Learning Modalities
Kinesthetic Learners Tell students
that they can respond more fully to
Emerson’s views about nature by
reading the poems in a natural setting. Encourage students to find
such a setting, whether in a park,
backyard, or even on a city stoop.
Challenge them to study their surroundings for elements of nature,
such as clouds, sky, trees, squirrels,
or weather.
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About the Selection
In this excerpt from his book Nature,
Emerson expresses his belief that the
meaning of existence can be found
by exploring the natural world. He
describes how, through his exploration of nature, he has discovered
that he is spiritually connected with
the universe, with God, and with
every living thing.
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Background
During the 1830s and 1840s, Emerson and a
small group of like-minded friends gathered regularly in his study to
discuss philosophy, religion, and literature. Among them were Emerson’s
protégé, Henry David Thoreau, as well as educator Bronson Alcott,
feminist writer Margaret Fuller, and ex-clergyman and author George
Ripley. The intimate group, known as the Transcendental Club, developed a
philosophical system that stressed intuition, individuality, and self-reliance.
In 1836, Emerson published Nature, the lengthy essay (excerpted here)
that became the Transcendental Club’s unofficial statement of belief.
Literary Analysis
Transcendentalism
• Read the bracketed passage aloud.
Ask students to identify the jarring
image in the passage and to
explain what Emerson means by it.
Possible response: “I become a
transparent eyeball” is a jarring
image. Emerson means that he sees
everything; the metaphor suggests
the poet is like a single, huge eye.
ature is a setting that fits equally well a comic or a mourning
piece. In good health, the air is a cordial of incredible virtue.
Crossing a bare common,1 in snow puddles, at twilight, under
a clouded sky, without having in my thoughts any occurrence of special good fortune, I have enjoyed a perfect exhilaration. I am glad to the
brink of fear. In the woods, too, a man casts off his years, as the snake
his slough, and at what period soever of life is always a child. In the
woods is perpetual youth. Within these plantations of God, a decorum
and sanctity reign, a perennial festival is dressed, and the guest sees
not how he should tire of them in a thousand years. In the woods, 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 space—all mean egotism vanishes.
• Ask students the Literary Analysis
question: According to this passage, what is the relationship
between Emerson and nature?
Possible response: Emerson feels
spiritually a part of nature and
every living thing, as well as God.
Literary Analysis
Transcendentalism
According to this passage,
what is the relationship
between Emerson and
nature?
Vocabulary Builder
blithe (blìª) adj. carefree
1. common n. piece of open public land.
390 ■ A Growing Nation (1800–1870)
Accessibility at a Glance
390
from Nature
Self-Reliance
Concord Hymn
The Snowstorm
Context
Transcendentalism
Nineteenth-century
individualism
American
Revolution
Extended
metaphor
Language
Accessible
(metaphors)
Formal diction
Poetic diction
and syntax
Figurative
language
Concept Level
Challenging
(oneness with nature)
Accessible
(nonconformity)
Accessible
(bravery)
Accessible
(nature’s powers)
Literary Merit
Classic
Classic
Classic
Classic
Lexile
960
980
NP
NP
Overall Rating
Average
Average
Average
Average
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I become a transparent eyeball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of
the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or parcel of God.
The name of the nearest friend sounds then foreign and accidental: to
be brothers, to be acquaintances, master or servant, is then a trifle and
a disturbance. I am the lover of uncontained and immortal beauty. In
the wilderness, I find something more dear and connate than in the
streets or villages. In the tranquil landscape, and especially in the
distant line of the horizon, man beholds somewhat as beautiful as his
own nature.
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The greatest delight which the fields and woods minister is the
suggestion of an occult relation between man and the vegetable. I am
not alone and unacknowledged. They nod to me, and I to them. The
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Reading Check
Answer: Emerson experiences
delight.
Vocabulary Builder
connate (kän« àt«) adj.
existing naturally; innate
Which emotions does
Emerson experience
when in the woods?
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Answer: Students may refer to the
painting’s serenity, its apparent
meshing of land and heavens, the
reflection of the landscape in the
water, and the complete absence of
any traces of humankind.
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Sunset, Frederick E. Church, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute Museum of Art, Utica, New York
Critical Viewing
Humanities
Sunset, by Frederic E. Church
Frederic Church, a student of Hudson
River School leader Thomas Cole,
became a key member of that group.
This painting reveals his deep love of
nature and his belief that painting
should depict the natural world in a
grand way. The painting glows with
the vibrancy of nature at the most
colorful moment of the day––sunset.
Use this question for discussion:
• Is this painting an appropriate illustration for Emerson’s essay? Why or
why not?
Answer: Some students may say
that the painting is appropriate
because it portrays the enduring
grandeur of nature. Others may say
that a painting portraying a person
appreciating nature would be more
appropriate.
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Critical Viewing Emerson says that nature often allows us to become
transparent eyeballs, seeing all, but remaining detached from the business of
the world. In what ways does this image reinforce his statement? [Support]
from Nature ■ 391
Enrichment for Less Proficient Readers
Given our fast-paced, technological society,
students may have trouble understanding the
basis of Transcendentalism. Explain that this
philosophy centers on gaining spiritual knowledge through recognizing one’s connection to
the universe, God, and the surrounding world.
