Henry David Thoreau's Biography and Background

Where did Henry David Thoreau spend most of his life?

Concord Massachusetts

What was Henry David Thoreau’s hometown?

Concord Massachusetts

What are Henry David Thoreau’s most important works?

“Civil Disobedience” and “Walden; or, Life in the Woods”

When was “Civil Disobedience” published?

1854

When was “Walden; or, Life in the Woods” published?

1854

In what setting have Henry David Thoreau’s 2 most important works become common?

They are routinely assigned in literature classrooms throughout the US

What do Henry David Thoreau’s two most important works offer?

A glimpse into Henry David Thoreau’s mind

Henry David Thoreau can be described as what kind of “thinker?”

A deeply idiosyncratic, highly perceptive, and sometimes self-contradictory one

What did Henry David Thoreau spend much of his short life doing?

Relentlessly questioning received wisdom of all kinds

What myth about Henry David Thoreau can often overshadow his reality?

He didn't actually live totally isolated at Walden

Henry David Thoreau’s ideas are especially relevant today to what group?

Those that remain suspicious of conformity and are concerned about humanity’s exploitation of the natural world

Where did Henry David Thoreau graduate from?

Harvard

When did Henry David Thoreau graduate?

1837

Why was Henry David Thoreau’s graduation from Harvard impressive?

He was a socially awkward son of a small business owner

What was the most transformative event in young Henry David Thoreau’s life?

Meeting Ralph Waldo meerson

When did Henry David Thoreau meet Ralph Waldo Emerson?

1838

Who was Ralph Waldo Emerson?

The most popular figure in the Transcendentalist movement

What was the Transcendentalist movement?

A loosely organized collective of writers and thinkers dedicated to “infinitude of the private man”

How did Emerson describe the Transcendentalist movement?

As exploring and glorifying the “infinitude of the privateman”

When was the peak popularity of the transcendentalist movement?

Mid 1830- mid 1840’s

In relation to other transcendentalists, at what point in the movement did Henry David Thoreau become a Transcendentalist?

Later on/”eventually”

Which 3 authors notable transcendentalists alongside Emerson and Thoreau?

Margaret Fuller, Elizabeth Peabody, and Bronson Alcott

What did transcendentalists use their works to theorize about?

A radically new set of ideas about human meaning

Across what mediums did Transcendentalists spread their messages?

Writings, lectures, social projects, and intellectual salons

What perspective did transcendentalists view human’s beauty, brilliance, and complexity from?

A bottom up view where humans were remarkable because they contained a piece of the full mystery of the universe, not because they fit into a preordained plan or into an image from a deity

Transcendentalists believed anything restricting what human ability should be resisted?

Humanity’s ability yoto fully express the inner brilliance within them which contained a piece of the full mystery of the universe

As a result of transcendentalist’s resistance to obstacles which restricted humanity’s ability to express their brilliance what did they oppose?

Slavery, oppressive governments, social conventions, crass pop culture, and restrictive moral prescriptions

What did Thoreau do as the transcendentalist movement’s popularity began to fade?

He continued advocating for the value of total self-reliance as well as the value of each person

Thoreau dove into what aspect of the self?

Deeply into mysteries of the self while rejecting efforts to dull, constrain and simplify human existence