1. English 3 – Mr. McGowan Emerson Thoreau Whitman

3. TRANSCENDENT (definition) “Exceeding usual limits” “Going beyond the known universe” “Beyond the limits of ordinary experience”

4. TRANSCENDENTALISM = Philosophy of life (started 1800’s) The BASIC TRUTHS of the universe lie BEYOND what we can experience with our SENSES The INDIVIDUAL (the SELF) is the most important entity in the universe

5. Senses – sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste Direct instruction – Parents, teachers, peers Books, media Experience Transcendentalists believed we need INTUITION Can’t use RELIGION to figure this out. Why? “The highest power of the Soul” -Emerson “never reasons, never proves, it simply perceives…” - Emerson

6. Mostly from New England - early to mid 1800’s Led by Ralph Waldo Emerson (from Concord, MA) Henry David Thoreau (also from Concord) Walt Whitman (from Long Island) Margaret Fuller (from Cambridge)

7. EMERSON= Man of PHILOSOPHY THOREAU= Man of ACTION WHITMAN= Man of LITERATURE

8. Emerson’s greatest belief: the power of the INDIVIDUAL. (Especially your own MIND.) YOU are the ultimate judge of your own life and actions Only by TRUSTING in yourself can you experience the true nature of the world How is this a very American idea? How does this fit with American culture and values?

9. Maroon textbook Page 222 APHORISM = Short, catchy statement of truth Read through the aphorisms. Choose THREE that strike you as particularly interesting and true. Then, copy each one down on your paper and write a BRIEF analysis on what you think each one means. (3- 4 sentences max)

10. ANALYSIS What you think it means INTELLECTUALLY In your BRAIN Apply to EVERYONE REFLECTION What does it mean to you EMOTIONALLY In your HEART Apply to YOURSELF

11. Now, choose ONE of your Emersonian aphorisms. On a blank sheet of white paper, copy your favorite aphorism, and illustrate it with visuals and/or color to be displayed in the classroom. "To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment."

12. Do you agree with Emerson’s idea that a man must be a noncomformist? Why or why not? Are there times when conformity is important or necessary? Why? Do you think Emerson’s idea of friendship is realistic? Why or why not? Do you have friendships which fit this description? If not, could you see yourself someday having them?

13. Man of ACTION Takes Emerson’s ideas and LIVES THEM Most famous for: spending two years living alone at WALDEN POND

14. Wanted to put Transcendentalism into practice “I wished to live deliberately.” SIMPLIFY, SIMPLIFY, SIMPLIFY

15. He was the SELF-RELIANT NONCONFORMIST that Emerson wanted people to be “marched to the beat of a different drummer” Most famous literary work: Walden Walden is about his experiences in the woods of Concord at Walden Pond Uses seasons as metaphors

17. Maroon book, page 232 Read the excerpts from “Walden” and answer the appropriate questions

18. From Long Island, NY Became inspired by Emerson’s essays 1855 – publishes Leaves of Grass (book of poems) Groundbreaking work of American literature

19. New kind of poetry: Distinct AMERICAN VOICE Broke old rules of poetry (nonconformist): FREE VERSE “democratic poetry” = the voice of the common man, the individual

21. METAPHOR Sea of grass = HUMANITY One individual grass = _________________ Relate to: Emerson’s transparent eyeball The individual dissolves into the larger group but becomes greater that way

22. First poem in Leaves of Grass First-person POV – describes the world through his eyes The poet “speaks for everyone”