Transcendentalism Bellringer #1
11-28-11
1. Today we will be starting our unit on
Transcendentalism. What do you think this word
means? (Hint: Look at the root of the word.)
2. How do you think this term might apply to
literature? (Hint: Remember this falls under the
umbrella or Romanticism.)
• Today’s Objective: We can understand the
elements of transcendentalism.
Transcendentalism Bellringer #2
11-29-11
1. What is your definition of Transcendentalism? Use
your notes to help you come up with a definition
of this ideology.
2. List the five aspects of Transcendentalism.
• Today’s Objective: We can understand the
elements of transcendentalism and analyze them
in songs.
Transcendentalism Bellringer #3
11-30-11
Use your Transcendentalism Notes to help you complete
these questions.
1. What did Transcendentalism begin as?
(Why did this movement start?)
2. Transcendentalists believed one could be
closer to God by relying on what?
•
Today’s Objective: We can understand a
Transcendental text and analyze it for the
characteristics of Transcendentalism.
Transcendentalism Bellringer #4
12-1-11
1. What does Emerson mean when he says “envy is
ignorance…imitation is suicide” (364)?
2. What does Emerson mean when he says, “good and bad
are but names readily transferable to that or this” (364)?
3. According to Emerson, what are
the two obstacles to a person who
is trying to be self-reliant? (366)
4. According to Emerson, why are
great people often the
misunderstood people of the
world (366)?
Transcendentalism Bellringer #5
12-2-11
1. What famous leader did this essay inspire?
2. Practically speaking, meaning what he realizes is
possible, Thoreau would most likely want what
type of government?
3. Thoreau says that the only obligation he has to
assume is to who?
4. What does Thoreau favor serving the state with:
body, mind, or conscience?
Today’s Objective: We can read and understand
“Civil Disobedience.”
Transcendentalism Bellringer #6
12-5-11
1. Clearly the theme topic of Thoreau’s essay “Civil
Disobedience” is the topic civil disobedience. What do you
think Thoreau implies about this topic in his essay? Write
your idea in a one sentence theme statement.
2. Read Thoreau’s biography on page 380. Why did Thoreau
try to live by his own values instead of society’s?
3. List two ways Thoreau was a nonconformist.
4. Thoreau became most popular posthumously. Why has his
reputation grown tremendously?
Today’s Objective: We can read and understand excerpts
from Walden and analyze it for characteristics of
Transcendentalism.
Transcendentalism Bellringer #7
12-6-11
1. Henry David Thoreau says that he “went to the woods
because *he+ wished to live deliberately…*he+wanted
to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life.”
What does he mean by these statements?
2. Why does Thoreau advise people to simplify their
lives?
3. List from memory the five characteristics of
Transcendentalism.
Today’s Objective: We can read and understand
excerpts from Walden and analyze it for
characteristics of Transcendentalism.