This seminar is listed with a graduate as well as an undergraduate number. I've defined "their circle" in different ways over the years. This time, we study mentors and friends such as Sampson Reed, W.E. Channing, Margaret Fuller, and Bronson Alcott.
Thoreau, Emerson, and Their Circle
3300:456:001 and 3300:556:001
Spring 2006 • MWF 9:55 to 10:45 am • Kolbe 215
Dr. Miller, University of Akron
Jon Miller
(Ph.D., U. of Iowa, 2000)
Find me at 330-972-5717 (office and voice mail), mjon at uakron edu (email), or 363 Olin Hall (office). My office hours for Spring 2006 are Monday and Wednesday, 12:30 to 2:30pm.
Course Description
This is an in-depth study of major and minor works by writers of the antebellum Transcendental circle. The writing assignments are coordinated to culminate in the composition of a research paper or an edition.
Textbooks
I ordered these from the University bookstore.
1. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emerson's Prose and Poetry. Norton, 2001. ISBN 0393967921.
2. Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century. Norton, 1998. ISBN 0393971570.
3. Henry D. Thoreau, Letters to a Spiritual Seeker, ed. Bradley P. Dean. Norton, 2004. ISBN 0393059413.
4. Henry D. Thoreau, Walden and Resistance to Civil Government. 2nd ed. Norton, 1992. ISBN 0393959058.
Reading
See reading schedule, below. Please note: when class is cancelled (for any reason), so are the readings for that class. We stay on schedule.
Writing
Students will write – in this order – five one-page papers, three article or book reviews, one annotated bibliography, and a longer research paper (eight pages for undergraduates, twelve pages for graduate students). More specific due dates and instructions will be provided as the course unfolds. Note that each “page” should be formatted to hold about 250 words, but students may squeeze more words onto the page for the one-page papers (which must be only one side of one piece of paper). Also note that students will have the opportunity, instead of writing the final research paper, to prepare a critical edition of a short, appropriate, unknown work that I choose and provide.
Vocabulary
To read, comprehend, and write persuasively about this antebellum literature, you must have know the language as these authors use it. You also need to know and understand the meaning of key literary terms. I will provide a list of words and definitions that you will memorize. The list will start with a few words and grow.
Quizzes
We'll have a brief quiz for every class. Some will focus on obvious details of the reading. Some will focus on your mastery of the vocabulary. The lowest 20% of quiz scores will be dropped (i.e., if we have 40 quizzes, the best 32 will make your grade). You cannot make up quizzes that you miss because of absence or tardiness.
Attendance policy
(1) Missing 20% of class warrants failure. (2) All reasons to miss class – personal or academic – are equally good. There are no “excused” absences. (3) I do not require an explanation for an absence. If you miss class, I will assume that you missed class for a good reason. I respect your privacy and do not need to know why. On the other hand, I will be concerned. So if you care to tell me, I will listen. (4) Your attendance record cannot be improved by additional writing assignments or other kinds of “extra credit.” (5) Tardiness may be recorded as half an absence. (6) Habitual tardiness warrants a failing participation grade. (7) I will keep a careful record of the number of times you are absent or late, but I will not bring this to class. You are responsible for keeping your own accurate record of days late and days absent.
Attendance and participation
Your attendance grade is the percentage of classes that you attend. Your participation grade reflects your day-to-day contribution to the class. All students are expected to respect the worth and contribution of everyone in the classroom. Your attendance and participation grade is the product of your attendance grade and your participation grade.
Final Grade
The formula for the final grade is: edition or research paper 36%, quizzes 34%, one-page papers 15%, attendance and participation, 10%, article and book reviews, 3%, annotated bibliography, 2%. All assignments receive a numeric grade. Grades will be awarded as follows: 92.5, A; 90, A-; 87.5, B+; 82.5, B; 80, B-; 77.5, C+; 72.5, C; 70.0, C-; 67.5, D+; 62.5, D; 60, D-; below 60, F.
Thoreau, Emerson, and Their Circle
Spring 2006 Reading schedule
Dr. Miller, University of Akron
Key
Note the dates, below, generally refer to initial publication.
