Reading the Selection
Concord Hymn
from Nature
from Self-Reliance
Click a hyperlink to go to the
corresponding content area.
• To gain insight into the ideas of
Transcendentalism by reading a poem
and two essays by Emerson 
• To identify and understand metonymy
and figurative language 
• To write an analytical essay on
Emerson’s ideas about human nature
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the information.
Ralph Waldo
Emerson was born
in 1803 and died in
1882.
Click the Speaker button to hear
more about Ralph Waldo Emerson.
BACKGROUND
The Time and Place
On July 4, 1837, a monument was unveiled in
Concord, Massachusetts. There, in 1775, the
American Minutemen had fought against the
British in one of the first battles of the
Revolutionary War. At the request of the
Monument Committee, Emerson wrote the words
to “Concord Hymn,” which was sung at the
memorial ceremony.
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the information.
BACKGROUND (cont.)
Literary Influences
Emerson was involved in the nineteenth-century
philosophical and literary movement known as
Transcendentalism, which stemmed from the
Romantic movement in art, literature, and music.
Transcendentalists believed in the unity of all
creation and that human nature contained
something that transcended, or went beyond,
ordinary experience.
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the information.
VOCABULARY PREVIEW
perpetual: (adj) lasting forever; eternal;
p. 242 
integrate: (v) to bring all parts together into a whole;
p. 242 
decorum: (n) conformity to the approved standards
of good taste; p. 243 
perennial: (adj) continuing year after year; enduring;
p. 243 
blithe: (adj) lighthearted and carefree; cheerful;
p. 243 
occult: (adj) beyond human understanding;
mysterious; p. 243
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the information.
VOCABULARY PREVIEW (cont.)
admonition: (n) a warning; cautionary advice;
p. 245 
latent: (adj) present but not evident; hidden;
p. 245 
sage: (n) a person of profound wisdom and
judgment; p. 245 
manifest: (adj) apparent to the eye or the mind;
evident; obvious; p. 246 
benefactor: (n) one who gives help or financial aid;
p. 246 
integrity: (n) moral uprightness; honesty;
p. 247
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the information.
FOCUS ACTIVITY
What can you learn from history–the history of your
own life, of your community, and of your country?
How does history help you deal with the present
and the future? 
Freewrite
Take a few minutes to freewrite about the
benefits of remembering the details of
important events both in your own history and
in the nation’s history. 
Setting a Purpose
Read to learn how one writer helps others
remember an historic event of great importance.
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the information.
A Active Reading
Connect
How was the shot referred to in line 4
“heard round the world”?
Other European powers besides England,
notably France, feared similar external
and internal upheavals. The American
Revolution had global implications.
Navigation Toolbar
AB
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
B Literary Elements
Figurative Language: Apostrophe
The direct address of an object or abstraction is
a formal literary device called an apostrophe.
Does it seem appropriate in this poem?
A Active Reading
Question
Read the first paragraph of the story.
What does Emerson mean by his first
sentence?
According to Emerson, true solitude is a
transcendent state achieved through
being in nature.
Do you agree?
Navigation Toolbar
ABC
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
B Critical Thinking
Elaborating
Read the paragraph beginning on page 242 and
continuing on page 243. Think about sentence 4.
How does it foreshadow the paragraph
development?
Emerson speaks of seeing nature with the
eye and the heart of a child, a theme
developed throughout the paragraph in
such language as “a man casts off his
years … and … is always a child.”
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
C Active Reading
Question
Is it possible to be “glad to the brink of
fear?”
Possible answer: Sometimes one can be
so happy that it is frightening–either
because one fears to lose the happiness or
because the feeling is new and frightening.
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
A Active Reading
Connect
Before you begin reading, define “self-reliance.”
Do you consider yourself self-reliant?
What qualities does someone who is
self-reliant possess?
Navigation Toolbar
ABCD
B Active Reading
Question
Why does Emerson believe it is shameful
to take “our own opinion from another?”
Doing so prevents self-reliance.
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
C Author’s Craft
Parallel Structure
A celebrated Unitarian minister, Emerson uses a
rhetorical device common to sermons and formal
writing: parallel structure.
