Annie dillard seeing essay summary

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Table of Contents -- Course Reader -- English 1A – Fall 2019 Course Syllabus 2 Revision Process 6 Sample Formatting Page 7 Sample Process Letter 8

1. Inductive Analysis Essay (4-5 pgs.) 50 points Page Essay Prompt 9 Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson 10 “The Transparent I” by William Fitzgerald (Sample Essay) 11 2. Deductive Analysis Essay (6-7 pgs.) 100 points Page Essay Prompt 14 “Seeing” by Annie Dillard 15 An Outline of the Essential Key Points of Dillard’s Essay 22 Sample Paragraphs for writing about “Seeing” 24 3. Personal Essay (4-6 pages) 25 points Page Essay Prompt 25 “Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address” 27 The Pledge of Allegiance 30 “Allegiance to Gratitude” by Robin Wall Kimmerer 31 “Learning the Grammar of Animacy” by Robin Wall Kimmerer 36 4. Research Essay (8-10 pgs.) 200 points Page Essay Prompt 41 Sample Prospectus 44 Sample Annotated Bibliography 45 Sample Outline for a Possible Approach to Writing the Research Essay 46 “The Impermanence of Order: The True Nature of Gardens” by William Fitzgerald 47 Basic Outline for “The Impermanence of Order” by William Fitzgerald 51 “Gardening Means War” by Michael Pollan 53 “The How-To Garden” by Jim Nollman 57 5. Group Presentation Page Group Presentation Prompt 67

Sentence Combining Page Sentence Patterns 68 Clause/Phrase Review 69 Sentence Focus 71 Coordination 77 Conjunctive Adverbs and Transitional Phrases 78 Subordination 80 Run Together Sentences (RTS) 83 Free Modifiers: Adjective Clauses 85 Free Modifiers: Noun Phrase Appositives (NPA) 91 Free Modifiers: Clause Modifying Verbal Phrases (CMVP) 94 Free Modifiers: Absolute Phrases 97 Correlative Conjunctions 100 Fragments 101 Faulty Parallel Structure 103 Punctuation 104 PIE Paragraph Structure 109 Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing vs. Plagiarism 110

MLA - Format for Bibliographical Sources Page Citing Sources In-Text: Contextualizing Sources 112 The Mechanics of In-Text Citations 116 Citing Sources in Your Essay as You Move Between Different Sources 119 Punctuating when Using Quotation Marks 119 Italicizing Titles vs. Using Quotation Marks 119 Formatting the Works Cited Page 121 Works Cited: Printed Sources 122 Works Cited: Sources from the Web 128 Works Cited: Other Common Sources 131

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English 1A (CRN 71261-502) — Fall 2019 Tuesday Evenings 6:10 pm – 10 pm (Art 311)

Instructor: Nathan Wirth | Phone: 415.239.3199 (best to use email) | Email: nwirth@ccsf.edu | Office: Art 213

Office Hours: Mondays and Tuesdays 5 pm to 6 pm and By Appointment Prerequisite for the course: Completion of English 96, 88, or 88b with a C or better or placement in English 1A

Course Website on Canvas: https://ccsf.instructure.com

Important Dates Last Day to Drop Without a "W": Sep. 6 | Last Day to Withdraw: Nov. 7 | Final Exam Date: Dec 17

Holidays: Jan 21, Feb 18, March 25

Required Texts & Materials A Reliable Internet connection for Canvas Course Reader (Download from Canvas)

The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan (NOT available in Bookstore) Major Learning Outcomes Outcome 1: Analyze university-level texts. Outcome 2: Compose research-based, organized essays that are driven by an arguable thesis and employ critical thinking. Outcome 3: Apply the major conventions of standard written English. Outcome 4: Choose and integrate credible sources for support, using appropriate citation format. Course Description This course is, first and foremost, a class about writing. We will consider a variety of strategies for combining clauses and phrases (adjective clauses, noun phrase appositives, verbal phrases, absolute phrases), practice ways to focus sentences more clearly, discuss how to develop and cultivate a thesis, and go over the basic elements and strategies for writing a research paper (citing sources, integrating quotations, doing research, etc.). We will also, as a class and in groups, be discussing the various texts and articles that you will be reading during the semester. Naturally, any class that focuses on writing and reading also inevitably leads to thinking. This course is designed to take you through a variety of experiences, perspectives and written assignments that will help you to build a well-rounded understanding of the various questions that will be posed during this course and then to write about them. Logging into Canvas • Log into Canvas from MyCCSF: https://www.ccsf.edu/en/myccsf.html • Username: Your CCSF ID (example W12345678, @12345678, or D12345678) • Password: Your RAMID password In order to take this class, you must have reliable access to the Internet. All homework-related assignments

