Transcendentalist Project 2011 (45 points)
When I started designing my lesson plans for the unit on transcendentalists and reformers I was
dreading having to figure out how you, my student, would understand a concept that at the very heart
of which means something a little different for everyone. Transcendentalists were and are for the most
part a celebration of the individual and sought understanding by searching within themselves to find
truths. Despite some generalities believed by Transcendentalists, the manifestations of their divined
truths are as varied as the individuals searching for them. So I started to realize the only sensible way for
students to demonstrate their understanding of Transcendentalism is for the student to look for or
create examples of Transcendentalism. After reading excerpts and discussing what Transcendentalism is,
I want you to take your knowledge and create or analyze something that contains Transcendental ideas
and themes.
Some ideas (you can do much more) for a project…
 Write a short story or poem that contain Transcendental ideas and themes;
 develop and deliver a speech;
 draw a cartoon;
 bring in a collection of cartoons that demonstrate Transcendental ideas and themes;
 perform a nature experiment and document your results;
 design a nature Web page;
 interpret or create a photo/art exhibit;
 make a video/documentary advocating to right a wrong;
 make a scrapbook of images that demonstrate Transcendental ideas and themes;
 stage a performance (dance, act);
 Interpret or create a song that contain Transcendental ideas and themes;
 compile a “Name that Transcendental Tune” list of thirty songs that were not discussed during
class;
 do an environmental survey of your peers, documenting the results;
 create a nature guide for a local park, using passages from the readings for inspiration.
Examples of songs that contain Transcendental ideas and themes:
Oldies/Classics
Pop/Rock
R&B/Rap
New Age/Classical
Country
Otis Redding:
“Sitting on the Dock
of the Bay”
Billy Joel: “Just the
Way You Are”
Madonna: “Rain” and
“Respect Yourself ”
R. Kelly: “I Believe
I Can Fly”
Enya: “Sail Away”
Dixie Chicks: “Wide
Open Spaces”
Mariah Carey: “Hero”
Cranberries:
“Copy Cat”
Lee Ann Womack: “I
Hope You Dance”
Frank Sinatra:
“My Way”
Bob Marley: “Get
Up, Stand Up”
Dave Matthews Band:
“Cry Freedom”
U2: “Beautiful Day”
Tupac Shakur:
“Keep Ya Head
Up”
Destiny’s Child:
“Survivor”
Jennifer Lopez:
“I’m Real”
Tim Janis:
“Water’s Edge”
Vivaldi: “Four
Seasons”
Billy Gilman: “Hero”
Beatles: “Here
Comes the Sun”
Van Halen: “Dreams”
Janet Jackson:
“Clouds”
Yanni: “Rain
Must Fall”
Bob Dylan: “Blowin’
in the Wind”
Creed: “Higher”
India Arie: “Video”
Handel: “Water
Music Suite,
No.2 for orchestra
in D major”
Garth Brooks:
“The River” and “We
Shall Be Free”
Martina McBride:
“Independence Day”
Trisha Yearwood:
“Real Live Woman”
Joni Mitchell: “Big
Yellow Taxi”
Dido: “My Life”
En Vogue: “Free
Your Mind”
Louis Armstrong:
“What a Wonderful
World”
Grateful Dead:
“Liberty”
Jewel: “Hands”
Desiree; “You
Gotta Be”
Jo Dee Messina:
“Burn”
Backstreet Boys:
“Shining Star”
Rascal Flatts: “Prayin’
for Daylight”
Three Dog Night:
“Joy to the World”
Sting: “Fields of Gold”
Whitney Houston:
“One Moment
in Time”
Jermaine Jackson:
“Rise to the
Occasion”
Modest Mussorgsky:
“Night on Bald
Mountain, A, for
orchestra”
Tim McGraw: “Place
in the Sun”
Other examples from other genres:
Art/Photography
 Cunningham, Antonia. Essential Impressionists. Bath, England: Parragon,2000.
 Goldsworthy, Andy. Andy Goldsworthy: A Collaboration with Nature. New York: Harry Abrams, 1990.
 Hassrick, Peter, ed. The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. New York: Harry Abrams, 1997.
 House, John. Monet: Nature into Art. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1986.
 Jennings, Kate F. Ansel Adams. New York: Barnes and Noble, 1997.
 Leopold, Aldo. A Sand County Almanac. New York: Oxford, 2001.
