Transcendentalism Paper

AP ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION

MS. GAMZON

TASK: What are the central themes of American Transcendentalism?  After reading the writings of Emerson, Whitman, and Thoreau, write a SYNTHESIS essay of 5-7 pages that defines and explains the central themes of American Transcendentalism.  Support your discussion with evidence from the texts you have read and annotated.  What implications can you draw from these readings that pertain to contemporary society?

DUE: Friday, April 12

Be sure to:

1.     Write an introduction that defines and explains the central themes of American Transcendentalism.

2.     Be sure to have a THESIS STATEMENT that connects a specific theme with a contemporary issue.

3.     Develop the body of your 5-7 page essay with text-specific quotes from your readings. 

4.     Quotes of 3-4 lines should be included in the body text.

Quotes that are 5 lines or longer should be indented and single-spaced.  This is called a block quote.

5.     Use the SYNTHESIS of the ideas of your texts to support your own ideas and writing.  Use quotes appropriately and do not make your paper “quote heavy.”

6.     Be sure to cite the source of your quote (if you have page numbers) in MLA format.  If you are quoting from a handout, cite the author and

essay.  Ex. (Emerson, “Self-Reliance”)  You can also refer to the source of your text in an introductory clause (“As Emerson writes in “Self-Reliance,”  ______________)

7.     Be sure to include a WORKS CITED page in proper MLA format.  This is NOT a bibliography.  It is a WORKS CITED page.

8.     When you have finished the paper, be sure to title it and center the title after your MLA heading.

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Synthesis means putting ideas from many sources together in one essay or presentation. After reading several books, watching movies and participating in a variety of class activities, your task is to organize some of the information around a theme or a question, make generalizations, and then present information (statistics, quotes, examples) in a logical way to support your argument. Remind yourself that a synthesis is NOT a summary, a comparison or a review.Rather a synthesis is a result of an integration of what you heard/read and your ability to use this learning to develop and support a key thesis or argument.

Learning to write a synthesis paper is a critical skill, crucial to organizing and presenting information is academic and non-academic settings.
 Content

1. Pick a topic from the list we put together or choose another topic that lends itself to synthesis

2. Develop a thesis. If you posed a question, present a tentative answer.Begin your paper with the thesis, clearly outlining the ideas you will develop 

3. Identify at least three texts, which we read in this class and address the theme and/or question you chose to focus on. Ideally you can find references, which support your thesis. 

4. Read each of your sources carefully and summarize main ideas 

5. Analyze your sources to identify the similarities and differences or group similar ideas together; generalize from these similar ideas 

6. Assemble the various generalizations in a logical and coherent way 

7. Focus on the ideas, not the authors of those ideas (your essay should not sound like a list of unrelated ideas by unrelated people) 

8. It is highly recommended that you use direct quotes when referring to texts, but make sure you situate your quotes and integrate them into the paper both in terms of content and writing

9. If your thesis/question lends itself to this, you can present and refute arguments, which challenge it

10. Whenever possible, make an effort to pepper your paper with real-world examples, which support your overall argument

11. In conclusion you should summarize your main thesis and outline questions, which remain open or issues that ought to be further explored

Format

1.The length of your paper should be 5-7 typed double-spaced pages with reasonable margins.This does not include your bibliography (or works cited).
 

2.Be consistent in your use of bibliographic references; include page numbers for quotes. List all works you cited at the end of your paper
 

3.As you use quotations to support your ideas, make sure you do not produce a paper of lengthy quotes strung together. If you quote three lines or fewer, the quote should not be set off or indented but integrated into the text of your paper. 
 

4.Do not use first person.
 

5.Connect ideas using linking devices and transitions.
 

6.Spend time outlining, organizing and editing your paper. Ideally, you can find someone else to proof-read your paper (your peer writing partner).
 

7.When you are done editing, think of a title, which best captures your thesis.

Other sources:
http://condor.depaul.edu/dsimpson/awtech/amertran.html 

http://howlandpowpak.neomin.org/powpak/cgi-bin/article_display_page.pl?id=thomas.williams/american&ar=20 

http://www.enotes.com/transcendentalism/themes

Nature and Self-Reliance

Finish reading and discussing questions on Walden from yesterday's class.  

