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“Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? 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?” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Basic premise of Transcendentalism (considered both a philosophy and a

literary style): An individual’s reliance on intuition and conscience to

understand God--the world around them--their own purpose.

Question: What problems can you see with this basic premise? Turn and

talk. Come up with a point for discussion.

Background on Transcendentalism:

•Based on doctrines of European philosophers (particularly Immanuel

Kant).

•Sponsored and promoted in New England by Emerson who absorbed it

from European authors/philosophers like Carlyle, Coleridge, and Goethe.

•It so occupied and dominated the rising “Unitarian” thought in New

England that it became a literary movement as well as a philosophical one.

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Background on Transcendentalism cont’d:

• Time period: 1836: Growing Unitarian belief system which

discarded the earlier faith in the existence of the Trinity and retained

belief in the unity of God, accepting Christ as divine in the same sense

that a human being is, but not as a member of a divine Trinity. “…the

fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of man, the leadership of Jesus,

salvation by character, and the progress of mankind onward and

upward forever.” The Oversoul.

•Famous Transcendental/Unitarian writers in New England: Ralph

Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Bronson and Louisa May Alcott

(yep, Little Women author), Margaret Fuller, and Nathaniel Hawthorne.

They formed a little club in Boston called “The Hedge Club” (met at

Frederick Henry Hedge’s home) and also called “The Transcendentalist

Club.” Hawthorne eventually moved away from his association with the

T’s. Hung out more with Melville (Moby Dick) and followed the more

traditional Romantic literary movement.

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“Every hero becomes a bore at last.” and “Hitch your wagon to a star.” Emerson

Basic Beliefs:

•Within the nature of human beings there is something that

transcends human experience--an intuitive and personal

revelation.

•Live close to nature--taught the dignity of manual labor.

•Intellectual companionships

•Emphasized spiritual living established by the individual and

NOT through organized religious institutions.

•Believed that human beings were divine in their own right.

(goes to the belief regarding the Trinity) Didn’t go over well with

the Puritan Calvinists in N.E.

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Basic Beliefs cont’d:

•Self-trust and self-reliance practiced at all times because

they were to trust the voice of God speaking intuitively

within them.

•Believed in democracy and individualism

•Reformist by nature: Thoreau promoted Civil Disobedience

(a form of passive resistance later used by Gandhi in India

and by Martin Luther King, Jr. )

•Promoted rights for women. Margaret Fuller was a major

women’s rights essayist. Also published The Dial (more on

it later).

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Style:

•Primarily essay forms and poetry. Little fiction.

•Emphasis on knowing one’s self.

•Naturalist: emphasis on the purity of nature.

•Movement away from organized institutions.

•Idealistic/hopeful/encouraging/utopian

•NOTE: Steinbeck pulled form the Transcendentalist belief

concerning the individual, organized religion, and the “over-

soul” for GOW.

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Two important bits of information:

1. Brook Farm: Utopian experiment in Utopian living

sponsored by the Transcendentalist Club of Boston.

Located in West Roxbury, Mass. 1841. Headed by George

Ripley.

• Provide cultural pursuits and leisure at little cost

• Farm supposed to support commune through rotation of

residents. Supposed to free them up to tour the lecture

circuit.

• Emerson & Thoreau never took part in it, though

Hawthorne did live there briefly (became disillusioned)

• Failed. Soil not fertile. Housing burned down. Dissent

among members. So long utopia.

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Second important bit!

2. The Dial: A periodical between 1840-1844 which

was the mouthpiece of New England

Transcendentalists. First editor: Margaret Fuller.

(see page 394-395) She conducted series of

seminars for women called “Conversations.”

Purpose was to help women recognize their own

intellectual capacities. Emerson was the 2nd

editor. Cincinatti, Chicago, and NYC all

published versions of The Dial. It evolved into the

most distinguished literary monthly journal until

1929.

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Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Page 360-61 “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and

leave a trail.”

A bit of info about the “Sage of Concord”:

• Entered Harvard at the age of 14.

• Acknowledged leader of Transcendentalists

• Essayist--poet--lecturer

• Said and believed and acted on: “All life is an experiment.”

• Born in Massachusetts to prominent Unitarian minister and wife. Father died

when Emerson was 8. Plunged family into poverty. Graduated from Harvard

in 1821. Average student. (30th out of 59) 18 years of age.

• 1825 he returned to Harvard to study for Unitarian ministry. Ordained in 1829.

A year later, his wife, Ellen, died of TB. He experienced a spiritual crisis. In

1832, he resigned as minister.

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Ralph Waldo Emerson Page 360-61

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and

leave a trail.”

