"Self-Reliance" by RW Emerson

(page numbers refer to he Heath Anthology, pp. 707-718)

1. What is Emerson's definition of "genius"? (p. 707)

Do you agree with it? Why?

What does Emerson say we should do with our own thoughts? (p. 707)

What will we be "forced" to if we don't do this in time?

2. Are we equally impressed by all people and ideas? Explain. (p. 708)

3. What should we do with the place that "divine providence has found for" us? (p. 708 2nd ¶)

What does Emerson say here about events and people?

4. What is the "virtue in most request"? (p. 709, 2nd ¶)

What does Emerson think of this?

Why?

Do you agree?

5. In order to be a man, one must be a _____________________. (p. 709)

6. According to Emerson, what determines right and wrong? (p. 709)

7. What does Emerson say on p. 710 ("There is a class of persons") about the way we choose those with whom we associate or whom we help out? What words does he use to describe our attachment to them?

8. What does Emerson say is all that concerns him? (p. 710 3rd ¶)

What does he say makes "the great man"?

9. What is Emerson's "objection to conforming to usages that have become dead to you," and how does he use a preacher as an example? (Bear in mind that people--like Emerson himself in his younger days-- often went into the ministry for very different reasons than they do so today!)

Can you think of any modern instances of this type of "thinking" (not necessarily connected to religion)?

10. How does the world reward non-conformity? (p. 711 2nd ¶)

Should this matter to us? Why?

11. What does Emerson think of deliberate consistency? (p. 711 3rd ¶ and p. 712)

How may it keep us from improving?

12. What does Emerson say about being "misunderstood"?

13. What does he suppose "no man can violate"? What does he mean by this, and by saying that our actions will always be "harmonious, however unlike they seem"? (p. 712, 2nd full ¶)

14. What does Emerson say we should "scorn"? (p. 712)

Is he right? Explain

15. Have we "in these days . . . heard the last of conformity and consistency? (I refer to our present, not Emerson's.) Explain.

16. What do you think Emerson means when he says, "An institution is the lengthened shadow of one man"?

What is Emerson saying we should all realize about OURSELVES?

17. What does Emerson say about "voluntary acts" versus "involuntary perceptions"? (bottom of p. 714, "Every man discriminates between voluntary acts…")

What does he say we may "err in"?

18. What does man dare not do?

On what do we set "so great a price"? Why?

19. When "good" is near us and we have life in ourselves, how will it seem to us? (p. 716, top)

Why?

20. Look at the ¶ beginning "If we cannot at once rise . . ." on p. 717. What does Emerson say here about our own convictions and the relationships we may have with others?

Do you agree with him?

21. Is Emerson advocating a complete lack of standards to which to hold ourselves? (pp. 717-718) Explain.

22. What does Emerson say about occupations? (p. 718 last ¶)

23. Judging by what you have read of Emerson, which of his ideas are still radical and/or non-conformist, even by modern American standards?

"The American Scholar" by RW Emerson

(Heath Anthology, pp. 694-706)

1. What does Emerson say the scholar is delegated as?

What is he in "the right state"?

What has the scholar tended to become?

2. What do we accomplish by studying nature?

3. What is the "next great influence" on the scholar?

4. What must "each age" do?

5. What, in your own words, is the "grave mischief" of which Emerson speaks?

6. What should books really be used for?

7. Read the passage beginning "It is remarkable . . . ." In your own words, what does Emerson say about "the best books"?

Which pieces of writing have you felt this way about in your life?

8. According to Emerson, what are the problems in the notion that the scholar must be a recluse?

9. Do you agree with Emerson that the scholar must not be a recluse? Explain why.

10. What does Emerson mean when he says that the scholar's duty is to be "free and brave"?

11. What does Emerson say fear springs from?

12. What comments does Emerson make about the things on which American scholars should concentrate?

What does he say about Europe?

"Friendship" by RW Emerson

Text: Dover Thrift Edition of Emerson's Essays, pp. 39-50.

Use the text of the essay to fill in each blank below correctly. The quotations are in order.

1. Let the soul be assured that somewhere in the universe it should _____________ _____ __________________________, and it would be content and cheerful alone for a thousand years.

2. My friends have come to me _______________. The great _________ gave them to me. … [T]he Deity in me and in them derides and cancels the thick walls of

_____________ _________________________, ___________________, ________, __________, __________________, at which he usually connives, and now makes many one.

3. A new ____________________ is to me a great event, and hinders me from ___________.

4. Thus every man passes his ______________ in the search after friendship, and if he should record his true sentiment, he might write a letter like this to each new

candidate for his ______________.

DEAR FRIEND: --

If I was _____________ of thee, sure of thy capacity, sure to match my mood with thine, I should never think again of trifles in relation to thy _______________

and _________________. … I not presume in thee a perfect ____________________ of me, and so thou art to me a _____________ ____________.