Identify the parallel elements in the first sentence
of the first full paragraph on page 246.
The series of “that” clauses exemplify parallelism.
Find further examples of parallelism.
Another example is the compound -ing verbs in the
first paragraph of the second column on page 246.
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
D Critical Thinking
Logical Reasoning
How has Emerson prepared the reader
for the statement “Trust thyself” on page
246?
After urging readers to think for
themselves, Emerson says that they can
do so if they are brave enough.
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
Responding to Literature
Personal Response
Analyzing Literature
Literary Elements
Personal Response
Analyzing Literature
Personal Response
Analyzing Literature
Literary Elements
Literature & Writing
Skill Minilessons
Click a hyperlink to go to the
corresponding content area.
PERSONAL RESPONSE
What were your reactions to “Concord
Hymn”? Note them in your journal.
RECALL AND INTERPRET
What did the farmers do at the bridge
in Concord? What does the speaker
imply about the impact of their
activities?
They fired the first shots of the American
Revolution, which had worldwide impact.
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
RECALL AND INTERPRET
Where are the battle’s participants
now? What has happened to the
bridge?
The participants are dead; the bridge has
been washed out.
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
RECALL AND INTERPRET
What are people doing on the day the
poem is sung? According to the
speaker, what purpose will be served
by what they are doing?
They are erecting a memorial to remind
posterity of what their forefathers did.
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
RECALL AND INTERPRET
What does the speaker ask in the last
stanza? In your opinion, why does he
ask this?
He asks the Spirit to bid time and nature to
spare the memorial from erosion so that it
will last.
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
RECALL AND INTERPRET
A hymn is a song of praise or
thanksgiving. What do you think
Emerson is praising or being thankful
for in this poem? Cite details from the
poem to support your response.
He praises the spirit and actions of our
ancestors, which have left a legacy of
freedom to us.
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
EVALUATE AND CONNECT
Look at the words Emerson used, the way
he arranged them, and the poem’s rhythm
pattern. Based on these factors, how
would you describe the mood created in
the poem? In your opinion, does the mood
fit the message of the poem? Why or why
not?
The first two stanzas’ hard end rhymes fit the
content of battle and its aftermath and
establish a triumphant mood. The softer end
rhymes of the final stanzas suggest gratitude.
Emerson uses rhythm and assonance to
accentuate important words. The strong
rhythm is both militant and hymnlike.
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
EVALUATE AND CONNECT
What do you think are the advantages
of memorializing an important person
or historic event in a song or poem?
What contemporary songs do you
know that pay tribute to people or
significant events?
EVALUATE AND CONNECT
Emerson wrote about an important
event in U.S. history. What historic
event would you choose to
commemorate? Explain your choice.
Significant events might include a major
battle, the Civil Rights movement, or the
fight for woman suffrage.
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
LITERARY ELEMENTS
• Emerson often uses a type of figurative
language called metonymy. 
• Metonymy is the use of one word to stand
for a related term. When Emerson writes
that the sun shines into a child’s heart, he
uses heart to stand for deep emotions. 
• In “Concord Hymn,” he uses metonymy
when he refers to “the shot heard round the
world.” He is actually referring to the entire
battle, not just one bullet.
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the information.
LITERARY ELEMENTS
In “Concord Hymn,” when Emerson
writes that “like our sires our sons are
gone,” what does he mean? How else
could he have said this?
“Sires” are ancestors, and “sons” are
descendants. He could have said “When
we are dead.”
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
LITERARY ELEMENTS
What does Emerson mean by the word
“children” in the last stanza? Do you
think the meaning would change if a
freeman had no children? Why or why
not?
He means people born long after this
event. It figuratively means posterity, not
actual children.
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
PERSONAL RESPONSE
Which of Emerson’s ideas most
impressed you? Explain.
RECALL AND INTERPRET
According to Emerson, why should
people look at the stars if they wish to
be alone? How would people respond
if the stars appeared only once in a
thousand years? What does this
suggest about Emerson’s view of
human nature?
