Transcendentalism
Course Description
Transcendentalism, a name ascribed to a radical group of American thinkers, writers, and poets, flourished in the New England of the 1830's through the 1850's. Primarily a spiritual, philosophical, and literary movement centered around Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts, transcendentalism used the energies and tenets of the American Revolution to transform a restrictive Puritan tradition into an optimistic and seemingly limitless celebration of the individual and nature.
Men and women from many different countries contributed to this reawakening of the human spirit, but three names-Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Walt Whitman-became the mind, body, and soul of this uniquely American movement.
One told Americans that "to believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all" was a mark of genius. Another spent two years in a cabin in the woods and implored the citizens of a young nation to "march to the beat of a different drummer." The third unabashedly called himself a "kosmos" who contained "multitudes."
How did all three help redefine what it means to be a free, self-reliant American? We will study the roots of transcendentalism, but we will concentrate on these three Americans. We will read various works, but we will study in depth Emerson's essay "Self Reliance," Thoreau's literary masterpiece, Walden, and Whitman's celebratory poem, Song of Myself.
Still, a study of transcendentalists would not be complete without also examining the ideas about freedom, conscience, ecology, and character that they passed on to the generations that followed them, including those living today. What legacy does a philosophy of unbridled optimism in the potential of the human spirit offer our modern age beset by cynicism and disasters both natural and manmade? For an answer to this question we will read selected writings of those who have lived in the spirit of the mind , body, and soul of this movement: the likes of John Muir, Rachel Carson, Sigurd Olson, Edward Abbey, Aldo Leopold, and Annie Dillard.
Activities and Requirements:
- A main lesson book
- Reading
- Oral readings
- Note taking
- Nature observation
- Engaged attendance
- In-class assignments, tests, and project
Teacher: Mary Bard
Raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, I received my degree in English with a minor in French from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1974. After teaching English and living in the Washington, D.C. area for four years, I returned to Wisconsin and pursued various interests, including professional baking, gardening, birding, more teaching, and many outdoor activities. My family (husband Neil and sons Nathan and Jonathan) has lived on an old farm northwest of Richland Center since 1980.