Characteristics of Experimentalism:

• Philosophical belief that experiments gives truth
• "Theory or practice of depending on experimentation" (yourdictionary)
• Things are constantly changing
• "Reality is what you experience" (wikipedia)

"Experimentalism." Wikipedia. 09 June 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experimentallism.>

"Experimentalism-Definition of experientalism at YourDictionary.com." Dictionary and Thesaurus-free online at your dictionary. 09 June 2010. <http://www.yourdictionary.com/experimentalism.>

Resources about Experimentalism in Early American Literature

1. Childs, John L. Education and the Philosophy of Experimentalism. John L. Childs, 1931. .<
<http://books.google.com/books?id=zqhcdsqKZykC&printsec=frontcover&dq=experimentalism&cd=1#v=onepage&q&f=false.>
The book provides a comparison as to how experimentalism is used in education. In order to teach, teachers use experimentalism as a pass/fail attempt, in order to discover new teaching methods that are acceptable. Just as in literature with experimentation. The book also devotes "critical evaluation of the philosophic and correlative educational positions of the experimentalist" (Childs, 7). The book assist to understand the theme experimentalism and how educators as well as other individuals use experimentalism in their social lives. The book is credible based on the website in which it was found and has been reprinted.

2. Bernstein, David W. “Dialects in the Arts: The Rise of Experimentalism in American Music.” American Music 18.1 (Spring 2000): 103. General OneFile. Gale. Mesa Community College. 30 June 2009 <http://find.galegroup.com.ezp.mc.maricopa.edu/itx/start.do?proId=ITOF.>
The Main purpose of the website is to describe the rise of experimentalism in American Music. The article describes political differences in regards to experimentalism. The website describes the American experimentalism movement. The author links experimentalism to a musical protest movement. The author talks about how experimentalist composers wanted to create a body of work that would help define the collective identity of a huge and diverse population. This website describes the different uses of experimentalism in music, poetry, and literature. This article was helpful to read because it described experimentalism in many ways other than just literature. This is a credible resource found on the MCC electronic resources website.


3. Bercovith, Sacvan and Cyrus R. K. Patell. The Cambridge History of American Literature; Prose Writing, 1860-1920. Cambridge University Press, 2005
The main purpose of this book was to give an in depth look at the history of American literature including specific themes and periods. The general criteria this book used to see if a text utilized the experimentalism theme was (1) if the text was written towards the beginning of the 1800’s, and (2) if the author chose to take his writing in a new way that had not yet been taken in the past. This resource was helpful in making sense of the text element in particular because, although it was a bit wordy, it provided a superior sense of how the term was used in literature. This was a credible book because it has been highly reviewed by several scholarly authors, and was clearly very well researched.

4. Kurtus, Ron. "Philosophies of Education." School-for-Champions.Com. 26 Feb. 2001. 16 June 2007 <http://www.school-for-champions.com/education/philosophies.htm.>

The main purpose of the website is to offer definitions of philosophies of education. The website states that experimentalism believes that things are constantly changing. It is based on the view that reality is what you experience. It believes that truth is what works right now and that goodness comes from group decisions. Thomas Paine wrote about how the early American colonist should revolt against England. Thomas Paine tried to show the colonists the “goodness that comes from group decisions.” This resource is helpful in reading and interpreting the theme, since it provides the definition. The author is clearly indicated thererfore the website is credible.

5. Childs, John Lawrence. Experience, Hypothesis and Education. Education and the Philosophy of Experimentalism. Google Book Search 17 June 2007.
<http://books.google.com/books?id=zqhcdsqKZykC&dq=experimentalism&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=
0YWOEKw3qk&sig=2afAOsydPL5T5y_ShAlFvve0OVs#PPA96,M1.>
The website is hosted by Google.com and includes a copy of the Childs text. In the "Education and the Philosophy of Experimentalism" by John Lawrence Childs, in chapter five's subtitle, is the definition of experimentalism. Experimentalism is defined in the text that "ordinary human" experiences in the human world are sources to understand the unnatural world. It also notes that "life is its own sanction" which the Child interprets as the acceptance of life by finding the understanding in the human experiences instead of a "supraempirical source." This relates to Transcendentalism by the opposition of views. Transcendentalists believe in the "supraempirical" world. The website is a search engine created to provide numerous information on a subject, whether its a definition, application, or other.

