ENG 241: Survey of American Literature I
Judy Riggin
Week 14
[Introduction] [Your Responsibility] [Syllabus] [Assignments] [Exams] [Resources]
Week 14 |
Text Reading :
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Introduction pp. 1496-1497
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Emerson, pp. 1512-1518, 1555-1572
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Thoreau, pp. 1669-1672, 1687-1721
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Whitman, pp. 2846-2849, 2922 (“One's-self I Sing”), 2934 (“When I Heard the Learn'd
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Astronomer”), 2863-2868 (opening sections of Song of Myself , through line 121)
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Program Eleven:
The following link is to an outline of the main ideas in Program Eleven. Use this interactive outline to guide you through the video. Print off a copy of this outline and add your own notes. Using this link requires a broadband connection and Windows media player 8 or higher.
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What To Study for Exam #3 :
Study this outline of the basic points of Transcendentalism I have explained in Program Eleven:
1. The universe and all life emanates from a life force (what Emerson calls the "oversoul"), as distinguished from a God-creator who has ultimate power.
2. Because each person is a manifestation of this "oversoul," or life force, each person is a microcosm of all the knowledge and truth of existence. Each person is thus divine.
3. Therefore, each person should rely on an intuitive, inner sense of what life is about and how to live the best life. Civilized society--in its schools, governments, religions, codes of behavior--is not the best source of truth or happiness. One should look within oneself for these and be "self-reliant."
4. Because nature is also a manifestation of the "oversoul" and is untouched by the confusion of human society, a person should also look to nature for the truths of life. The creatures and processes of natural life are emblems, or "hieroglyphics," of spiritual truths.
5. If a person seeks inner knowledge, the result can be a rediscovery of the unity of life, the oneness of all. (Life and death, body and soul, good and evil--all are one as part of existence.)
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