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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Transcendentalism

From Nature

from Self-Reliance

Background

• Born in Boston in 1803

• Went to Harvard

• Traveled to Europe

–Met Romantic poets Wordsworth and Coleridge

• Became one of the most quoted writers in American literature

• Became a famous lecturer

Transcendentalism

• An intellectual movement of the 1800s

• Strongly influenced American culture

• Individualism important, always be your own person

• Nature and humans are connected

• Nature is awesome

Overall: individuality, independence, and appreciation for nature

From “Nature”

• Purpose – to describe a profound way to see nature

• Values nature highly and has some dislike for society

• The person who can truly see nature is like a child

• All elements of nature make an impression on those whose minds are open

• Metaphors: becomes “transparent eyeball” and nods to vegetables and they nod to him

From Self-Reliance

• Be true to yourself

• Most sacred aspect of a person is the integrity of an individual’s mind

• Figures of speech – “plot of ground” = the circumstances an individual has to deal with in life

“envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself

for better, or worse, as his portion”

• Jealousy is stupid, trying to be like someone else ruins who you are; you have to accept yourself, strengths and weakness, for who you are (Kevin Pearce and his brother)

“Trust thyself: Every heart vibrates to that iron string”

• Trust yourself and you will be strong

“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds”

Never trying something new is caused by fear that leads to small minds – not thinking outside what you are familiar with or not doing something that is new keeps your mind from growing

“Speak what you think now in hard words and tomorrow speak what

tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict everything you

said today.”

• Don’t be afraid to say what you think, even if, after thinking about a topic, you’ve changed your mind

“Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and

Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be

misunderstood…”

• Emerson is trying to inspire his readers by alluding to (referencing) these individuals and the struggles that they each faced

Overview of Emerson’s Transcendentalism

• Be an independent thinker, don’t believe something just because someone told you that thing

• Be your own individual person, not a follower

• Appreciate nature, it’s beautiful and comforting and is part of being human