ELA Lesson 3 in the “Save the Trees?” Project
Student Name: KEY
“The Literature of Civil Disobedience” Response Sheet Section 1 Emerson Introduction: Ralph Waldo Emerson is a significant American essayist, poet, and philosopher. He lived from 1803 to 1882 . Emerson was also an ordained minister (1826), but the death of his first wife contributed to his own philosophical crisis and he resigned from the clergy. Emerson began writing and lecturing on the “ spiritual nature and importance of an individual.” He became friends with other writers of the time period such as Samuel Coleridge, William Wordsworth and of course
Henry David Thoreau. This group became known as the American Transcendentalists, writers and philosophers that believe that the individual could discover truth about spirituality and nature through one’s own intuition rather than through a structured religion. Emerson is best known for his essays: “Friendship”, and “Self-Reliance”. His writings are considered an important contribution to American literature and philosophy.
Vocabulary: define each term and include the part of speech. suffrage- the right to vote Note: Emerson seems to be using the archaic definition: a vote given in assent to a proposal or in favor of the election of a particular person. capitulate- cease to resist an opponent or an unwelcome demand; surrender. importune- ask (someone) pressingly and persistently for or to do something, to lobby titular- holding or constituting a purely formal position or title without any real authority. ephemeral- lasting for a very short time. arduous- involving or requiring strenuous effort; difficult and tiring.
Section 2: “Self-Reliance” ELA Lesson 3 in the “Save the Trees?” Project (pg. 2) 1. In paragraph 1 Emerson writes, “ If I am the Devils child, I will live then from the Devil.” Explain this quote: is Emerson saying he will be evil or Devilish in some way?
Emerson’s point is that he trusts his own intuition to be right or true; he knows it will not be evil even if his belief is outside of the accepted religion or doctrine of the time.
2. In paragraph 2 Emerson writes, “no law can be sacred to me but that of my nature. Good and bad are but names very readily transferable…. I am ashamed to think how easily we capitulate to badges and names, to large societies and dead institutions.” Explain the main point of paragraph 2 and add whether you agree with Emerson.
This quote represents Emerson’s transcendentalist’s philosophy that an individual can discover truth; Emerson suggests that people give in to authority and common beliefs too easily. Students should add their opinion as well.
3. In paragraph 3 Emerson starts with “What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think.” What is his main point in paragraph 3?
It is hard to be independent in thought or action when others criticize one’s beliefs or actions, but this is what one must do.
4. Paragraph 4 starts with “ a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds….” And ends with “to be great is to be misunderstood.” What does Emerson mean by these two phrases? Explain them and the main point of the paragraph.
Emerson criticizes one who is consistent in thought and action due to conformity. He makes a point that all great revolutionary people are “misunderstood” because they are controversial at first. Emerson uses this paragraph to encourage people to stand up for beliefs.
5. In paragraph 5 (the conclusion) Emerson writes “Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.” What does this statement mean in context with the rest of the essay?
Emerson stresses the importance of philosophical integrity. Life’s pleasures will not “bring peace” to one who compromises principles of morality. This adds to his arguments against conformity.
6. Is Emerson using logic (logos), emotion (pathos), or morality (ethos) in this essay? Explain your answer and use a quote to show it’s correct.
Emerson uses mainly logos as in “…you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it.” But there is a combination of rhetoric present; ethos and pathos are present in statements such as “Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.”
7. In addition to the rhetorical strategy describe Emerson’s style of writing?
Emerson has a formal style with a sophisticated vocabulary (diction). His sentence construction (syntax) is sometimes complex. The point of view is mainly first person with some use of second person to match the imperative tone. (ELA L3 pg. 3) Section 3. Henry David Thoreau intro…. Complete the missing information as it is presented. Henry David Thoreau was born on July 12, 1817, in Concord, Massachusetts. He began writing nature poetry in the 1840s, with poet Ralph Waldo Emerson as a mentor and friend. In 1845 he began his famous two-year stay on Walden Pond, which he wrote about in his master work, Walden. He also became known for his beliefs in Transcendentalism and civil liberties and was a dedicated abolitionist. While living at Walden Pond, Thoreau also had an encounter with the law. He spent a night in jail after refusing to pay a poll tax. This experience led him to write one of his best-known and most influential essays, "Civil Disobedience."
