Transcendentalists

Transcendentalism

that humans are inherently good but can be corrupted by society and institutions, insight and experience and more important than logic, spirituality should come from the self, not organized religion, and nature is beautiful and should be respected

Nonconformity

Transcendentalists rejected conformity, forcing one's behavior and beliefs to match social standards and expectations; they were **nonconformists**...and that included rejecting organized religion, slavery, and other socially acceptable abuses

The Oversoul

The also believed in a personal, private, and individual relationship between the universe and the self, believing that the universe is within each person, and each individual soul is connected to the great universal soul.  Ralph Waldo Emerson, one of the movement's originators, wrote that, "within man is the soul of the whole; the wise silence; the universal beauty; to which every part and particle is equally related; the eternal ONE."  **NATURE** is also part of the expression of the universe and the soul.  Also, Transcendentalists criticized slavery and championed women's rights because in their belief system, every person must be respected because every person has a universal soul. 

Intuition

Transcendentalists also believed that one's intuition (the gut feeling or instinct we sometimes feel but can't explain) is more important than intellect or reason because intuition came from the universal soul (Oversoul).  People should live and be guided by their intuition--what he or she believes to be true, no matter what others say.  (We might say something like "trust your gut" or "follow your heart.")

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simplicity and Self-reliance

Transcendentalists also believed that a simple life, free of too many material possessions is the best way to live, and that being self-reliant--relying on one's own abilities, skills, and resources--is much better than trusting society and others.  Rejecting too much industrialization is a part of this belief system as is embracing the beauty and simplicity of **NATURE**.

Imagination

For the Transcendentalists, the imagination is a way to *transcend self*.  It is imagination that goes beyond the limited knowledge of the senses or logic.  If one can imagine something new, one has the ability to get beyond one's self--mind, body and experiences, and see things differently.  That ability to imagine is what helps men progress--they can look at and experience the world, see (imagine) a better way and world, and work to transcend what is for something better.  Many Transcendentalists were the first social activists!

Transcendentalists

Both man and nature are good

Transcendentalists

Nature reflects human spirit- drawing close to nature is solitude and with imagination is a way to come to deeper truth of self and God

Transcendentalists

Truth of universe and self only found through intuition and reflection, not in organized religion

Transcendentalists

Intense individualism/non-conformity and self-reliance

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Born in Boston

Father died, living in a state of poverty

Entered Harvard and became a minister

Resigned from ministry and traveled to Europe

Married second wife and not living in poverty

Formed a small group of intellectuals that gathered regularly to discuss philosophy, religion, and literature

that when we are in nature, we are free to be ourselves without expectations. We are able to shed the adult skin we have and have fun like children without caring what everyone else thinks

What is the main purpose of paragraph one for nature

“Standing on the bare ground,—my head bathed by the blithe, air, and uplifted into infinite space,—all mean egotism vanishes.”

A quote to backup information about paragraph one of nature

He has a magical relationship with nature that ever changes. Nature changes throughout time and it can be a magical experience.

What is the main idea of paragraph two of Nature

“The greatest delight which the fields and woods minister, is the suggestion of an occult relation between man and the vegetable.”

Quote to backup main idea of paragraph two

nature is not always a happy experience. It can be sad in whatever mood we are in

What is the main idea for paragraph three of Nature

“For, nature is not always tricked in holiday attire, but the same scene which yesterday breathed perfume and glittered as for the frolic of the nymphs, is overspread with melancholy today.”

Quote to backup evidence for paragraph three

“Within these plantations of God Within these plantations of God, a decorum and sanctity reign, a perennial festival is dressed, and the guest sees not how he should tire of them in a thousand years.”

“I become a transparent eyeball”

“Nature always wears the colors of the spirit”

“Not always tricked in holiday attire”

In good health, there is a cordial of incredible virtue

What is a metaphor in Nature

a comic or a mourning piece

Decorum and sanctity reign

Uncontained and immortal beauty

The tranquil landscape

Yesterday breathed perfume and glittered as for the frolic of the nymphs

Wears the colors of spirit

What is a view of nature in Nature

People should refuse to blindly follow other people’s ideas, and should instead think and act for themselves

Which of the following best summarizes a central idea of the text of Self-Reliance

Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist... Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of our own mind.” ( Paragraph 4)

Which of the following quotes best supports the answer to Part A To the central theme of Self-Reliance

Both quotes emphasize individualism and controlling one's own fate, advising that people should see themselves as their “own star” of guidance

How do the two italicized quotes at the beginning of the excerpt contribute to the passage’s development of ideas of Self-Reliance?

something that can be molded or shapedThis 

What does the term “plastic” most likely mean as used in paragraph 2 in Self-Reliance

Society interferes with self-reliance by limiting one’s freedoms and forcing people to conform.

According to Emerson’s essay, how does society affect the development of individualism?

Henry David Thoreau

Was born and raised in Concord, Massachusetts

Graduated Harvard and became a teacher

He and his older brother John opened their own school

Moved to a friends house

Lived alone in a cabin he built for himself

Used the four seasons as a structural framework for Walden

Created the idea of civil disobedience

“That government is best which governs least

What motto does Thoreau heartily accept?

that individuals can contribute towards improving the government by trying to speak out to try to improve or get a better government. He also suggests that individuals should speak out about how they want government to be

How does Thoreau suggest people can contribute toward improving the government?

“Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it

What quote supports his idea on how people can contribute to improving the government

government is very imposing and most people have no idea what government truly does.

How would you summarize Thoreau’s attitude concerning the role of government?

“But it is not the less necessary for this; for the people must have some complicated machinery or other, and hear its din, to satisfy that idea of government which they have. Governments show thus how successfully men can be imposed on, even impose on themselves, for their own advantage.”

What quote supports his idea on how people can contribute To the role of government

Life should be lived without complication or hurry in order to find meaning.

Which of the following best describes a central idea of Walden

“Why should we live with such hurry and waste of life? We are determined to be starved before we are hungry.” (Paragraph 3)

“Our life is frittered away by detail… Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!” (Paragraph 2)

Which TWO of the following quotes best support the answer to the central idea of Walden

Lowly

Which of the following best describes what the word “mean” conveys, as used in paragraph 1?

(The sentence reads..."I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be **mean**..."

like ants

Which of the following phrases best supports the answer to what the word mean means

Thoreau comments on how aspects of modern life, such as the train, control the lives of the people who use them, rather than the other way around.

In paragraph 2, Thoreau states, “We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us.” Which of the following statements best explains the figurative language used in this quote? 

He mocks the news and the people who obsess over it, implying that they are blind to life and reality because of their news obsession.

How does the author respond to people’s interest in the news, as shown in paragraph 3? 

The story supports Thoreau’s idea that one can see the “reality” of things when one looks past superficial circumstances.

How does the story of the prince in paragraph 6 contribute to the development of ideas in the passage? 

Simplicity, keep things small and focused

What does Thoreau believe that we need to survive