6. West, Cornel. 1987 “Between Dewey and Gramsci: Unger’s Emancipatory Experimentalism”. Northwestern University Law Review. <http://www.robertounger.com/west.pdf.>
This website is a review of the law of social theory. The purpose of the website is to define experimentalism further by explaining the “fundamental aim to free Marxist conception of human society-making from evolution, deterministic, and economistic encumbrances” (Cornel). The criteria I used to check if Christopher Pearse Cranch was a radical that used his experimental views in conveying his message on his transcendental views. This resource was helpful in reading for interpretation, since the time period of Transcendentalism was a change for radical reform. This is a credible website that talks about how experimentalism “promotes permanent social transformation and perennial self-development toward ever increasing democracy and individual freedom” (Cornel).

7. “Experimentalism.” The Ism Book. Accessed June 23, 2007. < http://www.ismbook.com/experimentalism.html.>
This website is designed to give definitions for words that end with an “ism”. The literary term is defined by the dictionary definition in this case. This website is helpful by interpreting and understanding the word experimentalism by providing the definition. The website is credible being a dictionary.

8. “Experimentalism.” MSN: Encarta. 24 June 2007 < http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861609861/experimentalism.html.>
This website provides an online dictionary and encyclopedia. Experimentalism is defined as “the use of new techniques.” These new techniques can be in forms such as artistic, literary, or musical. Walt Whitman took decades to finish his poetry collection called “Leaves of Grass,” constantly revising his work and experimenting with new forms. Work experiments with a new kind of voice: “free, strong, at ease with himself, learned yet unbiased against the illiterate, proud, friendly, and honest—in short, American.” Whitman used experimentalism to reach a new kind of American poetry.



19. "Experimentalism." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 19 Jun. 2009. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/experimentalism.>
This website is an online dictionary that is free to the public. It defines experimentalism as the repetition (due either to fondness or doctrine) for experimentation. The second describes the theme as the “use of empirical or experimental methods in determining the validity of ideas.” This definition is helpful when identifying a Romantic writer. While other eras, arguably, experimented to some extent as they rebelled against old and outdated ideas. The Romantics are known for their extreme experimentalism. The second definition, with experimentalism’s goal to “validate ideas,” appears ironic, since Romantics were breaking down logical Deism in favor of emotion. Nevertheless, Romantic experimentalism attempted to validate the idea of emotion as superior. In The Tell-Tale Heart, Poe’s experimentation with point-of-view manages to reverse the role of accuser and accuse. Melville’s Typee experimented with plot structure in order to reflect the break-down, fragmentation, and reconstruction that must occur. This is a credible resource because it is a dictionary hosted by Ask.com, and it uses many trusted sources, like Merriam-Webster’s and The American Heritage Dictionary.

20. "Experimentalism - Definition of experimentalism at YourDictionary.com." Dictionary and Thesaurus - Free Online at Your Dictionary. 26 June 2009 <http://www.yourdictionary.com/experimentalism.>
The purpose of this site is to define experimentalism as well as provide examples of how it's used. Experimentalism is defined as “the theory or practice of depending on experimentation; empiricism” and “fondness for experimenting or for new experiences, procedures, etc.” For a text to fit into experimentalism it must introduce a new form of writing or topic that has not been used commonly before. This source was helpful in understanding how puritan writing can be seen as experimentalism because puritans were trying to create new religious and life procedures for the Native Americans. This source is credible, since it came from a known dictionary.

21. “Experimental literature”. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 22 June 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experimental_literature.>
This website is used for the purpose of obtaining information on select topics. According to this site, experimental literature “refers to written works-often novels or magazines- that place great emphasis on innovation regarding technique and style.” The earliest account of this type of literature dates back to 1759 with Laurence Sterne’s text, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. This type of literature began to book in the early part of the 29th century in both Europe and America. This site also provides various texts which are to be considered experimental such as Calvinos’ books If On a Winter’s Night a Traveler, James Joyce’s Ulysses etc. This website was great in explaining the term and how it could be found throughout literature.

22. “Experimentalism.” Encarta. Microsoft. Web. 25 Jun 2009. <http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861609861/experimentalism.html.>
The Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia defines experimentalism as "the use of new techniques in artistic, literary, or musical works". Experimentalism is extremely important because without it, art, literature, and music would stay the same and never evolve or change. If literature never evolved, there would be no literary time periods, just the same writing over and over throughout history. When one author experiments within their own work and tries out different styles, it makes the author's work more broad and interesting. Without experimentalism, no new ideas would ever be expressed, no boundaries would be pushed, and literature would be boring and monotonous.

The Scientific Revolution: Aspirations and Achievements. New York: John Jay College. 1997. 09 June 2010. http://phoenixandturtle.net/excerptmill/jacob.htm


Definitions:
Experimentalism: Philosophy of Education

Webster's Experimentalism

Wikipedia Definition

Dictionary Definition




"Galileo and the Inquistition." youtube.com 09 June 2010.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNMZlcyIj-8&feature=related


Representative Authors and Texts:

Henry David Thoreau