Em = Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emerson's Prose and Poetry. Norton, 2001. ISBN 0393967921.
Full = Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century. Norton, 1998. ISBN 0393971570.
Seeker = Henry D. Thoreau, Letters to a Spiritual Seeker, ed. Bradley P. Dean. Norton, 2004.
ISBN 0393059413.
Thor = Henry D. Thoreau, Walden and Resistance to Civil Government. 2nd ed. Norton, 1992.
ISBN 0393959058.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
(class no. 1)
Syllabus and introductory lecture
Friday, January 20, 2006
(class no. 2)
1814: Ralph Waldo Emerson, letter to William Emerson (Em, 531-533)
1814: Madame de Stael, from On Germany (Em, 573-575)
1814: William Wordsworth, Prospectus to the Recluse (Em, 575-577)
1821: Sampson Reed, "On Genius" (Em, 580-583)
1826: Emerson, "Pray without Ceasing" (Em, 3-9)
1826: Emerson, letter to Mary Moody Emerson (Em, 534-534)
1827: Emerson, letter to William Emerson (Em, 534-535)
Monday, January 23, 2006
(class no. 3)
one-page paper due
1830: Emerson, "Trust Yourself" (Em, 13-17)
1830: Emerson, "Thine Eyes Still Shined" (Em, 447-447)
1830: Channing, "Remarks on a National Literature" (handout)
1831: Emerson, early journal entries (Em, 484-490)
1832: Emerson, resignation letters (Em, 536-538)
1833: Frederic Henry Hedge, "Coleridge's Literary Character" (Em, 577-579)
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
(class no. 4)
1833: Emerson, "Water" (handout)
1834: Emerson, "The Rhodora" (Em, 439-440)
1834: Emerson, "The Snow-Storm" (Em, 442-442)
Friday, January 27, 2006
(class no. 5)
1835: Elizabeth Palmer Peabody and Amos Bronson Alcott, from Record of a School (handout)
Monday, January 30, 2006
(class no. 6)
one-page paper due
1836: Emerson, Nature (Em, 27-31)
Wednesday, February 1, 2006
(class no. 7)
1836: Emerson, Nature (Em, 31-39)
Friday, February 3, 2006
(class no. 8)
1836: Emerson, Nature (Em, 39-49)
Monday, February 6, 2006
(class no. 9)
one-page paper due
1836: Emerson, Nature (Em, 49-55)
1836: Christopher Pearse Cranch, Emerson caricatures (Em, 584-585)
1837: Emerson, "The American Scholar" (Em, 56-68)
Wednesday, February 8, 2006
(class no. 10)
1837: Emerson, Concord Hymn (Em, 462-462)
1838: Emerson, letter to Martin Van Buren (Em, 542-544)
1838: Emerson, letter for Henry David Thoreau (Em, 544-544)
1838: Emerson, letter to Amos Bronson Alcott (Em, 545-546)
1838: Peabody, "Nature: A Prose Poem" (Em, 590-597)
Friday, February 10, 2006
(class no. 11)
1838: W.E. Channing, "Self-Culture" (handout)
Monday, February 13, 2006
(class no. 12)
one-page paper due
1838: W.E. Channing, "Self-Culture" (handout)
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
(class no. 13)
1839: Jones Very, from Essays and Poems (handout)
Friday, February 17, 2006
(class no. 14)
1839: Margaret Fuller, from letter to Sophia Ripley (Full, 173-174)
1840: Fuller, from Boston Conversations: The 1839-1840 Series (Full, 174-180)
1840: Emerson, "The Editors to the Reader" and "Thoughts on Modern Literature" (Em, 331-347)
1840: Emerson, "The Sphinx" (Em, 429-432)
1840: Emerson, letters to Margaret Fuller (Em, 549-551)
1840: Alcott, Orphic Sayings (handout)
Monday, February 20, 2006
(class no. 15)
one-page paper due
