English 3 – Mr. McGowan

Emerson

Thoreau

Whitman

TRANSCENDENT (definition)“Exceeding usual limits”“Going beyond the known universe”“Beyond the limits of ordinary experience”

TRANSCENDENTALISM =Philosophy of life (started 1800’s)

The BASIC TRUTHS of the universe lie BEYOND what we can experience with our SENSES

The INDIVIDUAL (the SELF) is the most important entity in the universe

Senses – sight, hearing, touch, smell, tasteDirect instruction – Parents, teachers, peersBooks, mediaExperience

Transcendentalists believed we need INTUITION

Can’t use RELIGION to figure this out. Why?“The highest power of the Soul” -Emerson“never reasons, never proves, it simply

perceives…” -Emerson

Mostly from New England - early to mid 1800’s

Led by Ralph Waldo Emerson (from Concord, MA)

Henry David Thoreau (also from Concord)

Walt Whitman (from Long Island)

Margaret Fuller (from Cambridge)

EMERSON=Man of PHILOSOPHY

THOREAU=Man of ACTION

WHITMAN=Man of LITERATURE

Emerson’s greatest belief: the power of the INDIVIDUAL. (Especially your own MIND.)

YOU are the ultimate judge of your own life and actions

Only by TRUSTING in yourself can you experience the true nature of the world

How is this a very American idea? How does this fit with American culture and values?

Maroon textbook Page 222

APHORISM = Short, catchy statement of truth

Read through the aphorisms. Choose THREE that strike you as particularly interesting and true.

Then, copy each one down on your paper and write a BRIEF analysis on what you think each one means. (3-4 sentences max)

ANALYSISWhat you think it means INTELLECTUALLYIn your BRAINApply to EVERYONE

REFLECTIONWhat does it mean to you EMOTIONALLYIn your HEARTApply to YOURSELF

Now, choose ONE of your Emersonian aphorisms.

On a blank sheet of white paper, copy your favorite aphorism, and illustrate it with visuals and/or color to be displayed in the classroom.

"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment."

Do you agree with Emerson’s idea that a man must be a noncomformist? Why or why not?Are there times when conformity is important

or necessary? Why?

Do you think Emerson’s idea of friendship is realistic? Why or why not?Do you have friendships which fit this

description? If not, could you see yourself someday having them?

Man of ACTION

Takes Emerson’s ideas and LIVES THEM

Most famous for: spending two years living alone at WALDEN POND

Wanted to put Transcendentalism into practice

“I wished to live deliberately.” SIMPLIFY, SIMPLIFY, SIMPLIFY

He was the SELF-RELIANT NONCONFORMIST that Emerson wanted people to be

“marched to the beat of a different drummer”

Most famous literary work: Walden

Walden is about his experiences in the woods of Concord at Walden Pond

Uses seasons as metaphors

Maroon book, page 232

Read the excerpts from “Walden” and answer the appropriate questions

From Long Island, NY

Became inspired by Emerson’s essays

1855 – publishes Leaves of Grass (book of poems)

Groundbreaking work of American literature

New kind of poetry: Distinct AMERICAN VOICE

Broke old rules of poetry (nonconformist): FREE VERSE

“democratic poetry” = the voice of the common man, the individual

METAPHOR

Sea of grass = HUMANITYOne individual grass = _________________

Relate to: Emerson’s transparent eyeball

The individual dissolves into the larger group but becomes greater that way

First poem in Leaves of Grass

First-person POV – describes the world through his eyes

The poet “speaks for everyone”