Thine ever, or never.

5. I do not wish to treat friendships ________________, but with roughest ___________________. When they are real, they are not glass threads or frostwork, but

the ___________________ thing we know.

6. There are two elements that go to the composition of friendship, each so sovereign that I can detect no superiority in either, no reason why either should be first

named. One is ________________. A friend is a person with whom I may be __________________ . … The other element of friendship is

____________________.

7. Two may talk and one may hear, but __________________ cannot take part in a conversation of the most _________________ and ___________________ sort.

In good company there is never such discourse between two, across the table, as takes place when you _______________ ______________ ______________.

8. Friendship requires that rare mean betwixt ___________________ and ______________________ , that piques each with the presence of power and of consent in the other party.

9. Better be a ______________ in the _________________ of your friend than his ___________________.

10. Friendship demands a __________________ treatment. We talk of ___________________ our friends, but friends are self-elected. ___________________ is a great part of it

11. Let him be to thee for ever a sort of beautiful _____________, untamable, devoutly revered, and not a

trivial conveniency to be soon ______________ and _______________ ______________.

12. Respect so far the ___________________ laws of this fellowship as not to prejudice its perfect flower by your ________________ for its

____________________. We must be ________________ ______________ before we can be _______________'s.

13. The only reward of virtue is virtue; the only way to __________ ___ ____________ is to ____________ ___________.

14. I do then with my friends as I do with my _________________. I would have them where I can find

them, but I seldom ____________ them. … Then, though I ________________ my ________________, I cannot afford to talk with them and

study their visions, lest I ____________ my ___________________.

15. It has seemed to me lately more possible than I knew, to ____________ ___ ____________ ____________, on ___________ side,

without due _______________________ on the other. Why should I cumber myself with _______________ that the receiver is not capacious?

16. Respond to the following: Why may a new friendship be described as "a delicious torment"? Use some examples from your own experience!

Page numbers refer to the Bantam Edition of Walden and Other Writings by Henry David Thoreau

Assignment 1 Walden: "Economy" pp. 107-135

1. According to Thoreau, what does he wish to write about in this book, and what does he not wish to write about? (2nd ¶)

Should a reader apply all of Walden to himself or herself?

Why or why not?

2. What does Thoreau mean in saying that "No way of thinking or doing, however ancient, can be trusted without proof" ?

What was Thoreau's opinion on advice given by old people? (¶ beginning "When we consider what, to use the words of the catechism")

Explain whether or not you agree with him on these two points.

3. Thoreau told a story about vegetarianism and a farmer he knew in the ¶ beginning "One farmer says to me." What was the story?

Look at what Thoreau says at the end of the next ¶). Thoreau used the story to illustrate the point that we hardly ever know what we ____________________ because we ____________________________________________ .

4. According to Thoreau, what would be the "greatest miracle" for us to be able to do for an instant?

5. What most other people believed to be good, Thoreau believed in his soul to be ____________ .

6. According to Thoreau, humans had only three basic needs; these were:

7. What does Thoreau say about "luxuries"?

8. Describe some of the jobs or occupations Thoreau tells us he has had in his life.

9. Describe what Thoreau says was "My purpose in going to Walden." ( ¶ beginning, "Finding that my fellow-citizens were not likely")

10. Thoreau advises us to "beware of all enterprises that require new clothes." Why might this be good advice?

11. Look at the ¶ beginning "And when the farmer has got his house, he may not be the richer but the poorer for it, and it be the house that has got him." What does Thoreau say here regarding property ownership? According to Thoreau, why is having many possessions a disadvantage?

12. When one sector of society gets wealthier, what disadvantage is there? (¶ beginning "But how do the poor minority fare?")

13. Why did Thoreau not advocate a return to primitive living conditions, such as living in caves and wigwams and wearing animal skins? (see ¶ beginning "Though we are not so degenerate")

Assignment 2 Walden: "Economy" pp. 135-155

Put the letter of the BEST answer in the blank to the left.

