10-21-16

Today in class, since Mr. Rivers was absent, we did an assignment comparing the views of people from the Romantic Period(approximately 1800-1860) and Rationalist thinkers who were more prominent in the period leading up to the romantic period(approximately 1750-1800). The rationalists focused the majority of their rhetoric was based on logic this evident in texts such as Common Sense by Thomas Paine. As the “pendulum” swung back to predominantly focusing on emotion as the main form of rhetoric. This pendulum swing was not just in America it was also taking place in Europe this is shown in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein which is based on emotion more than logic. These time periods coincide with historical events during this time period. During this 50 year span arguably the most prominent revolutions in history, the American Revolution and the French Revolution, both using logos in order to realise that the current institution was unfair. Conversely, in the romantic period, in American history, it is considered “The era of Good Feelings” because of the influx of new American artwork, writing and music, all of which are characteristic of the romantic period. So, in class we had to use the perspectives of these two contrasting ideologies and apply them to them to something. I chose school, I wrote about how a rationalist would be more in favor than a romantic. With that being said, a rationalist would still critique school, such as insisting that lunches are shorter and that classes such as music and art be omitted. I said a romantic would find school to be institutionalized they encourage things such as a less rigid schedule and less standardized testing. Other people in the class wrote about modern things such as apps and sports. Even though, these time periods were very long ago, they can still be applied to modern day topics. The picture below shows the struggle between romanticism and rationalism.