Like Emerson, Thoreau became an important figure in American literature and philosophy. He died in 1862.
Section 4: “Civil Disobedience” - As you read each paragraph, summarize Thoreau’s main idea ( MI -paraphrase) and then add a memorable quote (Q) for each one (Quotes will vary).
1.MI: Thoreau is clearly critical of governments; he implies they are inefficient and sometimes controlled by few people.
(Q) …”most governments are usually and all governments are sometimes inexpedient.”
2.MI: Thoreau expands on the inefficiency of government and credits the American people, not the government with important accomplishments.
(Q) “The character inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished; and it would have done somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in its way.”
3.MI: In this paragraph he is questioning the wisdom of majority rule; Thoreau supports decisions or leadership by conscience rather than majority.
(Q) “Can there not be a government in which majorities do not virtually decide right and wrong, but conscience?”
4.MI: “Thoreau begins paragraph 4 questioning the conscience of a corporation but his main point is that strict allegiance to law can actually be morally harmful as in a soldier fighting an unjust war.”
(Q): “Law never made men a whit more just; and, by means of their respect for it, even the well- disposed are daily made the agents of injustice.”
5.MI: Thoreau again criticizes government asserting that most officials assist or allow the government to take immoral action; those who oppose the immorality are seen as enemies, but Thoreau sees them as “heroes.”
(Q) A very few- as heroes, patriots, martyrs, reformers in the great sense, and men- serve the state with their consciences also, and so necessarily resist it for the most part; and they are commonly treated as enemies by it.
ELA Lesson 3 in the “Save the Trees?” Project (pg4)
6.MI: In this paragraph Thoreau calls out those who oppose immorality by a government but who do nothing to oppose it; a vote he says is not enough to change the action.
(Q) There are thousands who are in opinion opposed to slavery and to the war, who yet in effect do nothing to put an end to them.
7.MI: Thoreau wonders why people delay in protesting against an unjust law; he also questions why the government is always so defensive- why not welcome the criticism as a way to possibly improve? (Q) “Why does it always crucify Christ, and excommunicate Copernicus and Luther, and pronounce Washington and Franklin rebels?..”
8.MI: Thoreau uses a metaphor to describe a government as a machine, and he suggests that one who believes the government is immoral should aspire to break the machine. (Q) “… if it is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law. Let your life be a counter-friction to stop the machine.”
9.MI: Thoreau discusses the relationship between the official of the government and the citizen who opposes the law or policy (the protestor); does the official fail to remember that the protestor is a member of the community? (Q) How shall he ever know well what he is and does as an officer of the government, or as a man, until he is obliged to consider whether he shall treat me, his neighbor, for whom he has respect, as a neighbor and well-disposed man, or as a maniac and disturber of the peace(?)
10.MI: Thoreau calls for action in the cause of justice; an honest moral person would go to prison in the cause of justice. Voting he insists is not enough to effect change. (Q) “Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.” “Cast your whole vote, not a strip of paper merely, but your whole influence.”
11.MI: Thoreau questions the use of force by governments, and uses a metaphor to assert that one must live after his own nature.
(Q) “It is not armed with superior wit or honesty, but with superior physical strength. I was not born to be forced.”
12.MI: Thoreau asks whether democracy is just a step towards an even better government based on the supreme right of the individual to be free. He visualizes such a more evolved government.
(Q) “The progress from an absolute to a limited monarchy, from a limited monarchy to a democracy, is a progress toward a true respect for the individual.”
Section 5- Martin Luther King video…. Watch and listen and respond to the following: 1.What is the essential point that MLK has in agreement with Thoreau? MLK agrees with Thoreau concerning an individual's conscience, and how that individual should resist laws that are unjust. Additionally Civil Disobedience, like the Great Tea Party is traditional respected form of civic behavior. 2. According to MLK, what is the key quality to Civil Disobedience that justifies it and sets it apart from criminality?
MLK explains that the key act in justifying one's Civil Disobedience is the willingness to accept the penalty; that is in most cases to go to jail in the pursuit of justice.