1841: Emerson, "History" (Em, 105-119)
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
(class no. 16)
1841: Emerson, "Self-Reliance" (Em, 120-137)
Friday, February 24, 2006
(class no. 17)
1841: Emerson, "Spiritual Laws" (Em, 150-162)
Monday, February 27, 2006
(class no. 18)
book or article review due
1841: Fuller, "Leila" (Full, 168-172)
Wednesday, March 1, 2006
(class no. 19)
1841: Emerson, "Circles" (Em, 174-182)
Friday, March 3, 2006
(class no. 20)
1841: Emerson, "The Apology" (Em, 448-448)
1842: Fuller, journal entries (Full, 181-188)
1842: Fuller, letter to Ralph Waldo Emerson (Full, 189-189)
1842: Emerson, letter to Margaret Fuller (Em, 552-552)
1842: Walt Whitman, "Mr. Emerson's Lecture" (Em, 601-602)
1843: Emerson, Margaret (Full, 190-191)
1843: Emerson, letters to Margaret Fuller (Em, 554-555)
Monday, March 6, 2006
(class no. 21)
book or article review due
1844: Fuller, "Woman in the Nineteenth Century" (Full, 7-39)
Wednesday, March 8, 2006
(class no. 22)
1844: Fuller, "Woman in the Nineteenth Century" (Full, 40-72)
Friday, March 10, 2006
(class no. 23)
1844: Fuller, "Woman in the Nineteenth Century" (Full, 73-127)
Monday, March 13, 2006
(class no. 24)
book or article review due
1844: Fuller, autobiographical romance (Full, 143-161)
1844: Fuller, "Mariana" (Full, 161-167)
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
(class no. 25)
1844: Emerson, "The Poet" (Em, 183-197)
1844: Fuller, journal entries (Full, 192-203)
Friday, March 17, 2006
(class no. 26)
1844: Emerson, "Experience" (Em, 198-213)
1844: Fuller, prison writings (Full, 204-205)
Monday, March 20, 2006
(class no. 27)
1844: Emerson, "Politics" (Em, 213-221)
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
(class no. 28)
1844: Emerson, "Address on Emancipation" (Em, 348-359)
1845: Henry David Thoreau, "The Journal and Walden" and 1845 entries (Thor, 249-266)
Friday, March 24, 2006
(class no. 29)
1846: Thoreau, journal entries (Thor, 266-279)
1846: Emerson, "Bacchus" (Em, 452-453)
1846: Nathaniel Hawthorne, from The Old Manse (Em, 606-607)
1847: Emerson, letter to Henry David Thoreau (Em, 559-559)
1848: Harrison Blake, Letter 1 (Seeker, 33-34)
1848: Thoreau, Letter 2 (Seeker, 35-39)
1848: Thoreau, Letter 3 (Seeker, 40-44)
Monday, March 27, 2006
(Spring break)
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
(Spring break)
Friday, March 31, 2006
(Spring break)
Monday, April 3, 2006
(class no. 30)
1848: Thoreau, "Resistance to Civil Government" (Thor, 226-245)
1848: Thoreau, journal entries (Thor, 279-281)
1849: Thoreau, Letter 4 (Seeker, 45-45)
1849: Thoreau, Letter 5 (Seeker, 46-47)
1849: Thoreau, Letter 6 (Seeker, 48-51)
Wednesday, April 5, 2006
(class no. 31)
1849: Thoreau, journal entries (Thor, 281-282)
1849: Anonymous, "An Illustrated Criticism" (Em, 588-589)
1849: Thoreau, from A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers (Em, 609-610)
1850: Thoreau, Letter 7 (Seeker, 52-55)
1850: Thoreau, Letter 8 (Seeker, 56-58)
1850: Thoreau, Letter 9 (Seeker, 59-62)
1850: Thoreau, journal entries (Thor, 282-289)
1851: Thoreau, journal entries (Thor, 289-293)
Friday, April 7, 2006
(class no. 32)
1851: Emerson, "Address on the Fugitive Slave Law" (Em, 359-372)
1852: Thoreau, Letter 10 (Seeker, 63-66)
