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Tuesday, December 8, 2020

Tuesday, December 8th

1. Shakespearean Sonnets- 

Lit HIIT- Transcendentalism 

Thoreau, Henry David. Walden; or Life in the Woods. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1854.

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion. — 

From this passage from Walden, identify one VALUE that Thoreau presents in this essay. Select two diction choices from this passage that effectively represent this value. Be ready to explain your choices. 

2. Transcendentalism Notes

Transcendentalism- A literary and philosophical movement arising in 19th-century New England, asserting the existence of an ideal spiritual reality that transcends empirical and scientific reality and is knowable through intuition

Tenets of American Transcendentalism 
Listed below are tenets (ideas) shared by many of the authors associated with Transcendentalism. 

1. Transcendentalism is a form of philosophical idealism. 
2. The transcendentalist rises above the lower animalistic impulses in life, as well as the cultural restrictions of society, and moves from the rational to a spiritual realm. 
3. God can be found everywhere, both in nature and in human beings. 
4. Every person possesses intuition, an essential understanding of right and wrong. 
5. Culture and society tend to corrupt our intuition, establishing other determiners for morality and truth such as the church, government, or social groups that tend to deny us our own truths. 
6. Thinking helps us to actualize the authority of our intuition. Thus, we feel what's right/wrong; then we know what's right/wrong. 
7. We should live close to nature, for it is our greatest teacher. Nature can bring us closer to God 
8. Individualism lies at the heart of Transcendentalism. Every individual needs to be self-reliant and thus not depend upon others if he or she is to be free and to live life fully. Nonconformity with respect to social norms and expectations is another aspect of being self-reliant for the transcendentalists.

Famous American Transcendentalists: 
  • Ralph Waldo Emerson 
  • Henry David Thoreau
  • Margaret Fuller
  • Louisa May Alcott 
  • Walt Whitman 
  • Elizabeth Peabody
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3. Group work-  Work on together. Each student submit own pdf. 

  • Transcendental questions (Schoology).
  • Start on Allusion chart (Schoology).

Allusion- indirect reference to a famous book, person, or event in history. 

4. Review Into the Wild reading schedule and Learner's Portfolio expectation.  

Homework: 

1. Work with the Epigraphs in your notes: 

Epigraph- a short quotation or saying at the beginning of a book or chapter, intended to suggest its theme, offer context, or set the mood. 

Do a close, close reading of the epigraphs that start chapters 1-6. 
- Identify what thematic issue(s) is being presented in the epigraph. 
- What is the significance of the book/author who is being cited by Krakauer. (Personally connected to McCandless or Krakauer's connection to McCandless?) Why these allusions? 
- What does the epigraph do to orient the reader with the following chapter? 
- What is Krakauer's literary purpose for including epigraphs? 

2. Consider what argument that Krakauer is presenting to us, his audience. What is his purpose for writing this text? Jot some ideas down. 

3. Have two snippets done. We will discuss on Friday. 

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