Transcendentalism

1. Transcendentalism • Share a story about a gut feeling or instinct you had about something. • What is the longest time you ever spent outside? • How does the outdoors/nature make you feel? • Name a time when you had to rely completely upon yourself to achieve a goal or get something done.

2. Transcendentalism The view that the basic truths of the universe lie beyond the knowledge we obtain from our senses. “INTUITION” “FIGURE IT OUT FOR YOURSELF” attitude

3. Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882) was an American essayist, philosopher, poet, and leader of the Transcendentalist movement in the early 19th century. Emerson once said, “Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.” Considered one of the great orators of the time, Emerson's enthusiasm and respect for his audience enraptured crowds.

4. The Transcendentalist Movement Emerson and other like-minded intellectuals founded the Transcendental Club. Emerson anonymously published his first essay, Nature, in September 1836. A year later, on August 31, 1837, Emerson delivered his now-famous Phi Beta Kappa address, "The American Scholar.” In the speech, Emerson declared literary independence in the United States and urged Americans to create a writing style all their own and free from Europe.

5. In 1837, Emerson befriendedHenry David Thoreau Do you keep a journal? Uh….

6. Henry David Thoreau (born David Henry Thoreau; July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862)[1] was an American author, naturalist, transcendentalist, tax resister, development critic, sage writer and philosopher. He is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay, Civil Disobedience, an argument for individual resistance to civil government in moral opposition to an unjust state.

7. Henry David Thoreau Thoreau's books, articles, essays, journals, and poetry total over 20 volumes. Among his lasting contributions were his writings on natural history and philosophy, where he anticipated the methods and findings of ecology and environmental history, two sources of modern day environmentalism. He was a lifelong abolitionist. Thoreau’s philosophy of nonviolent resistance influenced the political thoughts and actions of such later figures as Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

8. Henry David Thoreau ~ went to Harvard ~ met and befriended Emerson ~ was urged by Emerson to keep a journal ~ philosopher of nature Thoreau embarked on a two-year experiment in simple living on July 4, 1845, when he moved to a small self-built house on land owned by Emerson in a second-growth forest around the shores of Walden Pond. The house was not in wilderness but at the edge of town, 1.5 miles from his family home.

9. Reproduction of Thoreau’s cabin on Walden

10. Walden emphasizes the importance of self-reliance, solitude, contemplation, and closeness to nature in transcending the "desperate" existence that, he argues, is the lot of most humans. Much of the book is devoted to stirring up awareness of how one's life is lived, and how one might choose to live it more deliberately – possibly differently.

11. Journey to the Center of the Earth Chronicles of Narnia Nim’s Island Bridge to Terebithia Charlotte’s Web The company is named after Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. Its logo is a rock skipping across a pond. “Most likely the same things that inspire and excite those of us at Walden Media. Great stories from great literature. A passionate and compassionate author. Characters we can fall in love with. A tale that enlightens us.”