More: After his wife died, he settled in Concord, Mass. And

stuyied philosophy, religion, and literature. In 1836, he

published “Nature” anonymously. Purpose of essay was

to expound upon his new transcendental beliefs, an

outgrowth of European romanticism. “Nature” became

The Transcendentalist’s Club manifesto.

• Owned the land on which Thoreau built his cabin and

wrote “Walden.”

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Ralph Waldo Emerson Page 360-61

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and

leave a trail.”

Style: Essay: A very versatile writing style form. Non-fiction prose. (From

Handout.)

1. Personal: Tone is light, deals with author or his world. Interpretive,

familiar, conversational.

2. Formal: Tone is serious; so is subject matter. Language is stylized,

grammatically perfect. Intended to educate and provoke.

3. Descriptive: Calls for close observation. Contains emotional,

evocative, concrete details.

4. Narrative: Gives a picture of author colored by personality. Often a

thread of story broken by digressions.

5. Expository: Exposing truth: definition, comparison, contrast,

illustration, analysis, cause and effect.

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Ralph Waldo Emerson Page 360-61

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and

leave a trail.”

6. Didactic: Intended to teach, instruct or clarify some point for the reader.

7. Character Sketch: Portraying either individual traits, type, class or rank

of person with a moral purpose.

8. Biographical: Thumbnail sketch often with anecdotes. Written by close

associate of subject.

9. Philosophical: also called “reflective.” Deals with author’s personal

views on life.

10. Critical: Dealing with some form or piece of art, literature of

government. May contain humor or satire.

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“Self-Reliance” by Emerson (handout)

• First published in 1841 in Essays. Based on a lecture series.

Emphasizes his core belief: “Trust thyself.” This essay is his rational

argument for his belief that every individual possesses a unique

genius that can only be revealed when that individual has the

courage to trust his or her own thoughts, attitudes, and inclinations

against all public disapproval.

• According to conventions of his time, he uses the terms “man” and

“mankind” to refer to all humanity.

• Organizes his ideas so that they lead readers step by step to the

conclusions he wants them to make.

• Uses passionate (pathos) emotional appeal as well as logical (logos)

and ethical (ethos) appeals.

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Other stylistic tools Emerson uses:

1. Aphorisms: a brief statement, usually one sentence long, that

expresses a general principle or truth about life. Put them on a

t-shirt, poster, or coffee cup.

2. Figurative language or tropes: unlike many essayists, Emerson

(also a poet) uses figurative language to create analogies to

nature, God, individualism--the transcendental ideals. These

include: imagery, forms of comparison (similes, metaphor,

analogy), metonymy (type of metaphor that stands for

something else--crown/royalty), personification.

3. He also uses repetition, anaphora, anecdotes, rhetorical

questions, epistrophe and antithesis to strengthen his

argument. These devices are schemes.

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Epistrophe: a rhetorical scheme by which the

same word or phrase is repeated at the end of

successive clauses, sentences, or lines, as in

Whitman's Song of Myself (1855):

The moth and the fish‐eggs are in their place,

The bright suns I see and the dark suns I cannot

see are in their place,

The palpable is in its place and the impalpable is

in its place.

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The study:

• Your handout is divided into 7 parts so we will be working in 7

groups. Each group is responsible for the following:

• Reading and re-annotating the assigned passage for devices

we just went over, as well as logos, ethos, pathos.

• Paraphrasing your group’s section thoroughly.

• Teach your section to the class so that they can have the

same information you have. Use whatever tools you deem

necessary.

• You will turn in your individual essays with annotations and

your group’s paraphrase after we are finished with our work

on Emerson.

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Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) page

370-71

“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” Thoreau

A bit of info about the Walden Hermit:

• Family owned a pencil factory where he worked periodically.

• Pared down his expenses to 27 cents a week, which he earned by

working only six weeks a year.

• Advocated simple, mindful living and rejected a lifestyle dedicated to

the pursuit of wealth.

• Wrote and observed nature, devoting only minimal time to wage

earning.

• Born in Concord, Mass. Attended Harvard and after graduation

returned to Concord to teach school. Not successful. Refused to

follow rules he considered nonsense.

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Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) page

370-71

“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” Thoreau

More:

• Friends with Emerson and member of Transcendentalist’s Club.

• Considered a defiant non-conformist. Resigned his teaching post and

moved into a cabin on Walden Pond to conduct an experiment--living

simply and frugally. Lived there for 2 years and two months.(It helped

that Emerson owned the land and let him live there for free)

• Refused to pay a poll tax as an act of protest against the U.S.

governments war with Mexico and its support of slavery.

• Not at all famous during his lifetime--now considered father of

American nature writing, advocate of the simple life, and promoter of

non-violent civil protest.

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Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

page 370-71

“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” Thoreau