Transcendentalists: A group of Romantics Pages

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson 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

Henry David Thoreau 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

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