Journey of the Self

1. Journey of the Self Lessons One thought Five

2. What is the Self? • Definition • a person or thing referred to with respect to complete individuality: one's own self. • Philosophy • the uniting principle, as a soul, underlying all subjective experience.

3. Who were the Transcendentalists? • A loose-knit group of writers, artists, and reformers who flourished in the 1830s and 1840s. • They believed • The individual was the center of the universe • Individual most important. • Individual is the world.

4. Who was the founder? • Ralph Waldo Emerson • A pastor • His wife died and he began questioning his beliefs.

5. What events were going on? • Industrial Revolution • The idea that person could be replaced by machines.

6. What events were going on? • Slavery • People were being treated like property. • They had no rights.

7. What events were going on? • Women’s Rights (Women’s Suffrage) • Women did not have equal rights to men. • Could not: • Vote • Own property • Basically the property of a their husbands or fathers.

8. Who is Emerson’s most famous disciple? • Henry David Thoreau • He studied the ideas of Emerson and put them into action. • Civil Disobedience • Walden • Living in nature. • Nature=God • Idea of Romantics but influenced Transcendentalist thought.

9. What is the Over-Soul? • A universal spirit to which all beings return to after death. • Every being is part of God’s mind.

10. Two poets influenced by Emerson • Two poets of his time. • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow • Walt Whitman

11. People in history influenced by the Transcendentalists • Martin Luther King Jr. • Non-violent protests of the Civil Rights Movement • Mahatma Gandhi • India struggle for independence.

12. What does this quote say? • “Good men must not obey the laws too well.”

13. Four Corners Quiz • Who was the founder of Transcendentalism? • Margaret Fuller • Henry David Thoreau • Ralph Waldo Emerson • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

14. Self-Reliance • What is this essay about?

15. Self-Reliance Continued… • It contains the most thorough statement of one of Emerson's repeating themes, the need for each individual to avoid conformity and false consistency, and follow his or her own instincts and ideas.

16. Remember Aphorism? • An aphorism is a brief statement that expresses a truth about life. • Example: “Honesty is the best policy.”

17. Aphorism Assignment Revisited • During your reading of “Self-Reliance,” pick out five aphorisms about the self. Document the aphorisms in the following way: the page number, and paragraph number. (3 points each, 15 points total) • Pick the aphorism that is your favorite and explain what that phrase means to you. Then explain how that phrase contributes to Emerson’s goal of this essay. (10 points) • Create your own appropriate aphorism about the self based on examples you found in “Self-Reliance.” (5 points)

18. Class Discussion Question • What did you think of this essay? What Impact did it leave on you?

19. Four Corners Quiz • According to Emerson, what virtue does society value most? • Truth • Conformity • Creativity • Self-Reliance

20. Answer? B. Conformity