____1. In March of 1845, Thoreau

a. borrowed an axe b. went down to the woods by Walden Pond

c. began living in his cabin at Walden Pond d. both a and b

____2. On the 4th of July, Thoreau

a. began living in his cabin at Walden Pond b. left Walden Pond to live at Concord Hall

c. met Emerson d. both b and c

____3. By building one's own home and providing for oneself and one's own family "simply and honestly enough," Thoreau believed that ______ would be "universally developed."

a. "the wild and forbidding countryside" b. "the poetic faculty"

c. " my sense of self-worth" d. "the delicate voice of God"

____4. Thoreau compared us all to cowbirds and cuckoos because we

a. universally sing while engaged in building b. steal birds' eggs for our own food

c. often live in buildings built by others d. have dwellings that are much too small

____5. Architecture in America, according to Thoreau , is too concerned with

a. function, not form b. ornamentation c. copying past styles d. both a and c

____6. Thoreau gives a thorough account of how much ______.

a. money he spent on his own cabin b. sun he can tolerate c. he paid for his food supplies d. both a and c

____7. Thoreau objected to railroads and trains because

a. engineers were careless, so people often got run over by trains

b. people worked at useless jobs to earn money to ride trains

c. many railroad tracks had been built over tracts of land belonging to elderly residents of Concord

d. the pollution caused by them made the rain so acidic that it harmed birds' eggshells

____8. "I was more independent than any farmer in Concord for I was_______," claimed Thoreau .

a. at ease with mankind and beasts alike b. free to study the stars at night

c. not anchored to a house or a farm d. wealthier by far for having only my pet cat, Sam

____9. Thoreau was against the use of animal labor because

a. "herds are the keepers of men" b. owning animals ties people down

c. he feared becoming a "horseman or a herdsman merely" d. a, b, and c are ALL correct

____10. The more property a person owns, according to Thoreau , the ______.

a. richer he is, in terms of education b. more like a pack-rat he becomes

c. poorer he is, in terms of freedom and potential d. more free he is

Assignment 3 Walden pp. 155-178

Last part of "Economy" / "Where I Lived and What I Lived For" / "Solitude" & "Visitors"

Put the letter of the BEST answer in the blank.

____1. Thoreau believed that the occupation of a ___ was more ____ than any since it

required ____.

a. railroad engineer…murderous…a steam engine as an instrument of torture and destruction

b. day laborer…independent…only thirty to forty days a year to support oneself

c. lawyer…dishonest…a man to defend someone whom he knew was guilty

d. architect…noble…a man to build into homes passages in which to hide fugitive slaves

____2. Thoreau stated outright that he would not have anyone adopt ______ on his account.

a. a runaway slave b. a free-range cat c. his mode of living d. stargazing

____3. He desired that there be as many ____ in the world as possible, and that each ___ .

a. different persons…be very careful to find out and pursue his own way.

b. abolitionists…help as many fugitive slaves to escape to Canada as possible.

c. capitalist ventures…aid in the development of a healthy economy through competition

d. both a and c are correct

____4. Thoreau preferred to travel alone because traveling with someone else___________.

a. meant waiting until that person was ready b. led to lengthy, time-wasting conversations

c. inevitably led to marriage to that other person d. usually precipitated religious arguments

____5. If you give money to the poor," ____ with it, and do not merely abandon it to them."

a. give a lecture b. do not part willingly c. spend yourself d. teach them to invest wisely

____6. Thoreau wrote (in part) to give credit to those whose charity or philanthropy was ___.

a. accomplished through inheritances b. accomplished through their lives and works

c. never recognized because it was given to slaves d. secular as well as religious

____7. Thoreau almost bought a ___ once but then ____ .

a. horse … the veterinarian warned him of its unsound condition b. wife… she turned out to have a "loathsome disease"

c. handkerchief…said to himself, "Hey, what's a sleeve for ?" d. farm…the farmer's wife decided she wanted to keep it

____8. "As long as possible, live ____."

a. with a beautiful Greek by your side b. incognito and incommunicado

c. free and uncommitted d. both a and c

____9. Thoreau believed that we should be awakened each day by ___________.

a." our Genius" b. "an infinite expectation of the dawn"

c. "our newly-acquired force and aspirations from within" d. a, b and c are ALL correct

____10. "I went to the woods because I wished to live ____ , to front only the _____, and see if I could not ___, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not _____."

a. alone…solitary things in life…cease to communicate entirely with others…been totally independent

b. deliberately…essential facts of life…learn what it had to teach…lived

c. for love…comfort of a human soul…be a more compassionate man…been charitable

d. for the Abolitionist movement…Free Soil Party…change the country…tried to do Good

Circle True or False for each statement below.

1. True / False Thoreau was generally more positive and optimistic than Emerson.

2. True / False Thoreau believed that simplicity was the key to living a fruitful life.

3. True / False Thoreau believed that our lives were frittered away by paying too much attention to unimportant details and social conventions.

4. True / False By comparing railroad ties to the Irishmen or Yankees who built them, Thoreau was saying that the ties were strong and dependable but certainly not immortal (they wouldn't last forever and would have to be replaced every so often).

5. True / False Thoreau said that newspapers were the one part of modern life that he could enjoy because it was important for a person to know what was going on in the world, after all, and reading a newspaper was better than having to talk to another person, since the point of the whole Walden experiment was for him to speak to no one for five years.

