Transcendentalism Review

1. Transcendentalism Review Test December 12th/13th

2. Background • Cornerstones of transcendental beliefs • God, Nature, and humanity are united in the Over-soul. • Observation of nature teaches deeper spiritual truths to people. • Humans are limited by their senses, but deeper truths are grasped by intuition. • There is a spiritual connection between humanity and nature.

3. Transcendentalism • An intellectual movement • Interested in the human spirit • Believed the exploration of nature helped people understand universal truths

4. Ralph Waldo Emerson • Believed society was a negative place that made men conform. • Believed nature could inspire the human spirit • Transcendentalists are Romantics • Emphasis on • Nature • Individuality • idealism

5. Emerson • “Nature” • “Nature is both comic and melancholy” • Nature mirrors the individual’s moods • “Self-Reliance” • Rely on your own instincts, do not try to conform to fit in. • “society loves not realities and creators, but names and customs” • Disapproves of societies preference for traditions over innovation.

6. Henry David Thoreau • Goes into the woods to learn about himself • “To live deliberately and to front the essential facts of life.” • Walden • People must simplify their lives in order to avoid living meanly. • Man’s inclination to conform is like the worn path from his door to the pond; it is habitual. • Demonstrates Thoreau’s belief that living a simple life close to nature allows a person to concentrate on what is truly important.

7. “Civil Disobedience” • Stresses the importance of a small government. • The fewer people involved, the better • Discusses an unpopular war and disapproval of military action to show how the government is abused by individuals • Critical of the war with Mexico • Ideas from this essay have influenced modern political protestors • Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.

8. Walt Whitman • Preface for the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass • Calls The United States the “greatest poem” • The lines are history, the words are individuals • A reflection on the vitality and diversity of Americans • Celebrates change and the American tendency to learn form the past while creating new history. • Wrote in Free Verse • Expressed his individuality • Celebrated democracy and freedom • Mimicked the cadences of human speech

9. Whitman • “Song of Myself” • Celebrates Whitman’s connection to others by linking the individual self to the universal self • Shows that he is content with himself, but not egocentric • Believes in the universality of his shared experiences; his experiences/ideas belong to everyone • Refers to his own poetry as “barbaric yawp” • Does not refer to himself as high art, has a sort of informality and openness about his poetry

10. Whitman • “I Hear America Singing” • Catalog poem that affectionately celebrates the importance of every individual • The “singing” is a celebration of individuality found amongst Americans in a variety of labor driven professions • “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” • Man sitting in a lecture hall becomes bored listening to an Astronomer drone on and on about understanding the stars through logical or scientific means; decides to go outside and experience a truer, deeper, intuitive understanding of nature.

11. Emily Dickinson • “Because I Could not Stop for Death” • Dying is a journey symbolized by a carriage ride • Death is personified as the polite, civil driver • The journey is slow and drawn out, unlike life which is hectic, stressful, and busy • One century passes and it feels like a day • Uses lots of images/symbolism • Death is a civil gentleman • The afterlife is a carriage ride • A narrow house represents a grave

12. Dickinson • “I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died” • The narrator of this poem is in her final moments before death • People have gathered to be with her when she passes on • “My Life Closed Twice Before Its Close” • Each “close” is a death • The first two are people that were close to the speaker • The third close will be the speaker’s own death • In our lives, death is the closest we ever come to understanding heaven • We are comforted in knowing people are passing on to something better and eternal • The same moment is the closest we come to hell also because the pain of loss is so intense

13. Dickinson • “The Soul Selects Her Own Society” • The soul is a feminine entity that chooses to isolate herself from everyone • She, like Dickinson, chooses to stay inside her home no matter who comes to the door • “There’s a Certain Slant of Light” • The winter light makes the speaker think about death; she is reminded of her own mortality and the inevitability of death

14. Literary Terms • Catalog • A poem that focuses on a list of things • Over soul • Connection between God, man, and nature • Transcendentalism • Intellectual movement founded by Emerson that values intuition, individuality, independence, and emphasizes the Over soul • Personification • the attribution of human qualities to objects or abstract notions • Slant Rhyme • The final sounds in the last accented syllable of a word are similar but not identical • Free Verse • Poetry that has an irregular meter and line-length, designed to mimic the cadences of human speech