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Honest Tea Video + Your Opinion
Are people inherently* good? Or inherently
evil? Why do you think so? (*naturally). Why
do you think so?
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WRITE THIS DOWN
Transcendentalism: belief that humans are
inherently good, perfectible, individual
Anti-transcendentalism: belief that humans
are inherently evil, cynical
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Rationalism Romanticism
TranscendentalismGoal:
Understand the Philosophies and American
Literary Movements of:1. Rationalists (1750-1800)
2. Romantics (1800-1850)
3. Transcendentalists (1850s)
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Reviewing the Time-line
1700-1750 Puritans value EMOTION
Think of the hysteria in The Crucible
1750-1800 Rationalists value REASON
(ie Age of Reason)
1800-1850 Romantics value EMOTION
1850s Transcendentalists
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Part 2
Rationalism: 1750-1800
Focused on a national mission, democratic Utopia,
and using reason.
Literature instilled patriotism & showed differences
between Americans & Europeans.
Declaration of Independence
Common Sense
Give me Liberty or Give Me Death Writers include: Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson,
Ben Franklin, John Locke, Thomas Paine
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Nature in the Age of Reason
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Nature in the Romantic Age
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Nature in
the
Romantic
Age
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Talk with your partner: Whats going
on in the Nation @ 1850?
Huge population growth: Expansion
WESTWARD
Growth of urban centersIndustrial
Revolution
Mexican-American War; Civil War
Defining a New Nation
American patriotism as individual from Britain
Desire for a national literature to glorify the
American land
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Romanticism
1800-1855
Focused on emotions
Emphasized imagination over reason & intuition
over fact
Literature could be interpreted on the surface or
at a deeper philosophical level
Writers include: Edgar Allan Poe (Gothicwriter), Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David
Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman
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Romantic Values and Beliefs
Fascination with nature Value individual freedom
(vs. Puritans)
Trust in human
imagination & intuition Truth found in spiritual,
not physical
Faith in child-like
innocenceAll humansinherently good
Transcendentalism (wellget to that)
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Part 3 With your partner:
Read the Quote in your Packet. What the ******* is this guy trying to say?
Make the best interpretation you can.
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Part 4
The two are very closely related, but
transcendentalism came on thescene in the 1850s
Transcendentalism is a
SUBGROUP of Romanticism
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Transcendentalist Philosophy
matters of God transcend human
experience
Reaction to DEISM (atheism) present in
Rationalists Age of Reason Wanted to create religious consciousness that would
exhibit freedom and democracy of the new nation
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Transcendentalism is
A belief system
A literary movement in the
US in the
Transcendentalism is NOT
A religion
Transcendentalists believe Transcendentalists do NOT
believe1. The individual is the spiritual
center of the universe2. The human spirit is reflected
in nature
3. By observing nature and our
feelings, we can find truth
4. In the goodness and
perfectibility of humans
4. A universal Over Soul
unites God, nature, and
humanity
In the norm or what society
says we should do
That humans should control
nature
We can find truth by using
reason and principles in every-dayexperiences
God has appointed us to gain
glory and wealthagainst
materialism
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In short
Humans = Nature = God
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In Short
Humans = Nature = God
Connected through Over-Soul:
all-encompassingpower for goodness
@ birth: get a piece to use as your moralcompass in life
@ death: your goodness goes back into Over-Soul
Eyeball Quote calls the Over-Soul theUniversal Being
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Anti-transcendentalism
Spiritual forces are NOT alwayspositive
Dark view of humanity Humans, underneath the surface,
are: Corrupt Insane
Evil
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The Romantic Artist
Is a prophet Can connect humans with the divine
Writes to provide a link to divine worldhence
heavy focus on symbolism, imaginationTRANSCENDENTALIST: Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman
ANTI-TRANSCENDENTALIST: Hawthorne, Poe, Whitman
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Ralph Waldo Emerson
1803-1882
Founder of AmericanTranscendentalist movement
Heavily influenced by the
philosopher Kant and British
Romantic poet Coleridge
Famous works: Nature (1836),
Essaysincluding Self
Reliance (1841)
A compelling speaker, trained
as a Unitarian minister Gave the speech at Thoreaus
funeral in 1862
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Henry David Thoreau
1817-1862
Befriended Emerson aftergraduating from Harvard
Very idealistic: thrown into jailfor not paying taxes, spoke outagainst slavery
Moved into the cabin atWalden Pond on July 4, 1845.Wanted to simplify his life byworking about six weeks peryear
Published Walden-- whichdetailed his experience at thecabin-- in 1854.