Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Melville, Whitman, and the ideas that defined the movement.
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- What is transcendentalism?
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A philosophical movement emphasizing intuition, nature, and individual spiritual experience over reason and institutional authority- What is Emerson's concept of self-reliance?
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The belief that individuals should trust their own instincts and reject conformity to society's expectations- In transcendentalism, what role does nature play?
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Nature is understood as a direct manifestation of divine truth and the most important source of spiritual knowledge- What is Walden?
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Henry David Thoreau's account of his two-year experiment living alone in a cabin by Walden Pond to test self-sufficient living- What was Thoreau's theory of civil disobedience?
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That individuals have the right and duty to disobey unjust laws and refuse to cooperate with immoral government actions- What does Emerson mean by the Over-Soul?
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A universal divine spirit that connects all beings and is accessible to individuals through intuition and nature- In transcendentalism, how is intuition valued differently from reason?
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Intuition is believed to give direct access to truth, while reason is seen as a flawed, limited faculty- What is the transcendentalist position on conformity?
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Conformity to social conventions is viewed as spiritually deadening; non-conformity is celebrated as a path to authenticity- What is the main conflict in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter?
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A woman forced to wear a scarlet A for adultery faces social shame while grappling with questions of sin, guilt, and redemption- What is Moby Dick primarily about?
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Captain Ahab's obsessive, ultimately destructive quest to hunt down the white whale that took his leg- What is a key feature of Walt Whitman's poetic style?
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His use of free verse, poetry without regular meter or rhyme, to capture the natural rhythms of American speech- What is Song of Myself?
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Whitman's long, autobiographical poem celebrating the individual self, democracy, and the diversity of American experience- What was Emerson's The American Scholar essay?
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A speech arguing that American intellectuals should develop their own national culture rather than imitating Europe- In Self-Reliance, what does Emerson say about genius?
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True genius consists of seeing and expressing what is unique within oneself, not imitating others- Where was Walden Pond located?
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In Concord, Massachusetts, part of the transcendentalist community centered in that area
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