The stars’ rays “separate” them from the
tangible world. People might think that the
sublime is always transient and rare.
Emerson emphasizes the permanence of
human nature and how we take it for
granted.
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
RECALL AND INTERPRET
In Emerson’s view, how do adults and
children differ in the way they view
nature? What does Emerson suggest
accounts for this difference?
Adults see with the eye, children with both
eye and heart; children’s “inward and
outward senses” are still working in
conjunction.
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
RECALL AND INTERPRET
How do changing seasons affect
lovers of nature? Why might Emerson
have felt exhilarated by crossing a
park on a snowy evening?
The changes provide nature lovers with
new delights and moods. Emerson takes
delight in all the different moods of nature.
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
RECALL AND INTERPRET
What scenes in nature does Emerson
describe? What effect does being in
nature have on Emerson? What
conclusions does he draw from this?
Emerson describes looking at stars,
reveling in a horizon, walking in winter
snow in town, and recapturing youth in
fields and wooded wilderness. In nature he
feels young and alive. Nature can make
one “part or parcel of God.”
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
RECALL AND INTERPRET
In your opinion, what does Emerson
mean when he states, “Nature always
wears the colors of the spirit”? Do you
agree with him? Explain.
Possible answer: Emerson means that
moods affect the way that people perceive
nature.
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
EVALUATE AND CONNECT
Do you consider yourself to be one of
the people who can truly see nature as
Emerson describes? Explain your
answer.
EVALUATE AND CONNECT
What, do you think, is the difference
between the meaning Emerson finds in
nature and the meaning a scientist
finds?
Emerson might say that scientists have
lost the “spirit of infancy” and see only
with their heads.
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
EVALUATE AND CONNECT
How do you think people today can
connect with nature in a meaningful
way, even if they live in a city? What
benefits might they receive?
Possible answer: City dwellers may find
little natural vistas within the city or take
trips into the countryside. Such natural
moments might relieve the stress of
modern city life.
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
PERSONAL RESPONSE
Do you agree with Emerson’s views
about the value of nonconformity?
Share your opinions with your
class.
RECALL
According to Emerson, what is genius?
Genius is believing that what is true for you
is “true for all.”
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the next question.
INTERPRET
In Emerson’s view, what are the
benefits of genius?
The benefits are independence and selfsatisfaction.
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
RECALL
What is the lesson Emerson would
have people learn from great works of
art?
People must trust their instincts.
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the next question.
INTERPRET
What do you think Emerson’s
references to art say about his values
and his view of human thought?
He values the iconoclast who dares to
challenge orthodoxy.
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
RECALL
In what way, according to Emerson,
should a person approach his or her
work?
People should approach work with
willingness, confidence, and the
determination to do their best.
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the next question.
INTERPRET
What kind of “work” do you think
Emerson is describing? Explain.
Possible answer: Emerson is not specific,
but he is discussing intellectual and spiritual
activity and the way one leads one’s life.
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
RECALL
How does Emerson describe society?
What approach to society does
Emerson say a person must strive for?
Society is in a conspiracy that demands
conformity. Emerson urges nonconformity.
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the next question.
INTERPRET
How does society affect what people
value?
Requiring conformity, society establishes
norms of thought and behavior and
penalizes those diverging from them.
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
RECALL
What does Emerson say is his main concern?
According to Emerson, who is a great man?
His main concern is what he alone must do. Great
men maintain the independence of solitude,
especially in a crowd.
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the next question.
INTERPRET
How do you think a person can become
“great” according to Emerson’s view? Give
examples.
To maintain integrity, people must find the
confidence to depart from norms. Emerson says
people become great by acting according to their
consciences.
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
EVALUATE AND CONNECT
Theme Connections In your opinion,
how might people react if Emerson’s
essay were published today? What
insights might they gain from reading
the essay?
Possible answers:
• Today’s society demands less
conformity; therefore, Emerson’s essay
would be well received.
• Conformity still exists. One insight is
that today’s nonconformity is more
style than substance.
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
EVALUATE AND CONNECT
Under what circumstances might
conformity be wise? When might it be
foolish?
