transcendentalist

Leader of Transcendentalism

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Emerson belief about the individual

Trust yourself and your intuition, everyone has divine power inside them

Henry David Thoreau

Emerson’s student and friend, lived simply at Walden Pond, believed in independence and peaceful protest

Walt Whitman

Poet of democracy, individuality, and nature, wrote Leaves of Grass and Song of Myself, celebrated self

Emily Dickinson

Reclusive poet, wrote short poems about death, nature, hope, immortality, and inner emotions

Emerson work 1

Nature

Emerson work 2

Self-Reliance

Emerson work 3

Concord Hymn

Thoreau work 1

Walden

Thoreau work 2

Civil Disobedience

Thoreau work 3

From Walden

Thoreau work 4

Resistance to Civil Government

Whitman work 1

Leaves of Grass

Whitman work 2

Song of Myself

Dickinson poem 1

Because I Could Not Stop for Death

Dickinson poem 2

I Heard a Fly Buzz—When I Died

Dickinson poem 3

If You Were, My Life Closed Twice Before Its Close

Dickinson poem 4

The Soul Selects Her Own Society

Dickinson poem 5

There is a Solitude of Space

Dickinson poem 6

There’s a Certain Slant of Light

Dickinson poem 7

Water is Taught by Thirst

Emerson quote

Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string

Thoreau quote

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately

Whitman quote

I celebrate myself, and sing myself

Transcendentalism key idea

Intuition and nature over society

Self-reliance

Depending on your own thoughts, intuition, and values instead of society’s rules

Civil disobedience

Peacefully refusing to obey unjust laws

Whitman themes

Democracy, equality, individuality, connection to nature

Dickinson themes

Death, immortality, nature, inner emotions

Concord Hymn theme

Patriotism, nature, memory, historical reflection

Self-Reliance theme

Individual intuition, nonconformity, personal responsibility

Nature theme

Spiritual connection with nature, observation, self-discovery

Resistance to Civil Government theme

Peaceful protest against unjust government

From Walden theme

Simple living, observation of nature, self-improvement

Because I Could Not Stop for Death theme

Death is a natural part of life, immortality

I Heard a Fly Buzz—When I Died theme

Death, small moments, awareness of mortality

If You Were, My Life Closed Twice Before Its Close theme

Love, grief, and intensity of emotion

Success/Hope/Fame poems theme

Critique of societal values, human striving, introspection

The Brain Is Wider Than the Sky theme

Human mind’s capacity, imagination, and understanding

The Soul Selects Her Own Society theme

Individual choice, inner life, exclusivity of the soul

There Is a Solitude of Space theme

Isolation, contemplation, human experience

There’s a Certain Slant of Light theme

Nature reflecting inner sorrow or introspection

Water Is Taught by Thirst theme

Understanding comes from contrast and experience

Leaves of Grass theme

Celebration of self, nature, democracy, human experience

Song of Myself theme

Individual identity, universal human connection, celebration of life

I Sit and Look Out theme

Observation of society, human suffering, empathy

I Hear America Singing theme

Celebration of everyday labor, individuality, democracy

Slant rhyme

Words that almost rhyme (e.g., worm/swarm)

Free verse

Poetry without rhyme or consistent meter

Parallelism

Repeated grammatical structure in lines

Personification

Giving human traits to nonhuman things

Metaphor

A comparison without using 'like' or 'as'

Rhyme scheme

The ordered pattern of rhymes at the ends of lines

Transcendentalism writing prompt tip 1

Include beliefs in intuition, nature, individuality, nonconformity

Transcendentalism writing prompt tip 2

Discuss Emerson and Thoreau’s lives and works

Transcendentalism writing prompt tip 3

Explain how quotes relate to Transcendentalist values