“Nature cannot be surprised in undress. Beauty breaks in everywhere” (Emerson, “Nature”) At the beginning of this transcendentalism unit I did not appreciate transcendentalism in the least. In fact, I despised it. Thoroughly, deeply, and unwaveringly despised it. This explains why the first parts of my journal are in order by day. And why I only did a few so as not to make myself nauseous, angry, disgruntled, or otherwise general righteous indignation. To my dismay, however, upon reading Resistance to Civil Government I became a hypocrite. This, again, almost made me sick, because the one thing I loath more than Thoreau are hypocrites (this, of course, is one of the reasons I despise Thoreau as much as I do. He is a hypocrite and seems unwaveringly convinced that all men are deaf, dumb, and blind. Furthermore, the scant few escape this accusation are then labeled as hypocrites. This thoroughly angered me. But I digress…) It took me a moment to accept and become resigned to my new found enjoyment in a work by Thoreau (he annoys me more than Emerson – though do not be mistaken, they both aggravate me). At first, it made me feel slightly nauseous (as these things will) and then my other half took over (This being not so much a half, but a tiny infinitesimal speck that actually appreciates transcendentalism and the like). I took a sip of water (to chase away that nauseous feeling residing in my stomach), shrugged, and continued to read. So it goes.
As for the project itself, it will consist of proving the validity of the above quote. The project, in the form of several journal entries, can be found at my transcendentalism journal.
Transcendentalism Mini Project
“Nature cannot be surprised in undress. Beauty breaks in everywhere” (Emerson, “Nature”)At the beginning of this transcendentalism unit I did not appreciate transcendentalism in the least. In fact, I despised it. Thoroughly, deeply, and unwaveringly despised it. This explains why the first parts of my journal are in order by day. And why I only did a few so as not to make myself nauseous, angry, disgruntled, or otherwise general righteous indignation. To my dismay, however, upon reading Resistance to Civil Government I became a hypocrite. This, again, almost made me sick, because the one thing I loath more than Thoreau are hypocrites (this, of course, is one of the reasons I despise Thoreau as much as I do. He is a hypocrite and seems unwaveringly convinced that all men are deaf, dumb, and blind. Furthermore, the scant few escape this accusation are then labeled as hypocrites. This thoroughly angered me. But I digress…) It took me a moment to accept and become resigned to my new found enjoyment in a work by Thoreau (he annoys me more than Emerson – though do not be mistaken, they both aggravate me). At first, it made me feel slightly nauseous (as these things will) and then my other half took over (This being not so much a half, but a tiny infinitesimal speck that actually appreciates transcendentalism and the like). I took a sip of water (to chase away that nauseous feeling residing in my stomach), shrugged, and continued to read. So it goes.
As for the project itself, it will consist of proving the validity of the above quote. The project, in the form of several journal entries, can be found at my transcendentalism journal.