20 November 2015 Bell Work How does nature [atmosphere] affect your daily life? [weather, etc] When the timer rings you should be complete.

Transcendentalism 20 November 2015 Transcendentalism Objective: I can evaluate Transcendentalism in order to close read/annotate complex text

Ralph Waldo Emerson Unitarian minister Poet and essayist Founded the Transcendental Club Popular lecturer Banned from Harvard for 40 years following his Divinity School address Supporter of abolitionism

Henry David Thoreau Schoolteacher, essayist, poet Most famous for Walden and Civil Disobedience Influenced environmental movement Supporter of abolitionism

Transcendentalism Not only a literary movement, but a system of belief. Because part of the core belief system of Transcendentalists is the desire and necessity to be an individual, it is difficult to define what Transcendentalism exactly is. However, all Transcendentalists believe in the following core ideas…

Unlike Puritans, they saw humans and nature as possessing an innate goodness. “In the faces of men and women, I see God” -Walt Whitman Opposed strict ritualism and dogma of established religion.

The Oversoul An individual is the spiritual center of the universe In an individual can be found the clue to nature, history and, ultimately, the cosmos itself. It is not a rejection of the existence of God, but a preference to explain an individual, and the world, as part of a whole.

All Knowledge begins with Self Knowledge Desire to be one with the world around you Desire to remain separate

Nature is Symbolic Example: The frozen pond:

Intuition over Intellect Intellect is good, but should not trump our intuition or instinct. “Trust thyself”