Post your responses to the questions here.

Review the topics from last year for your 5-7 page paper on Transcendentalism.  Think about your topic and come in with a possible topic tomorrow to discuss.

“Nature”
1. In Emerson’s view, how do adults and children view nature
differently?
 2. How do changing seasons affect nature lovers?
3. What does Emerson mean when he states, “Nature always
wears the colors of the spirit”? Do you agree with him; why
or why not?
4. What, do you think, is the difference between the meaning
Emerson finds in nature and the meaning a scientist finds?


“Self‐Reliance”
1. According to Emerson, what is genius?
2. How does Emerson describe society? What is his opinion of
it?
3. According to Emerson, how does society affect what people
value?
4. Under what circumstances might conformity be wise?
When might it be foolish?

Discussion Questions for Walden Readings

"Where I Lived, and What I Lived For"

1. At the beginning of this chapter (pp. 77­79) Thoreau tells the story of how he almost bought the Hollowell Farm. Many of the qualities that made this farm attractive to Thoreau would have made it very unattractive to most real estate buyers. What were some of those qualities? What does Thoreau's preference for these qualities say about the difference between his priorities and those of most people?
2. We are often advised to make a commitment to relationships or to goals that are important to us. Yet Thoreau advises us at the bottom of p. 78, "As long as possible live free and uncommitted. It makes but little difference whether you are committed to a farm or the county jail." What problems does Thoreau see in su ch commitment? Do you agree that such problems are good cause to be cautious about commitment? Why or why not?
3. Compare Thoreau's description of the location of his cabin (pp. 79­83) to the opening paragraphs of McKibben's introduction (pp. vii& #173;viii). Why do people seek such places of quiet retreat? What do they hope to find? How might experiencing such places alter our priorities? What do Thoreau and McKibben say about this?
4. On pp. 84­85 Thoreau discusses the importance of being truly "awake." How does his definition of being awake differ from the usual definition? How often are you and your friends awake, by Thoreau's definition?
5. On the bottom of p. 85 Thoreau gives us his famous statement of his purpose in going to live by the pond. How is it possible "to live what was not life"? Give examples from people you know or have read about.
6. A main theme of this chapter is misplaced priorities: Americans' preference for material rather than spiritual reality. What does Thoreau mean by the following:
   1. "As for work, we haven't any of any consequence" (p. 87).
   2. "Shams and delusions are esteemed for soundest truths, while reality is fabulous" (p. 90). Or again on p. 91, "We think that that is which appears to be."

"Reading"

On pp. 103­104 Thoreau accuses village governments of misplacing their spending priorities. What does Thoreau think villages should spend less on? More on? Does your town or city seem to share Thoreau's priorities? Give examples.

"Sounds"

Most people take what they see and hear literally, but Thoreau often finds symbolic value in such things in addition to the literal value. In the last section of this chapter (pp. 116­21) he describes hearing the s ounds of various animals. Which sounds does he value simply for the quality of the sound, and to which does he attach symbolic value? Give examples.

"Solitude"

1. According to his comments in this chapter, was Thoreau lonely at the pond? Why or why not?
2. What does Thoreau mean by the following comments:
   1. "I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude" (p. 128).
   2. "I have a great deal of company in my house; especially in the morning, when nobody calls" (p. 129).
3. Who are the "old settler" and "elderly dame" (p. 130) whom Thoreau describes as being among his favorite visitors at the pond? 

"Higher Laws"

Throughout Walden Thoreau expresses affection for and delight in the physical details of nature. In this chapter, however, he seems to reject the value of physical nature: "Nature is hard to be overcome, but she must be overc ome" (p. 207). The conflict between physical and spiritual priorities is a main theme of this chapter.

1. What value does Thoreau think that physical activities such as hunting and fishing have (pp. 197­201; see also pp. 266­67)?
2. What d oes Thoreau think is the danger of sensuality, and what solution to that problem does he suggest (pp. 205­9)? How convincing do you find his solution to be, and why?