One way to achieve this is to reduce the unnecessary clutter in one’s life, striving for simplicity
and a return to the basics. Create activities that
encourage students to experience life in a more
direct sense. For example, you could have
them walk to a destination rather than ride in a
car. They could also write their assignments out
in longhand rather than type them. Encourage
students to cook dinner or begin a craft. All
these exercises will help them regain a transcendental connection to daily life. As they pursue such activities, students might consider
whether they believe that all living things are
connected, and if so, how.
391
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Reading Strategy
Challenging the Text
• According to Emerson, from where
does the power to produce “this
delight” come?
Answer: The power comes from
human beings, not nature, or from
a combination of both.
• Then, ask students the Reading
Strategy question: Do you agree or
disagree with this statement about
a harmony between human beings
and nature? Explain.
Possible response: Students may
say that the power to produce
delight resides in nature, but the
ability to experience it resides in us.
Answers
1. Students’ responses will vary.
2. (a) It vanishes in the woods.
(b) Students should identify it as
petty narcissism. (c) It’s replaced
with divinity and delight.
3. (a) He becomes this after he sheds
“mean egotism” amidst nature.
(b) He feels connected to nature
and to God. (c) Emerson, like
everyone and everything, is connected to the Universal Being.
4. (a) It comes from a harmony
of man and nature.
(b) Possible response: He
means that it is forever linked and
intertwined, but not necessarily
that it is serene.
5. (a) No, sometimes nature is less
welcoming. It depends, on
nature’s mood and on the emotions we bring in. (b) He means
that nature reflects our emotions
or mood.
6. (a) Possible response: Nature
teaches us how we are connected
to everyone and everything
around us. (b) Responses should
be supported by their evaluation
of Emerson’s ideas.
7. Students may mention the environmental movement and the
popularity of outdoor activities.
For additional information about Ralph Waldo
Emerson, have students type in the Web
Code, then select E from the alphabet, and
then select Ralph Waldo Emerson.
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waving of the boughs in the storm is new to me and old. It takes me
by surprise, and yet is not unknown. Its effect is like that of a higher
thought or a better emotion coming over me, when I deemed I was
thinking justly or doing right.
Yet it is certain that the power to produce this delight does not
reside in nature, but in man, or in a harmony of both. It is necessary
to use these pleasures with great temperance. For nature is not always
tricked2 in holiday attire, but the same scene which yesterday breathed
perfume and glittered as for the frolic of the nymphs is overspread with
melancholy today. Nature always wears the colors of the spirit. To a
man laboring under calamity, the heat of his own fire hath sadness in
it. Then there is a kind of contempt of the landscape felt by him who
has just lost by death a dear friend. The sky is less grand as it shuts
down over less worth in the population.
Reading Strategy
Challenging the Text Do
you agree or disagree
with this statement about
a harmony between
human beings and nature?
Explain.
2. tricked v. dressed.
Critical Reading
1. Respond: Which of your experiences have made you “glad to the brink
of fear”? Explain.
2. (a) Recall: Under what circumstances, according to Emerson, does
“mean egotism” vanish? (b) Define: How would you define
Emerson’s idea of “mean egotism”? (c) Analyze Cause and Effect: In
nature, with what emotional state does Emerson suggest that “mean
egotism” is replaced?
3. (a) Recall: When does Emerson become a “transparent eyeball”?
(b) Analyze: What are the characteristics of this experience?
(c) Connect: In what ways does this description reflect the
Transcendentalist belief in an Over-Soul?
4. (a) Recall: Where does the power to produce nature’s delight come
from? (b) Define: In stating that there is a harmony between human
beings and nature, do you think Emerson means the relationship is
always serene, or not? Explain.
5. (a) Infer: According to Emerson, is our experience with nature the
same every time we go to the woods? Explain. (b) Interpret: What
does Emerson mean when he says that “Nature always wears the
colors of the spirit”?
6. (a) Evaluate: What is Emerson’s main point in this essay?
(b) Assess: Do you find Emerson’s message convincing? Explain why
you do or do not accept his ideas about nature.
7. Take a Position: Do you find any evidence of Emerson's reverence for
nature in American culture today? Explain.
For: More about Ralph
Waldo Emerson
Visit: www.PHSchool.com
Web Code: ere-9311
392 ■ A Growing Nation (1800–1870)
Emerson’s Abolitionist Views
After the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act,
which required people to return runaway slaves
to the owners, Emerson became an active and
vocal abolitionist. He remarked that anyone
building a house should include space in it for
fugitive slaves. Prompt students to discuss how
Emerson’s position on slavery relates to his
statement in this essay that “Nothing is at last
sacred but the integrity of your own mind.”
Encourage interested students to find out
more about the details of the Fugitive Slave Act
and the Compromise of 1850 of which it was
part. Have them research how abolitionists
responded to the law. Invite students to share
any incidents and anecdotes they encounter.