1852: Thoreau, Letter 11 (Seeker, 67-80)
Monday, April 10, 2006
(class no. 33)
1852: Thoreau, journal entries (Thor, 293-301)
1853: Thoreau, Letter 12 (Seeker, 81-88)
1853: Thoreau, Letter 13 (Seeker, 89-92)
1853: Thoreau, Letter 14 (Seeker, 93-98)
1853: Thoreau, journal entries (Thor, 301-301)
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
(class no. 34)
1854: Thoreau, Walden: "Economy" (Thor, 1-27)
Friday, April 14, 2006
(class no. 35)
1854: Thoreau, Walden: "Economy" (Thor, 27-54)
Monday, April 17, 2006
(class no. 36)
1854: Thoreau, Walden: "Where I Lived" through "Sounds" (Thor, 55-87)
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
(class no. 37)
1854: Thoreau, Walden: "Solitude" through "The Bean-Field" (Thor, 87-112)
Friday, April 21, 2006
(class no. 38)
1854: Thoreau, Walden: "The Village" through "Baker Farm" (Thor, 112-139)
Monday, April 24, 2006
(class no. 39)
1854: Thoreau, Walden: "Higher Laws" through "House-Warming" (Thor, 140-170)
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
(class no. 40)
1854: Thoreau, Walden: "Former Inhabitants" through "The Pond in Winter" (Thor, 170-199)
Friday, April 28, 2006
(class no. 41)
1854: Thoreau, Walden: "Spring" through "Conclusion" (Thor, 199-223)
1854: Thoreau, Letter 15 (Seeker, 99-102)
1854: Thoreau, Letter 16 (Seeker, 103-106)
Monday, May 1, 2006
(class no. 42)
1854: Thoreau, Letter 17 (Seeker, 107-108)
1854: Thoreau, Letter 18 (Seeker, 109-110)
1854: Thoreau, Letter 19 (Seeker, 111-111)
1854: Thoreau, Letter 20 (Seeker, 112-115)
1854: Thoreau, Letter 21 (Seeker, 116-117)
1854: Thoreau, journal entries (Thor, 301-307)
1855: Thoreau, Letter 22 (Seeker, 118-120)
1855: Thoreau, Letter 23 (Seeker, 121-122)
1855: Thoreau, Letter 24 (Seeker, 123-123)
1855: Thoreau, Letter 25 (Seeker, 124-126)
Wednesday, May 3, 2006
(class no. 43)
1855: Thoreau, Letter 26 (Seeker, 127-129)
1855: Emerson, letter to Walt Whitman (Em, 563-563)
1856: Thoreau, Letter 27 (Seeker, 130-133)
1856: Thoreau, Letter 28 (Seeker, 134-136)
1856: Thoreau, Letter 29 (Seeker, 137-139)
1856: Thoreau, Letter 30 (Seeker, 140-144)
1856: Thoreau, Letter 31 (Seeker, 145-146)
1857: Thoreau, Letter 32 (Seeker, 147-147)
1857: Thoreau, Letter 33 (Seeker, 148-149)
1857: Thoreau, Letter 34 (Seeker, 150-150)
1857: Thoreau, Letter 35 (Seeker, 151-151)
Friday, May 5, 2006
(class no. 44)
1857: Thoreau, Letter 36 (Seeker, 152-154)
1857: Thoreau, Letter 37 (Seeker, 155-160)
1858: Thoreau, Letter 38 (Seeker, 161-161)
1858: Thoreau, Letter 39 (Seeker, 162-162)
1858: Thoreau, Letter 40 (Seeker, 163-164)
1859: Thoreau, Letter 41 (Seeker, 165-170)
1859: Thoreau, Letter 42 (Seeker, 171-172)
1859: Thoreau, Letter 43 (Seeker, 173-173)
1859: Thoreau, Letter 44 (Seeker, 174-176)
1859: Thoreau, Letter 45 (Seeker, 177-179)
1860: Thoreau, Letter 46 (Seeker, 180-183)
1860: Thoreau, Letter 47 (Seeker, 184-185)
1860: Thoreau, Letter 48 (Seeker, 186-191)
1860: Thoreau, Letter 49 (Seeker, 192-192)
1861: Thoreau, Letter 50 (Seeker, 193-196)
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This document was originally posted to jonmiller.org. Copyright 2006 by Jon Miller. Some rights reserved. See jonmiller.org for more information.
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