"Conclusion"

1. This last chapter returns to the theme of finding a solid bottom, something to believe in as being essentially true (see, for instance, earlier passages on p. 92 and p. 268­70). To what extent does the st ory of the traveller in the swamp (p. 309) suggest that it is pos-sible to find such essential truth?
2. This chapter can also be viewed as Thoreau's prognosis for the reader's spiritual recovery, based on Thoreau's own experience living by the pond. Discuss how the following passages suggest the possiblility of a favorable future:
   1. "I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives to live, and could not spare any more time for that one" (p. 302).
   2. "If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them" (p. 303).
   3. "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer" (p. 305).
   4. "Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth" (p. 309).
   5. "Only that day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star" (p. 312).

Emerson and Self-Reliance

http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/eng372/selfrel.htm

Thoreau and Civil Disobedience

"Thoreau was a great writer, philosopher, poet, and withal a most practical man, that is, he taught nothing he was not prepared to practise in himself. ... He went to gaol for the sake of his principles and suffering humanity. His essay has, therefore, been sanctified by suffering. Moreover, it is written for all time. Its incisive logic is unanswerable." - Mohandas Gandhi
"... when, in the mid-1950's, the United States Information Service included as a standard book in all their libraries around the world a textbook ... which reprinted Thoreau's 'Civil Disobedience,' the late Senator Joseph McCarthy succeeded in having that book removed from the shelves — specifically because of the Thoreau essay." - Walter Harding, in The Variorum Civil Disobedience
"I became convinced that noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good. No other person has been more eloquent and passionate in getting this idea across than Henry David Thoreau. As a result of his writings and personal witness, we are the heirs of a legacy of creative protest." - Martin Luther King, Jr, Autobiography

Walden Pond

http://thoreau.eserver.org/default.html

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8FUPrd5ra0

Walden Pond (Gamzon pics)

Thoreau Quotes

http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/patc/walden/

"Age is no better, hardly so well, qualified for an instructor as youth, for it has not profited so much as it has lost. One may almost doubt if the wisest man has learned anything of absolute value by living." - Walden
"A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone." - Walden
"As if you could kill time without injuring eternity." - Walden
"Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes." - Walden
"Hope and the future for me are not in lawns and cultivated fields, not in towns and cities, but in the impervious and quaking swamps." - "Walking"
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." - Walden
"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them." - Walden
"I have a great deal of company in my house; especially in the morning, when nobody calls." - Walden
"I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor." - Walden
"I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." - Walden
"In any weather, at any hour of the day or night, I have been anxious to improve the nick of time, and notch it on my stick too; to stand on the meeting of two eternities, the past and future, which is precisely the present moment; to toe that line." - Walden
"I should not talk so much about myself if there were anybody else whom I knew as well. Unfortunately, I am confined to this theme by the narrowness of my experience." - Walden
"It is never too late to give up your prejudices." - Walden
"I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion." - Walden
"However mean your life is, meet it and live it; do not shun it and call it hard names." - Walden
"Most of the luxuries and many of the so-called comforts of life are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind." - Walden
"No way of thinking or doing, however ancient, can be trusted without proof. What everybody echoes or in silence passes by as true today may turn out to be falsehood tomorrow, mere smoke of opinion, which some had trusted for a cloud that would sprinkle fertilizing rain on their fields." - Walden
"Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth." - Walden
"Simplify, simplify." - also: "Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!" - Walden
"The fact which the politician faces is merely that there is less honor among thieves than was supposed, and not the fact that they are thieves."' - "Slavery in Massachusetts"
"The finest qualities of our nature, like the bloom on fruits, can be preserved only by the most delicate handling. Yet we do not treat ourselves nor one another thus tenderly." - Walden
"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." - Walden
"There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root." - Walden
"The universe is wider than our views of it." - Walden
"To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but so to love wisdom as to live according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity, and trust." - Walden
"Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison." - "Civil Disobedience"
"What old people say you cannot do, you try and find that you can. Old deeds for old people, and new deeds for new." - Walden