6. True / False Thoreau believed that we should NOT "knock under and go with the stream."

7. Thoreau believed that if you gave charity in the form of money to a poor man, he was likely to (fill in the blank)

____________________________________________________________________________ .

Put the letter of the BEST answer in the blank to the left as you read pp. 200-219.

"Solitude"

____1. "No exertion of the legs can bring ______."

a. two men closer together than God intended

b. two minds much nearer to one another

c. me nearer to understanding Poe's works

d. society the prosperity that can be gained by simple labor

____2. Thoreau believed that in ______ we carried on a ______ .

a. divorce … social farce and sin against nature

b. thinking … dialogue with ourselves

c. solitude … longstanding American tradition

d. our inevitable loneliness … frequent, unavoidable, and necessary self-denial

____3. "To be in _____ , even at its best, is soon ________ ."

a. a mansion … a thing to warp one's values b. solitude … socially disabling

c. company … wearisome and dissipating d. Concord … a huge political mistake

____4. Thoreau believes that we see each other ___, and that therefore ___ .

a. too narrowly… we really know no one as we think we do b. too often… company is cheapened

c. too negatively… our minds are narrowed d. through each other's eyes… we have the greatest gift

____5. "The value of a man is not in his _____, that we should ___ him."

a. mind… decipher him b. money … invest in him c. ancestry … revere d. skin … touch

"Visitors"

____6. Thoreau believed that people should not get _____ while conversing .

a. too far away intellectually b. to close physically c. up for a cup of coffee d. excited

____7. Thoreau's "withdrawing room" where he spent time with occasional visitors was

actually ___ .

a. a raft in the middle of Walden Pond b. the pine woods behind his cabin

c. the outhouse behind his cabin d. the large common room in his cabin

____8. Thoreau had more ____ at Walden Pond than while living elsewhere, but fewer ___.

a. roaches … rats b. visitors … came on trivial business

c. psychic experiences…psychotic ones d. visitors … actually spoke to him

____9. Thoreau liked the Canadian wood chopper because he was___ .

a. physically repulsive … not a threat to Thoreau's masculinity b. genuine and unsophisticated

c. really a Harvard graduate leading a nonconformist lifestyle d. both a and c are correct

____10. Another favorite or memorable visitor to Walden was___ .

a. a runaway slave b. the county nurse

c. the governor of Massachusetts d. the owner of a poorhouse

11. The worst visitors &endash;and greatest bores&endash; were the (fill in the blank) "self-styled ____________________ ."

Assignment 4 "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience," pp. 85-106

Also found in the Heath Anthology as "Resistance to Civil Government," pp. 751-765

1. What kind of government does Thoreau favor? Why? (p. 85, 1st ¶)

2. What does Thoreau think of "majority rule"? Is he right? (p. 86, "After all…")

3. What does Thoreau say should be used to decide right and wrong?

4. What does Thoreau say is his only obligation?

5. What happens when people have an "undue respect for the law"? (p. 86, bottom)

6. What two reasons does Thoreau give for justifying revolt against the current government? (pp. 87-89)

7. According to Thoreau, why won't most people revolt against the government? (p. 89, "Practically speaking…")

8. What are some of the problems Thoreau sees with voting as a form of actually doing something to right a wrong? (pp. 89-90 and p. 92, bottom)

9. What should determine our actions? (p. 91, bottom)

10. If the law "requires you to be the agent of __________________________________________ to another, then, I say ______________________the

_____________________ … What I have to do is to see, at any rate, that I do not ___________________________

________________________________________________________ ." (p. 92, "Unjust laws exist…" and "If the injustice…")

11. What part of society should the government listen to? What people does Thoreau use as examples to support this? (p. 92, 1st full ¶)

12. On p. 94, Thoreau describes how a minority may, through civil disobedience, influence the government. Explain how the minority can do this.

13. Why is Thoreau freer to commit civil disobedience than most of the people he knows? ("When I converse…" pp. 95-96)

14. What two taxes does Thoreau say he has refused to pay? Why? What happened as a result? (pp. 96-98)

15.What does Thoreau mean by the statement: "If a plant cannot live according to nature, it dies; and so a man"? (p. 97)

16. During his night in jail, how did Thoreau spend his time? (pp. 98-99)

17. Thoreau quotes the argument Daniel Webster, a lawmaker who says that slavery should remain legal since it was legal when the Constitution was first written. (pp. 102-103)

Why is this not necessarily a valid argument?

What other things were once considered "constitutional" that are now not considered so?

How were changes in these laws effected? (There are two different ways in which things once okay under the Constitution can be made or deemed not so, or vice-versa.)

Examine and summarize instances when Americans from 1850 &endash; present have used methods of civil disobedience in order to create change and end injustice.