October 24--Transcendentalism

I hope you're all enjoying reading Walden.  Ok, let me rephrase that so that I'll get a more positive response here: "I hope that all of you have found at least three sentences in Walden that resonate with you."  The 25 quotes will be due November 5 (we'll be studying Edgar Allan Poe and writing scary stories in the interim).

Today we will share our favorite Emerson quotes and find connections between his ideas and those of Thoreau.  We will also continue preparing for Thursday's Socratic Seminar, and then we will watch Dead Poets' Society.
As you watch the film, find 10 examples from the movie that reveal it's Transcendentalist world view.  Here are some characteristics of Transcendentalism to keep in mind:

         Transcendentalism

• praises individual worth over society
• shows contempt for attachment to social customs and habits
• belief in living in harmony with nature
• great dignity in manual labor; the common man is the true hero
• praise for the simple life; criticism for reliance on material possessions
• relationship with God should be personal
• value for revolutionary thoughts and ideas
• rejection of customs, especially traditional European ones
• focus on individual responsibility for developing a moral code
• value for intense feeling; Transcendentalists feel deeply and value that
• belief that Nature is the Great Teacher
• optimism

Write your ten examples and briefly state the connection to Transcendentalist ideas

Wednesday, October 17th

Politics in America

Did you watch the Debate last night?

I think it's important for all of us to be informed members of society and to make our voice heard.

It's looking like this election could be very close, and as such, it's extra important for all of us in the country to think through issues that will affect our lives.  Not only will the next president guide the country through the next four years, but during those four years it is very likely that he will appoint 1 or 2 Supreme Court justices, and those judges will make decisions that could last your entire lifetimes.  So, in case you're interested in following the polls these last three weeks, here are some that show how President Obama and Governor Romney are doing in the states that matter most:

Current Polls

1. Who's going to win?  How do you know?

2. Read "When I Heard the Learned Astronomer"

Write 1 paragraph giving one example from the poem showing that it is a romantic piece.

3. 

Contrast Puritans with Transcendentalists
In The American Experience, read pages 70-73, "Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God" by Jonathan Edwards.
And then read pages 456-460, "Song of myself,"  by Walt Whitman

October 11

Dr. Heidegger's Experiment online text

Today we will discuss Hawthorne's bizarrely intriguing story. What was in the champagne glasses? Why did the butterfly come back to life?  What is the moral of the story?

As we explore Romanticism, we need to do some reading to see how it manifest itself in America.
Read pages 238-257 in the text The American Experience and write 10 quiz questions.  Supply the answers since I will use your actual questions for the test.

Homework:
1. Memorize vocabulary words 41-50 for tomorrow's test (no Friday this week, so the vocab test is tomorrow).
2. Over the weekend, read to the beginning of chapter 23.  That means that you might want to start tonight