Poems from American literature

"The Prairies" William Cullen Bryant
"Each and All" Ralph Waldo Emerson
"My Kinsman, Major Molineux" Nathaniel Hawthorne
"The May-Pole of Merry Mount" Nathaniel Hawthorne
"Ligeia" Edgar Allan Poe

Use the above poems or short stories to answer the following SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS (1-2 sentences):
 

1. Give an example of an important characteristic of American romanticism.
2. In general, how is Nature important to a writer of American romanticism?
3. Give an example of the value of nature to American romanticism.
4. What is the theme of Bryant's "The Prairies"?
5. What does the speaker of "Each and All" almost give up?
6. How is the word "shrewd" used ironically in "Molineux"?
7. Whom does Hawthorne seem to favor in "The May-Pole": the Puritans or the people of Merry Mount?
8. Give one example of something the narrator states that he does not know about Ligeia (at the beginning of the story).

"Chapter 3" James Fenimore Cooper
"The Prairies" William cullen Bryant
"Self-Reliance" Ralph waldo Emerson
"My Kinsman, Major Molineux" Nathaniel Hawthorne
"The May-Pole of Merry Mount" Nathaniel Hawthorne
"Ligeia" Edgar Allan Poe

Choose one of the above pieces of literature to use as the basis of option A or B. These are essay questions and count as half of your grade. Please answer in 4-5 paragraphs and include a thesis statement.

Option A:
Write an essay that describes the features of American Romanticism and shows how the author and his work are part of the Romantic literary tradition by explaining how their story/essay/poem exhibits one or more of the following characteristics:
1. Values feeling and intuition over reason
2. Celebrates nature
3. Contemplates nature's beauty as a path to moral and spiritual development.
4. Celebrates youthful, naïve innocence

Or

Option B: Write an essay that contrasts the attitudes and values of Transcendentalists and Dark Romantics toward nature, intuition, and/or truth. Use at least TWO of the above texts as support.