1. Ralph Waldo Emerson “Nature”

2. Biography

3. Introduction  Emerson claims that at that time society, in general, viewed God and nature through whose eyes?  What is his argument against this? Use textual evidence as evidence for your claims.  What does Emerson mean by “why should we grope among the dry bones of the past”? (508)  What is he calling us to do? (508)  According to Emerson, the universe is composed of what?  What is nature? (509) Provide textual evidence.  What is art? What is his opinion of it? (509)

4. Chapter 1: Nature  What does Emerson mean when he writes “To go into solitude, a man needs to retire as much from his chamber as from society”? Why do we need solitude? For what purpose?  According to Emerson, how many adults can actually “see nature”? (510)  Who is the “lover of nature”?  How does Emerson connect nature with God? (510-511)  Explain the concept of the “transparent eyeball” (511)

5. Chapter 2: Commodity  How does Emerson rank the use of nature as a commodity? Why does he not spend more time discussing this use? (512)  What does he mean by using nature as a commodity? (512)  How is nature used by humanity? What are some examples that Emerson uses to illustrate this idea?

6. Chapter 3: Beauty  What is Emerson referring to when he describes “the plastic power of the human eye”? (512)  What ‘proof’ does Emerson offer of our perception of nature as beautiful? (513)  What are the three aspects of beauty?  What does Emerson mean by “the simple perception of natural forms is a delight”? (513)  What are some examples that he gives?  Unlike city folk, Emerson finds beauty what time of the year? Why?  Explain the concept of beauty as an “object of the intellect”? (515)  “Thus is Art, a nature passed through the alembic of man” (516). What does Emerson mean?  Why does the soul seek beauty? (516)

7. Chapter 4: Language  What are the three ways that “Nature is the vehicle of thought”? (516)  Explain what Emerson means by “Words are signs of natural facts” (516)  What is Emerson’s main point?  How does he prove this? What some examples that Emerson uses to explain his argument.

8. Chapter 4: Language  What does Emerson mean by “Particular natural facts are symbols of particular spiritual facts”? (516- 517)  Emerson posits “Every appearance in nature corresponds to some state of the mind…” What does he mean by this? (517)  What examples does he use to illustrate this point?  How has our language become corrupted over time? (518)  Explain Emerson’s assertion that “Nature is the symbol of spirit” (519)  How is nature a language in itself? How does Emerson explain this?  What does Emerson mean by the “world is emblematic”? (519)