Be the Transparent Eyeball
Assignment:
You are to be the “transparent eyeball”of Emerson. The idea of the transparent eyeball
first appeared in Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay, "Nature", which was published in 1836.
In this essay, Emerson describes nature as the closest experience there is to experiencing
the presence of God. In order to truly appreciate nature, one must not only look at it and
admire it but must be able to feel it taking over his/her senses. This process requires
absolute "solitude, a man needs to retire as much from his chamber as from society"] to
uninhabited places like the woods where--"We return to reason and faith. There I feel that
nothing can befall me in life, — no disgrace, no calamity, (leaving me my eyes,) which
nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground, — my head bathed by the blithe air,
and uplifted into infinite spaces, — all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent
eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me;
I am part or particle of God."
However, Emerson felt only a "few adults persons can see nature." For most people
seeing is superficial. It is light illuminating the eye revealing what is physically evident
as opposed to sun "shine[s] into the eye and heart of the child". Emerson argues that outer
and inner vision merges to reveal symbols in the natural landscape. Because of the radical
correspondence between the visible and human thoughts, natural facts serve as symbols
of spiritual facts, so the natural world is perpetual allegory of the human spirit—and what
it sees. It is within this transparent, disembodied state of total union with nature that
Emerson claims ‘I am nothing; I see all’. The ‘all’ that Emerson seeks access is not
simply harmony with nature or even knowledge, but perception of a deep unity between
the human spirit and the natural world."
All these objects listed on the back have a wider significance than just their immediate
appearance. They tell a fascinating story about our evolving relationship with the natural
world. You will be assigned one object to see as the “transparent eyeball” of Emerson.
Find an image of the object, or, if possible, the physical item itself. Really LOOK at it.
You are to type a two page descriptive essay of your natural item, its significance, its
uniqueness, and its beauty.
Human Brain
Baleen Plate
Ammonite Fossil
Butterfly
Pine Cone
Bird’s egg
Cowrie Shell
Pearl
Yeast
Insect damaged leaf
Tiger paw with
claws
Nautilus Shell
Octopus eye
Moth
Horse hoof
Bunch of Grapes
Tiger fish
Iguanodon
Cat’s eye
Electric Ray
Platypus
Nutmeg
Ambergris
Cuttlefish Bone
Tilted Gravestone
Avian Skeleton
Crab leg joint
Gecko foot
Romanesco Broccoli
Honeybee Comb
Sun-Moon
Symmetry
Cat Whiskers
Honeybee Body
Hummingbird
Sunflower
Moss
Petrified Wood
Spider Web
Dung Beetle
Snowflake
Milky Way Galaxy
Ice
Tree Ring
Acorn
Leaf
Elephant tusk
70.Mink or fur
Garden peas
Iceberg
Banana
Shrimp
Jellyfish
Coral
Snakeskin
Apple
Gastrolith
Ear of Corn
Stave of Wheat
Termite Mound
Frog’s Legs
Fly Eye
Bird Wing
Shark tooth
Cotton
Peacock feather
Lion Mane
Spider Web
Bamboo stem
Coconut husk
Cinammon Stick
Silkworm cocoon
Dog Footprint