Learning Target:

I can make connections across texts.

• What overlap do you see between Thoreau and Emerson? What values do they hold in common?

Count off by 6: One and six will share two quotes each from their constitution or personal moral code and discuss how they reflect or don't reflect transcendental values as exhibited in Civil Disobedience or Self-Reliance; Two and Five will share their interpretive questions and lead discussions; Three and four will lead discussions on their evaluative questions.

..Emerson believed every human being has inborn knowledge that enables him to recognize and understand moral truth without benefit of knowledge obtained through the physical senses. Using this inborn knowledge, a gift of God, an individual can make a moral decision without relying on information gained through everyday living, education, and experimentation. One may liken this inborn knowledge to conscience or intuition.  
.......Emerson and others who believed that this inborn knowledge served as a moral guiding force were known as transcendentalists—that is, they believed that this inner knowledge was a higher, transcendent form of knowledge than that which came through the senses. Because Emerson and his fellow transcendentalists trusted their own inner light as a moral guiding force, they were possessed of a fierce spirit of self-reliance. They were individualists; they liked to make decisions for themselves. If the government adopted a policy or a law that offended their consciences, they generally reacted strongly.  
.......Transcendentalism, as Emerson’s moral philosophy was called, did not originate with him or his fellow transcendentalists in New England but with the German philosopher Emanuel Kant. He used the German word for transcendental to refer to intuitive or innate knowledge—knowledge that is a priori rather than a posteriori.

• Is there any part of your moral code or constitution which overlaps with the ideas of either man? If so, share a couple of your personal or political values which you see as being some way connected to, or an extension of, a particular thought or value held by Emerson or Thoreau.  Do this as a thought web, with lines from Civil Disobedience, Self- Reliance and your moral code or constitution in bubbles, and explanation of the connections along the lines.

• Bellringer: The idea that "[common men] cannot spare the protection of the existing government, and they dread the consequences of disobedience to it to their properties and families" illustrates Thoreau's digression that it can be difficult to "live honestly and at the same time comfortably in outward respects" (11). Is it more important to defend your principles or protect your physical well-being and the well-being of your dependents? When the two are in conflict, how might you determine which is the more virtuous route to pursue?

Homework: Read pages 29-38 in Emerson's Self-Reliance and post one inferential and one evaluative question in turnitin.com.