In legal or professional situations,
conformity to health and safety standards
could be considered important.
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
EVALUATE AND CONNECT
Describe how people today might
show self-reliance. What roles might
self-reliant people play in society
today?
EVALUATE AND CONNECT
What parts of Emerson’s essay do you
find most persuasive? What techniques
does Emerson use to make these parts
effective?
Possible answer: Emerson uses a variety
of techniques: among them figurative
language, examples, and aphorisms.
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
EVALUATE AND CONNECT
Do you think it’s possible for people to
live in society the way Emerson
recommends? Why or why not?
LITERARY ELEMENTS
• Figurative language is language that
conveys ideas beyond what the words
literally mean. 
• For example, Emerson says that a person
“should learn to detect and watch that gleam
of light which flashes across his mind from
within.” The gleam of light that Emerson
writes about refers to a person’s ideas. 
• Emerson uses figurative language to help
us understand an abstract thought. 
• Figurative language can also make
commonplace ideas fresh and vivid.
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the information.
LITERARY ELEMENTS
When Emerson writes, “no kernel of
nourishing corn can come to him but
through his toil bestowed on that plot
of ground which is given to him to till,”
what do you think he means?
Possible answer: No person can succeed
unless he or she uses the talents and
insights given to him or her.
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
LITERARY ELEMENTS
Find at least three other examples of
figurative language in “Self-Reliance.”
Tell how each image helps explain an
idea or makes it concrete.
Possible answers:
• “the soul hears an admonition”
(personification)
• “cry of voices” (metonymy)
• “sculpture in the memory” (metaphor)
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
Understanding Emerson’s Message
What value does Emerson place on human
ideas? How does he view the connection
between nature and people? Write a brief
analysis of Emerson’s ideas about human
nature, using details from “Nature” and “SelfReliance.”
Practice: Write a definition for each word or phrase
below. Include the meaning of the prefix com- in each
definition. Feel free to consult a dictionary.
1. collaborate
meaning: to work together
2. committee
meaning: a group that jointly performs
certain duties
3. colleague
meaning: a person one works with
4. corresponds
meaning: is in comformity
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answers.
noun
noun
adjective
noun
adverb
metonymy–
represents a river or
stream
metonymy–
describes actions
metonymy–
represents ancestors
metonymy–
represents the
monument
Ignorance and superstition
are referred to as chaos
and darkness.
Society is compared to a
“joint-stock company,”
money or dividends to
“bread.”
An image or picture in the
memory is compared to a
“sculpture”
Descriptive Writing:
Travel Article
Travel is certainly one way to gain insight. You might
even enjoy visiting the setting of a favorite literature
selection. Many of the writers in this theme wrote
about real places around the United States and the
world. Now you will describe a real place. Follow the
process on these pages to write your own travel
article. Your challenge is to create a verbal snapshot
of a location that will make your readers want to go
there.
This feature is found on pages 308–311 of your textbook.
Descriptive Writing:
Travel Article
Click a hyperlink to explore that step of the writing process:
Prewriting
Drafting
Revising
Editing/Proofreading
Publishing/Presenting
Reflecting
This feature is found on pages 308–311 of your textbook.
Descriptive Writing:
Travel Article
Prewriting: Explore Locations
• List places you might write about. 
– Ideas can come from your experiences,
magazines, encyclopedias, or any source that is
helpful. 
– You might choose and research a place from one
of the selections, such as Walden Pond in
Concord, Massachusetts, where Thoreau wrote
Walden. 
– Next to each location, write some of its highlights.
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.
This feature is found on pages 308–311 of your textbook.
Descriptive Writing:
Travel Article
Prewriting: Choose One Place
• Choose the place on your list that you would most
like to explore. 
• What attracts you to this place? 
• Put your thoughts on paper. 
• To get more information, interview someone who has
been there recently and study photographs. 
• Note facts and details that make the place remarkable.
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.
This feature is found on pages 308–311 of your textbook.
Descriptive Writing:
Travel Article
Prewriting: Consider Your Audience
and Purpose
• Who will read your travel article? 
