Ralph Waldo Emerson

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/ralph-waldo-emerson

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. When was Ralph Waldo Emerson born?May 25, 1803
2. When did Ralph Waldo Emerson die?April 27, 1882 (age 78)
3. Where was Ralph Waldo Emerson born?Boston, Massachusetts, USA
4. What is the career?Unitarian minister, essayist, lecturer, poet, philosopher, abolitionist
5. Who was Ralph Waldo Emerson?Ralph Waldo Emerson was a writer, poet, and thinker from Boston who helped start the Transcendentalist movement.
6. What is Transcendentalism?Transcendentalism is a philosophy that says people can learn truth by looking inside themselves and nature.

Transcendentalism: A philosophical and literary movement emphasizing intuition, the individual, and the spiritual in nature, believing in inherent goodness and the divine immanence.
Individualism: A social theory advocating for the moral worth and independence of the individual, prioritizing personal freedom and self-reliance.
Self-Reliance: The principle of depending on one's own powers and judgment, a central theme in Emerson's philosophy advocating for inner conviction over external conformity.