1. AP English Language and Composition
Ralph Waldo Emerson
AP English Language and Composition

2. Emerson’s Legacy ( )
American essayist, lecturer, and poet who led the Transcendentalist movement
Seen as a champion of individualism and a critic of the countervailing pressures of society
Disseminated his thoughts through dozens of published essays and more than 1,500 public lectures across the U.S.

3. Most Notable Works
Moved away from the religious and social beliefs of his contemporaries, formulating and expressing the philosophy of Transcendentalism in his 1836 essay “Nature”
Following this groundbreaking work, he gave a speech entitled "The American Scholar" in 1837, which some considered to be America's “intellectual Declaration of Independence”
Other well-known essays include “Self- Reliance” and “The Over-Soul”

4. Timeline of Emerson’s Life
Born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1803
Son of a Unitarian minister
Formal schooling began at the Boston Latin School in 1812, when he was 9
At14, Emerson went to Harvard College
Did not stand out as a student; graduated in the exact middle of his class of 59 students

5. Timeline of Emerson’s Life
Made early living as a schoolmaster before attending Harvard Divinity School
Married first wife, Ellen. She dies two years later (at age of 20) from TB
Becomes a junior pastor at a Boston church from
Tours Europe in 1833
Returns to U.S. and moves in with step- grandfather at The Old Manse (Concord, MA)*

6. Timeline of Emerson’s Life
Budding Lyceum movement in 19th century – sees career as a lecturer
First lecture becomes basis for his famous essay, “Nature”
Proposes marriage to second wife, Lydia
Creates the “Transcendental club” (includes women)
Befriends Thoreau in 1837; becomes an intellectual mentor and friend
Has successful career as a lecturer; enables him to buy property on Walden Pond (11 acres)

7. Timeline of Emerson’s Life
Believed in “personal freedom” for every man, leading him to befriend abolitionists
Speaks out against slavery in later life
Endorses Whitman’s Leaves of Grass
Delivers eulogy at Thoreau’s funeral
Dies of pneumonia in 1882
Buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery (Concord, MA)

8. The Old Manse

9. Wrote “Nature” Here

10. Concord, MA