Selected Essays - Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The Universal Soul"

Reading/Discussion Schedule

December 4: Nature, Self-Reliance; December 8: The Over-Soul, Circles, The Transcendentalist;

December 11: The Poet, Experience

December 4

1. Which is the best description of Nature - a verb? or a noun?
2. "Each particle is a microcosm, and faithfully renders the likeness of the world?" How so?
3. "The reason why the world lacks unity, and lies broken and in heaps, is because man is disunited with himself." Explain.
4. Which of the Great Books authors we have read this semester are "conformists"?
5. Where does genius come from?
6. "In self-trust all the virtues are comprehended." Discuss.
7. Is self-reliance the same as the autonomy of the will?

December 8

1. Draw a picture that captures the following - yourself, God, the Over-Soul.
2. What circles are a part of your life?
3. Where is the center of the Circles essay? What is the radius? Where is the circumference?
4. Identify your favorite quote from the Circles essay.
5. Which of the following  are transcendentalists: Kant, the creature, nature, the self-reliant, pre-fall Eve, Candide?
6. How is transcendentalism spiritual? non-spiritual?

December 11 - Beach Day!

1. How is the poet like a creator? a genius? ultimately free man? poet a genius?
2. Bring a line of poetry that encapsulates your view of God.
3. Which thread of the loom of time is greatest?
4. What is the difference between the world of experience and the world of thinking?
5. Is experience transcendental?
6. Send a line of poetry after class, describing your view of nature.