1840-1860TRANSCENDENTALISM

THE AMERICAN RENAISSANCE

Renaissance: means “rebirth.” Describes the explosion of literary genius.

Transcendentalism is the American equivalent of Europe’s Renaissance.

Europe’s Renaissance occurred between 1300 and 1700.

TRANSCENDENTALISM

The idea that to understand God, the universe, the self and other important matters, one must transcend (or go beyond) the everyday experiences of the natural world.

• The physical facts of the natural word are a doorway to the spiritual or ideal world.

- “physical facts” being things found in nature, such as:

lakes and oceans, flowers or animals.

BIG IDEAS

• Self-Reliance and individualism must outweigh external authority and blind conformity to custom and tradition.

- That means: independence is more important than following the crowd.• Spontaneous feelings and intuition

(or a gut feeling) are better than deliberate thought and rationality.

BIG IDEAS

• Free thought (individualism)• Confidence• Importance of nature• Self-Reliance (independence)• Non-conformity

CHARACTERISTICS

The whole era was all about moving past oneself to

experience greater, better things, even if it went against the natural grain of society.

IN SUMMARY:

• Timothy Treadwell• Music

MODERN-DAY EXAMPLES

HOMEWORK:Find a song that has a

Transcendentalist theme. Write a paragraph explaining what in that song gives you that idea. If you can, bring in the lyrics. Definitely include the song title and artist name in your paragraph.

Due MONDAY25

points