Emerson & Thoreau

 

Key Terms:

• Transcendentalism
• aphorism
• sublime
• Idealism (Platonic)

 

Vocabulary:

• admonish, warning; caution
• kindred, family
• manifold, various; diverse; many
• decorum, correctness; good manners
• manifest, evident; obvious
• aspirant, a hopeful contender
• aversion, dislike; loathing
• impertinent, impolite; disrespectful
• impervious, impermeable; resistant
• transient, temporary; short lived
• superfluous, extra; unnecessary

 

 

Assignment: Read the Introduction to each writer and the following selections

 

Emerson

p.191   from Nature

p.194   from Self Reliance

p.202   Emerson’s Aphorisms

 

Thoreau

Selections from Walden

p.208 from Economy

p.211 from Where I Lived and What I Lived For

p.217 from Conclusion

 

As you read, think of the ideas each man presents. These writers were expressing their transcendental philosophies. Choose five passages (aphorisms, quotations) that make sense to you or make you think. Record them in the table on the next page and next to each, record your response to the passage. Develop your own response fully and carefully.

 

Lastly, what principles of Transcendentalism are evident in the works of these two writers? Give three examples. Review your notes and the brief section in your book on page 183-84.

 

1.  
2.    
3.  

 

Responding to the Ideas of Two Transcendentalists
Passage Cited	My Response