1. Transcendentalists: A group of Romantics Pages 146-148

2. Transcendentalist Belief To determine the ultimate reality of God, the universe and the self, one must go beyond (transcend) everyday human experience in the physical world Idealists: true reality is found in ideas rather than in the world perceived by the senses See a list of traits on page 147 in the blue box

3. Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803-1882 Most influential and famous member Believed God can be found directly in nature Believed intuition is superior to intellectualism and rationality Optimistic – believed everyone is part of the Divine Soul and is therefore good

4. Henry David Thoreau 1817-1862 Well educated but a recluse with no apparent purpose Famous for writing Walden which tells of his experiment at Walden Pond where he tried to rediscover the grandeur of a simple life led close to nature for 2 years -A “heroic” enterprise of finding the “vital facts of life” Concord, Massachusetts

5. Walden Directions: Choose one these sections to read. Make a list of the transcendentalist characteristics used (147) and give an example of each characteristic from the text Paraphrase or directly cite your example and remember your parenthetical citation! (#) “Where I lived” 196“ Bean Field” 198 “Solitude” 197“Brute Neighbors” 200