Transcendentalism

 

The following resources will provide you with background information on Transcendentalism.

 

 Print Resources 

 

    

  Encyclopedia of Transcendentalism (REF 810.9 WAY)Provides a comprehensive A-to-Z guide to the Transcendentalists, the legendary group of New England authors that included Ralph Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Transcendentalism promoted intuitive knowledge and the idea that the individual, rather than the Christian God, was the spiritual and moral center of the universe; it was often called the most influential American literary and intellectual movement of the 19th century. Entries cover writers, literary works, and more, ranging from the movement's origins in the first decades of the 19th century to the activities of a second generation of thinkers and activists after the Civil War.
 

Romanticism and Transcendentalism (1800-1860) (810.8 PHI)
Covers the following areas:

       The foundations of romantic though

       Transcendentalism and nature

       The literature of social reform movements

       The emergence of the American poetic voice

 


    Online Databases

 

  

 

Scriber's Writers Series
Scribner Writer's Series includes 15-20 page signed essays on more than 1,600 authors and literary genres drawn from the acclaimed Scribner print series.

Student Resource Center - Gold
This comprehensive resource covers a wide range of subject areas in a variety of formats: Reference, Journals, Creative Works, Primary Sources, News and more.

The Twayne Authors Series
Comprises 600 full-text titles from the Twayne Literary Masters series, 200 each from Twayne World, US, and English Authors.
 

 

 

 

  Internet Sites
 

Decades

19th Century America: http://www.teacheroz.com/19thcent.htm


19th Century American Literary Figures and Literature Texts Online: http://www.wsu.edu/~amerstu/19th/19th.html

 

Brief Timeline of American Literature and Events Pre 1620-1920: www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/timefram.html

 

Digital History - Day by Day: www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/daybyday/daybyday_menu.cfm

 

Kingswood College - 19th Century Cultural History: http://kclibrary.nhmccd.edu/19thcentury1800.htm

 

U.S. History Sites, Museums and Documents: http://fasttrackteaching.com/favoritelinks.html

 

The American Renaissance and Transcendentalism: www.pbs.org/wnet/ihas/icon/transcend.html

 

American Transcendentalism: www.vcu.edu/engweb/transcendentalism/

 

Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/emerson/

 

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862): www.pbs.org/wnet/ihas/poet/thoreau.html#1

 

Margaret Fuller (1810-1850): http://www.pbs.org/wnet/ihas/poet/fuller.html

 

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882): http://www.pbs.org/wnet/ihas/poet/fuller.html

 

Ralph Waldo Emerson Society: http://www.cas.sc.edu/engl/emerson/index.h tml

 

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - Ralph Waldo Emerson: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/emerson/

 

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - Henry David Thoreau: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/thoreau/

 

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy  - Transcendentalism: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/transcendentalism/

 

Transcendentalists: http://www.transcendentalists.com/index.htm

 

The Writings of Henry D. Thoreau: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/thoreau/

 

 

If you do not find what you're looking for in the above resources, try the search tips listed below.
 

 Internet Search Tips

 

  1. Type the URL (web site address) of a search directory/engine in the address box: ex: www.google.com or www.yahoo.com
     
  2. (Be sure to type the address exactly the way you see it, including any uppercase letters and punctuation).
     
  3. Type in keyword(s). (If your keyword has two parts such as: "American transcendentalism", be sure to put quotes around it so that the search engine only finds the Internet sites on American transcendentalism as opposed to all of the sites containing the word American plus all of the sites containing the word transcendentalism.
     

  4. If you would like to search for something specific about American transcendentalism, try a combined keyword search by adding a comma followed by a space and your other search term. For instance; if I wanted to find out about the origins of American transcendentalism, I would enter the following:

    "American transcendentalism", origin

    Hit Enter on your keyboard, or click on Search, then scan the description of the "hits" (entries) and click on the links that sound best.
     

  5. Be sure to evaluate each Internet site for the following:

     

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Remember:  YOU MUST CITE EVERY RESOURCE (text or graphics)  YOU USE to gather information on your 
Works Cited (Bibliography) page.  Use the Works Cited Guide to access MLA format.
 

 

Created by Liza Zandonella, Library Media Specialist.

 

 

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