Transcendentalism

Question 1

New England was the center of many reform movements:

Answer 1

Horace Mann: father of modern public education
Dorothea Dix: better care for mentally ill
William Lloyd Garrison: abolitionist
Margaret Fuller: women’s rights

Question 2

Transcendental

Answer 2

Refers to the idea that in determining the ultimate reality of God, universe, self, and other important matters, one must transcend everyday human experience in the physical world
-intuition is important for discovering truth

Question 3

Divine soul

Answer 3

Everything in the world, including humans, is a reflection of the divine soul

Question 4

Transcendentalism’s American roots

Answer 4

Puritan thought, the beliefs of Jonathan Edwards, and the Romantic tradition

Question 5

Nature is a doorway to a….

Answer 5

mystical world holding important truths

Question 6

Lyceum movement

Answer 6

Interest in self-improvement and intellectual inquiry
This movement had a number of goals:
-training teachers
-educating adults
-establishing museums
-instituting social reform

Question 7

Transparent eyeball

Answer 7

A philosophical metaphor originated by Emerson

• representation of the eye that is absorbent rather than reflective, therefore taking in all nature has to offer
• reaching a higher state, more like God

Question 8

What must outweigh authority and conformity?

Answer 8

Self reliance and individualism must outweigh external authority and blind conformity to custom and tradition

Question 9

What is superior to intellectualism and rationality?

Answer 9

Spontaneous feelings and intuition

Question 10

Intuition

Answer 10

Intuition is our capacity to know things spontaneously and immediately through our emotions rather than through reasoning abilities.

• contrasts with rational thought (Ben Franklin)
• Emerson’s mystical view of the world sprang not from logic, but from intuition

Question 11

Optimism

Answer 11

We can find God directly through nature

• God is good and works through nature
• Death is simply part of the cycle of life
• Capable of evil because we are separated from a direct, intuitive knowledge of God

Question 12

The Divine Soul

Answer 12

The source of all good

Question 13

Emerson’s optimism appealed to audiences who lived in a period of..

Answer 13

Economic downturn
Regional strifes
Conflict over slavery

Question 14

Dark Romantics

Answer 14

Agreed with:

• intuition over logic and reason
• signs/symbols in human events

Disagreed with:
-premise that spiritual facts are good or harmless (thought Emerson ignored Puritan thought’s dark side: original sin, predestination)

Question 15

Alacrity

Answer 15

Brisk and cheerful readiness

Question 16

Derision

Answer 16

Ridicule or mockery

Question 17

Encumbrance

Answer 17

Burden or impediment

Question 18

Impetuous

Answer 18

Acting or done quickly without thought or care; impulsive

Question 19

Pertinent

Answer 19

Relevant or applicable

Question 20

Emerson’s definition of self-reliance

Answer 20

Trusting one’s self and accepting; focusing on the individual

Question 21

Admonish

Answer 21

Warn someone firmly

Question 22

Blithe

Answer 22

Showing a casual or cheerful indifference considered to be improper

Question 23

Conviction

Answer 23

A firmly held position or belief

Question 24

Indubitably

Answer 24

Impossible to doubt; unquestionable

Question 25

Manifest

Answer 25

Clear or obvious to the eye or mind

Question 26

Sublime

Answer 26

Of such excellence, grandeur, or beauty as to inspire great admiration or awe

Question 27

Transcendent

Answer 27

Beyond or above the range of normal or merely physical human experience