Week 5:
Transcendental
and Symbolic Representation
(Return
to the English 2326 Table of Contents)
(Return
to the English 2326 Syllabus)
..
This unit explores the literature of
the American
transcendental writers including the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson and
Henry
David Thoreau, two American philosophers who lived as friends and
neighbors
in Concord, Massachusetts. In their own days, between the 1840's
and 1860's, these writers' works were influential on American
philosophy,
politics, sociology, and religion. In short, these two writers
are
at the very center of the American Romantic Movement. Today, both
their lives and their voluminous writings are studied throughout the
world.
Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience" influenced both the non-violent protests
of Mahatma Gandhi in India and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the
United
States.
Readings
Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Self
Reliance," pp. 419-435.
Henry David Thoreau
"Civil
Disobedience," pp. 545-560.
|
|
American
Transcendentalist
Henry
David Thoreau
|
|
Study
Guide
for Week 5
.
Writing Assignment
None
.
Online
Resources
.
previous
week / next week
.
Click here
to view a video clip on Walden Pond and other Concord, Massachusetts,
transcendentalist sites.
This page was last modified
on August 27, 2007,
and is maintained by
Dr.
Geoffrey Grimes.
.
|
