Melissa Schlegel
Starpoint High School
Grade 11
“The Flowering of New England”
Description: This lesson will introduce the students to Transcendentalism and AntiTranscendentalism. We have just finished studying the differences between classicism
and romanticism as well as certain texts that fit those genres. The next literary movement
to enter the United States was Transcendentalism. Transcendentalism involves the beliefs
that there is one soul shared between all humans and beings in nature, man has the ability
to experience God firsthand, each part of nature contains the universe, and that men have
the ability to perfect themselves. Transcendentalism also sparked reform movements, a
strong interest in individualism and self-reliance.
Anti-Transcendentalism was a direct reaction against the transcendental
movement. This movement believed that man, no matter how badly he wanted to be
perfect, was both a mixture of good and evil; he was not innately good or perfectible like
the Transcendentalists wanted to believe.
Constituent Group: Eleventh grade English regents students. One class consists of 11
IEPs; the other two classes are general ed.
Purpose: The purpose of this lesson is to introduce the students to Transcendentalism
and Anti-Transcendentalism.
Core Standards:
RL.11-12.9
-Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth
century foundational works of American literature, including how two or more texts from
the same period treat similar themes or topics.
Objectives:
1) Students will be able to define Transcendentalism by creating their own
definition after reviewing three websites.
2) Students will be able to define Anti-Transcendentalism.
3) Students will know the important authors associated with both
Transcendentalism and Anti-Transcendentalism.
4) Students will be able to analyze two quotes from a Transcendentalist and
explain how it relates to the movement.
Anticipatory Set:
As an anticipatory set, I will ask the students to think about the word transcend. I
will ask them what is usually meant by this word and how it is used (Transcend: to rise
above or go beyond the limits of). I will ask them to think of a sentence to use this word
as we are on our way to the computer lab. After the students have taken their seats in the
computer lab and they are logging in, I will ask one of the students to explain what
transcend means. I will then ask another student to use the word in a sentence. I will then
explain that the next literary movements that we will be studying are Transcendentalism
and Anti-Transcendentalism. The first movement is based on Romanticism but there is
one main difference. The Romantics, most definitely Bryant, believed that when one dies,
he or she becomes one with nature; his or her soul is reunited with the land.
Transcendentalists on the contrary feel that they are innately connected with nature; they
both share one soul. So instead of having to wait to die to become one with nature,
Transcendentalism asserts that there is only one soul and it is connected to God, nature,
and man.
Lesson:
For this lesson, the students will be exploring three websites which introduce the
American Renaissance and Transcendentalism. They will have a worksheet which will
ask them questions that will guide them through the sites. While they are searching, they
will discover what was occurring at the time of this literary movement, where it took
place, what the Transcendentalists wanted to accomplish, and what they believed in.
After they have finished going through the three websites, they will create their own
definition for Transcendentalism.
After the students have completed the web scavenger hunt, as a class we will
regroup and look at a PowerPoint which recaps the information they learned. It will also
show how Anti-Transcendentalism was a reaction against the Transcendentalism
movement.
Closure/ Independent Practice:
For homework, or if there is enough time during class, students will watch a video
which includes pictures of Transcendental authors, their works, and some important
quotes. They will choose two of the quotes that they like and explain them in their own
words and also explain how they relate to Transcendentalism.
Name:
“The Flowering of New England” Web Scavenger Hunt
Date:
Mod:
Go to the following websites and answer the questions on this worksheet.
American Renaissance
http://www.history.com/topics/american-renaissance

From the 1830’s till the ______________________ is considered the American
Renaissance.

Where was this literary scene most predominant?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

What are “Brahmins?”
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

What did the Transcendentalists advocate for? Which one of the authors from The
First Harvest had similar ideals?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Transcendentalism
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/ihas/icon/transcend.html

In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s, “The American Scholar” speech, what did he argue
for?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

What are the three main beliefs?
1) ____________________________________________________________
2) ____________________________________________________________
o
Microcosm: view of human beings as a miniature of the world
or universe; in this sense, each person and object in nature is a
miniature world (ex. a pond ecosystem exists on its own but is
also part of the larger ecosystem which rules the earth)
3) ____________________________________________________________

By ____________________, by communing with _____________________,
through work and art, man could ____________________ his senses and attain an
understanding of ________________ and ______________________ and
______________.
Go to http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americannovel/timeline/index.html and on the timeline or
under literary elements, select transcendentalism.
 What are the central beliefs of transcendentalism?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

These core beliefs also generated two others? _____________________ and
________-________________
Using the knowledge you have learned from the 3 websites, create your own definition
for Transcendentalism.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Go to www.youtube.com and in the search bar type: “Transcendentalism Beatles and
Redskins.” Select the first video. Choose one of the quotes, explain it in your own words,
and then explain how it relates to transcendentalism. Complete this on a separate sheet of
paper and be prepared to turn it in.