Transcendentalism Poetry Project Jordan Thomas and Diondra Lawson

Pre-Research: Characteristics of Transcendentalism Nature Intuition Religion Idealism Self-reliance Nonconformity Living in the present Looking towards the future

Poem: I’m Nobody! Who are you? I’m Nobody! Who are you? Are you-Nobody-too? Then there’s a pair of us! Don’t tell they’d advertise-you know! How dreary-to be-Somebody! How public-like a Frog- To tell one’s name-the livelong June- To an admiring Bog!

TPCASTT Title: From the title, the poem at first appears to be about being lonely Paraphrase: I don’t care about what society thinks about me, who are you?/Do you not care about what people think, too?/Then there’s two of us!/But let’s not go and parade it around, or it’ll be redundant/How terrible it is to be praised by society/Why would you want your life to be public, like a frog?/A frog that croaks constantly/Announcing its presence when no one really cares Connotation: The poem is really about someone who doesn’t care to be a part of society, and how overrated being a part of society is, really. Attitude: The author of the poem is using a very light and happy tone, but the theme of the poem really makes a condescending and cynical undertone. Shifts: The only shift really happens between the two stanzas, where she goes from talking about being a nobody to how dreary it is being a somebody. Title: The title is the author boldly stating that she is proud to not conform to society. Theme: The theme is nonconformity, and the dreariness of conforming to society.

Transcendental Characteristics Society is the source of corruption-the poem is about nonconformity, and how good it is to be your own person, an individual. The narrator of the poem talks about how terrible she feels to be a Somebody, for everyone to know who she is.

Make the Connection The transcendental tenet of the poem connects to contemporary society because society tells us to act, dress, and look a different way because that’s their look on a “perfect” person.