Name ____________________________________

Period _____________________

Transcendentalism Web Quest

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could.
Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as
soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Think about the quotation listed above while you answer the following
questions in this webquest.
Step one: Gain a basic understanding of Transcendentalism
http://womenshistory.about.com/bltranscend.htm?once=true&What is
Transcendentalism?
http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/amtrans.htm
1. What authors are associated with this movement?
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Theraou, Margaret Fuller, Theodore Parker
2. What century did this movement take place in?
The 19th century
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/ihas/icon/transcend.html

3. The Transcendentalists stood at the heart of The American Renaissance-the flowering of our nation's thought in ________, _______, ________,
________, _________, and _______ in the period roughly designated from
______-______.
4. What area of the U.S. did this movement begin in?
New England mainly Boston.
5. Emerson attempted to define the philosophy in simple terms as "What is
popularly called Transcendentalism among us, is Idealism; Idealism as it
appears in 1842." But it is much larger and more complex than that. How
is it described further along in this paragraph? Idealism was the perfect
idea of a better nation in the 19th century Transcendentalism was making
a better nation through its writings.
http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/transcendentalism/ideas/club.html

6. What was the Transcendentalist club?

A group of New England intellectuals of the early 19th century.

7. How/why/where did it develop?

Cambridge Massachusetts
8. How difficult was it to become a member of this club?
You had to have a high education and an opinion to discuss.

9. Who called the first-ever meeting of this club?

James Freeman Clark

Step two: Explore several figures from the Transcendentalist

movement.
Write 5 to 6 sentences in regards to what you learned about each author.
Take your time reading each of the web pages before writing your summary; we
will be reading literature from these four authors in class.
10. Ralph Waldo Emerson :
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/ihas/poet/emerson.html
Ralph Waldo was a poet philosopher and writer who led the
transcendentalism era in the 19th century. Emerson is part of the American
Romanticism due to his writings and poems. Before passing away he released
a collection of writings he had made in the beginning of his career. Emerson
died in April 27, 1882.

11.Henry David Thoreau

12.Thoreau was a political and philosopher writer, he also played a big role in
American Romanticism. His writings defended the civil rights movements and
supported them. Thoreau published over 70 writings which all became well
known in his later life. Thoreau passed away in May 6 1862.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/ihas/poet/thoreau.html

Step 3: Transcendental Art

13.
Your mission is to find a piece of artwork
(painting/photography/etc) that represents Transcendentalism in some
way. Copy/paste the artwork into this document and explain in at least
2 sentences how this art represents Transcendentalism.