Mary K. Donahue
“There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide...”-Ralph Waldo Emerson
The literature that we will focus on in this unit is part of a movement called Transcendentalism. This movement began in the mid-1800’s with the writer Ralph Waldo Emerson and continued with his student Henry David Thoreau (see biographical information below). Walt Whitman, a famous poet and activist, also wrote during this time, and his ideas coincide with theirs. Transcendentalism is essentially a bigger word for individuality. The idea that these men had was to express to the public that it was very important to always retain individuality. They stressed doing things away from society, to ensure that the manner in which you were living and acting was actually your ‘true’ self.
I. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
Emerson attended Harvard as per the wishes of his father, who died when he was eight. At that time, Harvard was only a divinity school, and despite his being a bit of a weak student, Emerson graduated in 1829. He married Ellen Tucker this same year, and she died of Tuberculosis soon after. On the outside, Emerson appeared to be the perfect, respectable, average American man. However, inside him resided a well of philosophical knowledge which seemed to be unlocked by his marriage to his second wife, Lydia Jackson, in 1834. He published his first work,
Nature,
1836, to little acclaim; however, a small group of intellectuals did begin to take notice. The Transcendentalist movement began to gain speed around 1836, largely in part because of this influential essay. After this, Emerson continued to write essays and give speeches (including his famous
American Scholar
speech at Phi Beta Kappa at Harvard in 1837) on his unique, individualistic ideas. Many of his essays are revered today for their heavily stressed themes of individuality and personal choice.
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II. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
Thoreau also attended and graduated from Harvard. Through the university he met his friend and mentor Ralph Waldo Emerson. Thoreau spent a great deal of time reading Emerson’s work and writing his own discourses on nature. In 1842 he moved in with Emerson to lessen his living expenses so that he could write and publish his own works. Between the years 1845-1847, Thoreau attempted an interesting social experiment. He moved to Walden Pond in Massachusetts and attempted to live completely separate from society. He wanted to live as simply as possible and bring himself closer to the natural world. When he returned to civilization he published his masterpiece
Walden
which chronicled his life at the pond. He then continued to write political and social discourse, including his essay of protest against tax and the Mexican-American war.
On the Duty of Civil Disobedience
was published after Thoreau was jailed for a single night for refusing to pay his poll tax (in 1846) because he spurned supporting the war. Thoreau proves that although he was not able to change the course of the war, he was able to make a lasting impression on the world through his writing.
III. Walt Whitman (1819-1892)
Whitman, most famous for his collection of poetry called
Leaves of Grass
, was a very influential poet during the mid 1800’s, and continues to be so today. Whitman created new poetic forms and worked at finding new ways to express himself and his emotions. He worked at capturing the minds and imaginations of everyday men by discussing controversial topics. Whitman spent most of his young life traveling around and experiencing the world around him. His poems can be used quite effectively to help students understand that choosing individuality over society is not always cut and dryit is a gray area that everyone has to work through.