and essays must be uploaded to Canvas, so if you do not have access to the site, you will not be able to submit your work. You must download and print the course reader, which contains all of the assignments and handouts for the

semester. You are required to bring the course reader to every class. It can be found on Canvas. Lab Hours Requirement • The English Department require all 1A students to complete the online library research tutorials. • Failure to complete ALL the tutorials and/or turn in the badges to prove you have completed them will result in

no participation points (a loss of 25 points). Essays/Written Work/Assignments/ Formatting: All written work (except for rough drafts and notes) must be typed and double spaced. If you don't follow the proper formatting, I will return the paper to you. It is essential that you meet the minimum required page limit. If you do not, then points will be deducted from your essay. You are always welcome to write more than the minimum. Here are my basic, standard formatting guidelines. • Set the margins of your document to 1 inch on all sides. • Use Times New Roman 12 pt. • Pages must be numbered. Place the number in the top right corner. Omit the number on the first page.

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• Indent the first line of paragraphs five spaces from the left margin. • Include a title • Staple the pages. • Underline your thesis statement. • No large gaps between paragraphs.

Quizzes: There will be four reading quizzes for The Botany of Desire. Check Canvas for dates and other details. Assignments: You will be given several essential assignments for your research paper (including, for example, a prospectus and an annotated bibliography). Details are available on Canvas and in the course reader. Process Letters: For each formal essay, you are required to include a brief letter that outlines the difficulties and successes you experienced while working on your essay. Your letter should be a short reflection (a) about your experience writing your essay. What did you struggle with? What problems did you encounter? How did you overcome them? What do you feel satisfied about? Any concerns that you want me to address when I read your essay? The pedagogy behind this is to allow each student the opportunity to actually think about his / her writing process and to reflect on what each student does or does not do when writing. You can find a sample in the course reader. Group Presentations: Instead of a final exam, you will be participating in a group project that will be presented either on December 10th or December 17th. All students must attend both class meetings. Revisions: You have the option to rewrite the first two essays (unless you receive an A). For your rewrite, you must include a detailed analysis of the changes that you made (e.g. what was the mistake? what did you do to change it?). Each rewrite, if done well, can earn up to a full grade; however, in order to earn that many points, your rewrite must be significantly improved and include detailed notes about the changes you made. Specific details are available in the course reader and will be discussed in class. • If your first two essays do not meet the standards and requirements for a passing essay, you will have to meet

me during an office hour to discuss strategies for fixing those issues. Failure to rewrite the essay within three weeks after I return the essay will result in a failing grade for that essay (which means that you will not be able to pass the course).

Plagiarism: Here is the official CCSF policy on plagiarism: "Plagiarism is defined as the unauthorized use of the language and thought of another author and representing them as your own." Plagiarism is a violation of the rules of student conduct, and discipline may include, but is not limited to," a failing grade in an assignment, test, or class in proven cases of cheating or plagiarism or other academic dishonesty.” • My official policy is that you will receive a failing grade for the assignment (0 points for the assignment). At

my discretion, I sometimes offer a plagiarizer the opportunity to rewrite the essay for an F with points (e.g. 55/100). If you should plagiarize a second time, then you will receive a failing grade for the essay and, as a result, for the class.

• My official thoughts about Plagiarism: I feel that plagiarizing is exceptionally lame. Why bother going to school if you have no intention of doing your own work? If you are stressed out about your writing, just come talk to me and we can discuss your situation.

Staying on Task: It is essential that you read the essay and assignment prompts carefully. Any essays that do not follow what the prompt specifically asks for will be returned ungraded. I will read them after you revise them, but they will be considered late. That said— the essays are designed to allow you the opportunity to develop exactly how you wish to address the questions posed, so you can still express your individuality. Late Essays: I will accept late essays, but if your essay is late, I will provide no comments and return it at my convenience (which might take a while). You are NOT allowed to rewrite late essays. All late essays must be turned in no later than two weeks after the due date. Requirements for Passing the Class: All the essays must be completed with a passing grade or you cannot pass the course. No exceptions. Help: I will gladly comment on thesis statements, outlines, or a paragraph or two from your essays via email or during office appointments-- but not on entire essays. Make sure that you have specific questions about specific

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things before you email me or come to an office appointment. You can also get lots of quality help in the English Lab (Rosenberg Library R205) — and your visits to the lab count towards your lab-hours requirement. Bring the course workbook to each and every class. Check the course schedule on Canvas before each class to see

what we will be covering and make sure that you bring the necessary materials to class.

