Transcendentalists study guide
What are 2 famous works of Emerson's
- Self-Reliance - Nature
What are the literary devices of "A Noiseless, Patient Spider"
- alliteration - metaphor (speaker's soul) - imagery
What literary devices are in the poem "I, Too" by Langston Hughes?
- allusion (to the original poem) - repetition - imagery - metaphor
How and when did Thoreau die? Was he reputable during his life?
- 44, tuberculosis - reputation grew after death
Who did Thoreau get close with? Why?
- Emerson - lived in Emerson's house for 2 years and was fascinated with his transcendentalist beliefs
What are some of Emerson's works? What are is poems about?
- Essays (first work to get national fame in 1841) - Representative Men - The Conduct of Life Poems were about individuality and humans' spiritual connection to nature - Poems - May-Day and Other Pieces
What was Emerson's youth like?
- father was Unitarian minister who died when Emerson was 7 - aunt encouraged his independent thinking - attended harvard at 14 - became Unitarian pastor
What are the major principles of Emerson?
- individuality - indpendence - appreciation of nature
What does this quote mean: "standing on the bare ground - my heart bathed by the blithe air and uplifted into infinite space - all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eyeball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or parcel of God."?
- means that he is leaving behind the small part of himself that isn't connected to God/nature and feels connected to oversoul/nature
What literary devices are in "Walden?"
- nature imagery - allussions - metaphors
What does Emerson encourage others to do?
Do their own thing and follow the unwalked path
What does thoreau's work reflect?
Economy
What is something Emerson suffered with?
Eye strain that gave him much pain (allowed him to easier relate to pain)
Emerson thinks that every person has their own place and mission what gives people this place? How do we connect to this?
God - we can connect to God if we trust ourselves
Where did Thoreau attend college?
Harvard
Why did Thoreau leave the woods? What's his lesson in it?
He felt it got too mundane and he achieved everything he needed to Lesson: be open to new things and changes
Where is individualism in Self-Reliance work?
In the entire work because it emphasizes power and capability of the individual
How does Emerson feel about jealousy?
It damages ourselves and we must stay true to who we are and accept ourselves to be content
How do the woods in Emerson's Nature make him feel?
Like he is young, free, rejuvenated
Catalogue definition
List of parts that belong to a whole (animals make up a farm)
What did Thoreau do from 1845-1847?
Lived in cabin he built alone in woods on Walden Pond which gave him material to write work Walden (blend of natural observation, social criticism, philosophical insight)
What does Thoreau use in his works? (Writing style)
Nature imagery, allusions, metaphors, multiple-claused sentences
What type of person was Emerson?
On the outside: calm, soft-spoken On the inside: restless & questioning mind
What kind of church is Unitarian?
One of the most open and tolerant churches
What is the poem "I hear America Singing" by Whitman about?
Recognizes the beauty and importance in the working-class physically demanding jobs that are the back-bone of America
What type of person is the speaker of the poem "I, Too"? And how do they feel about America?
Speaker is a Black person who works for a white person and has 2 opinions of America - doesn't think it is equal (racially) but thinks it will become equal
What does Thoreau think about spiritual vs material wealth?
Spiritual wealth is more important because it allows one to be more free
What is the poem "To Walt Whitman" by Angela de Hoyos about?
Telling him he left out a major part in America's population in his poem and explains her feelings about being underrepresented
How did Thoreau dedicate himself to transcendentalist philosophy?
Tested it through personal experiences and devoted his life to exploring and writing about spiritual relationship between humans and nature
What does Whitman say through his When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer?
That lecture and education is boring (long lines in the beginning) compared to connecting with nature which brings about freedom
Who is Whitman's poem A Noisless, Patient Spider addressed to?
The speaker
What does the spider represent in Whitman's work?
The speaker's soul
How does Thoreau think about progress in the industrialization and technology?
Thinks we won't enjoy our life because we are too busy trying to make our lives better. Also it causes people to be too developed and won't rely on their human abilities or nature Lesson: technology controls us even though we think we control it
Who was the Transcendental Club? What did they do?
Thoreau, Alcott, Fuller, Ripley, Emerson Developed a philosophical system about intuition, individuality, and self-reliance and their unofficial statement of beleif was Emerson's Nature essay
Why did Thoreau go to Walden pond? And what is his lesson from it?
To live life to the fullest and teaches that people should live life to live and do it intentionally
After resigning as a pastor, Emerson did what?
Traveled to Europe where he met Carlyle, Coleridge, and Wordsworth (writers)
What is the supreme work of transcendentalist literature?
Walden
Who did Emerson have the most influence on?
Young people
What did Emerson consider himself mostly?
A poet
What was Emerson by the end of his career?
A public individual (his work appealed to a general audience)
Why did Emerson resign as Unitarian pastor and after how long?
After 3 years - wife died - unhappy with Unitarian restriction
What type of person is the speaker of "To Walt Whitman" and what is their attitude/tone?
An indigenous person who is also modern and feels disappointed and left out
What is the poem "I Too" by Langston Hughes about?
Brining awareness to the mistreatment of people of color in America but still shows there is pride in his race
What is self-reliance according to Emerson?
By depending on ourselves in the face of society's expectation of conformity
Why did Thoreau quit his first teaching job? What did he do after and how did that end up?
- quit first job because he objected to corporal punishment - opened school in concord with brother John but closed it when John got sick
What are the literary devices in the poem "I Hear America Singing" and what is the effet?
- repetition - catalogue - imagery Repetition makes the poem sound like a song/chant
What literary devices are in the poem "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer?"
- repetition - imagery - alliteration
What are some ways to describe Thoreau?
- rule-breaker - independent - defiant - didn't care too much about school
After returning to the states, describe the rest of Emerson's life
- settled in concord, Massachusetts - married Lydia Jackson - didn't live in poverty for once when he got first wife's legacy $ - started writing career - became a known lecturer - wrote lectures which became essays that were made up of his ideas
Differences between Thoreau/Emerson VS whitman
-not as much education - not as privelaged in literature (no elite group) - broke many boundaries in writings and subjects - focused on human rights (anti-slaver and gender =) - recognition after death
What are the beliefs of Transcendentalism?
1. Humans are essentially good 2. You can only discover truth through yourself, not others 3. Self-reliance is the highest virtue 4. The individual can only realize its potential by transcending reason and tradition 5. The human soul is part of the oversoul and will return to it at death 6. Every individual is to be respected because it has a portion of the Oversoul 7. The oversoul is found everywhere so people don't ave to travel to holy places 8. God is found in nature and humans so nature and Oversoul are connected. 9. The whole world is a miracle including everything in it 10. Emphasis on the present not future/past 11. All things have a relationship 12. Evil is just the absence of good and humans are essentially good they just can be ignorant 13. Don't worry about consistency.
Where is Thoreau from?
Concord, Massachusetts
What is the relationship like between Emerson and nature?
Connected and united in Harmony (mutual and equal)
What is the "poem of Creation"?
Creation is a poem created by the Oversoul (God) who purposefully created it and manifests in it
Definition of free verse.
poetry that does not rhyme, have a regular meter, designated line lengths, tries to create natural speech used in 20th century-now mostly
