Contributor: Melissa Kowalski. Lesson ID: 11517
For some, life is a cosmic "Where's Waldo?" game, looking for God. Emerson believed God was everywhere, equally in worms, trees, and geniuses. Study his life and poems and create a word search puzzle!
Image from Christies, via Wikimedia Commons, is in the public domain.
It might seem unusual to start a lesson on poetry with a question about God, but this question was highly important to Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Emerson, a nineteenth-century poet, essayist, and philosopher, was also a pastor. Although he preached about a Christian view of religion and God, he also believed in a spiritual essence of God that was located inside everyone and everything.
Emerson believed these inner spirits were all interconnected, and that formed the basis of his philosophy of Transcendentalism, which you will learn more about later in this lesson.
To learn more about Emerson's life, read Ralph Waldo Emerson from poets.org and watch the video below.
As you read the article and watch the video, answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper:
Ralph Waldo Emerson's life from bekahhbabee:
If you said "Transcendentalism," then you're correct!
The Transcendental movement started in the 1830s in New England as a reaction against the rigid Christian teachings of the Unitarian Church. Instead of believing that God could only be found in the institution of the church and in the Bible, Transcendentalists believed that God could be found anywhere, but especially in nature and inside each person's mind.
This belief was controversial for some conservative religious practitioners, but other people championed Transcendental beliefs, and the members of the movement became famous during their lifetimes.
To learn more about the Transcendental movement and its characteristics, watch the video below and write down the rules of Transcendentalism and the characteristics of Emerson's literary style.
American Literature Periods - Transcendentalism by MusicalBacon:
When you have finished taking notes, keep them handy and move on to the Got It? section, where you will use the notes to help you analyze several of Emerson's poems!