• You might send it to a company that publishes travel
guides or magazines, post it on an Internet chat site for
travel and vacations, create a travel brochure to send to
the chamber of commerce closest to your destination,
or just share your work with other students. 
• Whoever your audience is, remember that your purpose
is to make readers want to visit the place. Choose
specific words and a writing style that will persuade
your readers and bring the travel location to life.
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.
This feature is found on pages 308–311 of your textbook.
Descriptive Writing:
Travel Article
Prewriting: Organize Your Ideas
• Review your notes. Use a highlighter or colored pen to
mark main features that will appeal to your audience. Circle
the best supporting details for each feature. Then organize
your information by using one of the models below. 
– Order of impression: Presenting details in the order in
which they are noticed creates a ”you are there” feeling. 
– Order of importance: Starting or ending with the most
important detail helps the writer emphasize what is
important. 
– Spatial order: Arranging details according to location
helps the reader travel through the setting.
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.
This feature is found on pages 308–311 of your textbook.
Descriptive Writing:
Travel Article
Drafting: Get Ready to Write
• Build your draft around your model for organizing
ideas. 
• As you begin to write, think of yourself as a camera with
a zoom lens. 
• Zoom in on one striking object or feature. 
• Pull back slowly, letting your lens range over a wider
and wider area until you take in the whole picture.
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.
This feature is found on pages 308–311 of your textbook.
Descriptive Writing:
Travel Article
Drafting: Draft Tour Description
• Let your ideas and words flow. 
• Stick to the overall impression, but remain open to any
vivid details that will engage your audience. 
• End with a strong image. Leave readers eager to see
the place for themselves.
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.
This feature is found on pages 308–311 of your textbook.
Descriptive Writing:
Travel Article
Revising: Take a Fresh Look
• Take a break from your description; then pick it up
again and imagine you are reading it for the first time. 
• Do you show readers what the place is like, or do you
just tell about it? 
• Every detail should appeal to one of the five senses or
help create an image in your reader’s mind. 
• Add transitions to help your writing flow smoothly. 
• Then review your work, using the Questions for
Revising on the next slide.
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.
This feature is found on pages 308–311 of your textbook.
Descriptive Writing:
Travel Article
Revising: Questions for Revising
 Is the opening attention-getting? 
 How might the order of supporting details be
more effective? 
 Are there enough vivid details to bring the
location to life for the reader? 
 Which details could be more lively? 
 Where could you use more precise words? 
 How well does the writing express your own
enthusiasm for the location? 
 Does the ending make readers want to visit the
place?
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.
This feature is found on pages 308–311 of your textbook.
Descriptive Writing:
Travel Article
Revising: Let a Friend Read Your Description
• Invite a friend to read your description. 
• Have your friend answer the Questions for Revising,
and discuss with your friend ideas for improving and
presenting your work. 
• For example, you could add a sidebar–a short article
that accompanies a major story–that tells readers how
to get to the place.
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.
This feature is found on pages 308–311 of your textbook.
Descriptive Writing:
Travel Article
Editing/Proofreading
• When your description is as vivid as you can make
it, proofread for errors in grammar, usage,
mechanics, and spelling. 
• Use the Proofreading Checklist on the inside back
cover of your textbook.
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.
This feature is found on pages 308–311 of your textbook.
Descriptive Writing:
Travel Article
Publishing/Presenting
• The format of your description depends on your
intended audience. 
• If you write an article for the travel section of a
newspaper, send a computer printout along with your
own illustrations, photographs, maps, or sidebars. 
• If you create a brochure for an office of tourism, you
might design a layout with space for headings, text,
and images. 
• If you read your description to a group, consider adding
poster-size images, appropriate music, a diorama, or
even a T-shirt.
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.
This feature is found on pages 308–311 of your textbook.
Descriptive Writing:
Travel Article
Reflecting
• Think about your experience in writing a description.
Answer questions such as the following in your
journal. 
• Which part of the writing project was the most
challenging? the most fun? 
• Set goals for your next piece of writing. 
• Given what you have learned about drafting and
revising a description, how will you approach your
next assignment differently?
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.
This feature is found on pages 308–311 of your textbook.