 Line, Les, ed. The National Audubon Society, A Century of Conservation: Speaking for Nature. Southport: Hugh Lauter
Levin Associates, 1999.
 Wolfe, Art. Africa. Seattle: Wildlands Press, 2001.
Poetry
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Anderson, L. and Marty Asher, eds. Sisters of the Earth: Women’s Prose and Poetry About Nature. New York:
Vintage, 1991.
Bosselaar, Laure-Anne, ed. Urban Nature: Poems about Wildlife in the City. Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions, 2000.
Farrell, Kate. Art and Nature: An Illustrated Anthology of Nature Poetry, Vol. 1. New York: Little, Brown & Company,
1992.
Ferra, Lorraine. A Crow Doesn’t Need a Shadow: A Guide to Writing Poetry from Nature. Salt Lake City: Gibbs Smith,
1994.
Hines, Anna G. Pieces. New York: HarperCollins, 1998.
Kilcher, Jewel. A Night Without Armor. New York: HarperCollins, 1999.
Quetchenbach, Bernard. Back from the Far Field: American Nature Poetry in the Late Twentieth Century.
Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2000.
Spence, Gerry L. Gerry Spence’s Wyoming: The Landscape. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2000.
Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass. New York: Bantam, 1998.
Williams, Jill. Nature Sonnets. Arlington: Gival Press, LLC, 2001.
Nonfiction
 Dillard, Annie. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. New York: HarperCollins,1998.
 Erlich, Gretel. A Match to the Heart: One Woman’s Story of Being Struck by Lightning. New York: Penguin,1995.
 Henley, Don, and Dave Marsh, eds. Heaven Is Under Our Feet. New York: Berkley Publishing Group, 1992.
 Krakauer, Jon. Into Thin Air. New York: Random House, 1997.
 Leggett, Jeremy. Global Warming and the End of the Oil Era. New York: Taylor & Francis Group, 2001.
 Lopez, Barry. Arctic Dreams: Imagination and Desire in a Northern Landscape. New York: Vintage, 2001.
 Muir, John. Nature Writings: The Story of My Boyhood and Youth, My First Summer in the Sierra, The Mountains of
California, Stickeen, Essays. Ed. William Cronan. New York: Library of America, 1997.
YA Lit. & Picture Books
 Anderson, Laurie Halse. Speak. New York: Puffin, 1999.
 Avi. Blue Heron. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992.
 Carter, Forrest. The Education of Little Tree. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2000.
 Fleischman, Paul. Seedfolks. New York: HarperCollins, 1997.
 Hesse, Karen. Out of the Dust. New York: Scholastic, 1998.
 Hickam, Homer. October Sky. New York: Random House, 1999.
 Hobbs, Will. River Thunder. New York: Random House, 1999.
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O’Dell, Scott. Island of the Blue Dolphins. New York: Random House, 1987.
Rawls, Wilson. Where the Red Fern Grows. New York: Dell, 1996.
Rylant, Cynthia. The Wonderful Happens. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000.
Seuss, Dr., Jack Prelutsky & Lane Smith. Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! New York: Knopf, 1998.
Taylor, Mildred. The Land. New York: Dial Books, 2001.
Voigt, Cynthia. A Solitary Blue. New York: Macmillan, 1993.
Lists compiled in an article titled, “Multigenre, Multiple Intelligences, and Transcendentalism” by COLLEEN A.
RUGGIERI
Assignment:
The student will find or create something that demonstrates an element of Transcendental idea or theme.
Some themes that could be used are:
Non-conformity.
Self-reliance.
Man in nature (not its master but being a part of nature).
Truly “free thinking”; not allowing others to think for you.
Dedication to correcting a ‘wrong’ in the world.
Confidence and happiness coming from listening to your internal message.
You will present your example to the class and then analyze how your example demonstrates which
element of Transcendentalist idea or theme. Answer these following essential questions:
Why did you chose or create this piece?
What elements of Transcendentalism did this represent?
How did this further your understanding of what “Transcendentalism” means?
Limit your presentation to the class to a 3-6 minute time frame. The first presentations will begin
Thursday, October 13, 2010.
The following rubric will be used:
Creatively presented the Transcendentalist idea or theme…………10 points
Chose an example that demonstrates the idea or theme……………10 points
Answered the essential questions…………………………………..25 points
45 points