Attendance/Participation/Class Discussion/Teacher-Student Conference Attendance: Let me make this as obvious as possible. Your presence is important both to me and for your success in the course. If you have made vacation plans, have work obligations, can’t attend the final class, and/or have no intention of showing up regularly, then I would not recommend taking this course. Even if you find me and/or the material boring, you still have to come to class; however, if that is how you feel, I would strongly recommend that you find a teacher and/or class more to your liking and schedule. • For a night class, you are allowed one unexcused absence (no questions asked and no consequences for that

absence), but I reserve the right to reduce your participation grade by five points for each subsequent absence. Please note that this is not an invitation to miss a class.

• If you miss three or more classes in a row before the final withdrawal date -- and do not contact me to let me know if you are still in the class— I will drop/withdraw you from the course.

• If you miss a total of five class meetings before the final withdrawal date — I will drop/withdraw you from the course. There comes a point when you are just not really taking the course-- and this, as far as I am concerned, is pretty much when you have arrived at that point.

• You are expected to arrive to class on time and to bring the proper materials (course reader, assignments ... check Canvas for details). If you are late then YOU have to let me know, or you will remain marked absent. Three "lates / tardies" equal one absence.

• Please note that if you miss a class, you are still responsible for all material/assignments covered in class. • I recommend that you exchange email addresses with at least a couple of students so that you can keep up

with anything you might miss in class. Though I will be as helpful as I can, do not rely on me to keep you up to date. I will not respond to emails that ask me what was covered in class. Check Canvas for the latest schedule / due dates / required reading, etc. EVERYTHING is there.

• If life deals one of those many unfortunate situations that we all dread but have to deal with, and, as a result, you have to be absent for a few classes, then please have the courtesy to let me know. I do not need to know the details—just that you are “dealing with something” and, thus, missing classes. I will drop or withdraw you from the class if I have not heard from you after two weeks. Don’t just vanish! Keep in touch and let me know what is going on.

Participation Grade: I base your participation grade on attendance, class participation, and completing the lab work (25 pts). Most students, when attendance is good, receive 21 or 22 points. To get more points you need to participate in discussions. Talking during class while others are speaking (whether it be me or your fellow classmates) will result in a reduced participation grade as well. Class Discussion: This class is built around a lot of class discussion and interaction; therefore, it is important that you take part in class discussions—which means that you must put your best effort towards reading the material and thinking about it. Consistent lack of participation will result in a lower participation score. Teacher-Student Conference: Between November 29th and December 3rd, I will conduct individual conferences with each student. Failure to participate in a conference will result in losing all your participation points. General Class Rules Eating & Drinking in Class: Official school rules prohibit eating in class, so if you spill something, clean up after yourself. Smart Phones & Laptops in Class: I am beginning to accept that some students use their smart phones to access information during class, but I am not entirely convinced yet. Let me say this: if you are far more interested in your smart phone than the class, you should seriously ask yourself why you are bothering to take this course. Do not disrupt the class. If you do, I will ask you to leave and then mark you absent.

 You are adults and I expect you to act responsibly/accordingly.  DO NOT TALK TO YOUR FELLOW CLASSMATES DURING LECTURES OR CLASS DISCUSSIONS!  Do not sleep or do homework during class. If you feel the class is boring and/or stupid, I encourage you to

drop the course and find one that is more interesting to you.

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Other Concerns  Email Addresses: Make sure that you check the email the school has provided you. You can forward your school email to

your regular email account (and that way you won’t miss anything the school sends you). This is the email that I am provided and my only way of contacting you. All mail related to Canvas is delivered to your school email as well.

 This class is rated “R.” From time to time strong language and discussion of adult themes and situations may occur. If these kinds of things offend you, you should consider taking a different course.

 Accommodations: If you need classroom or testing accommodations because of a disability, or have any other special needs, please give me your DSPS form or make an appointment with me as soon as possible. Disabled Students Programs and Services (DSPS) is located in Room 323 of the Rosenberg Library, phone (415) 452 5481

Grade Breakdown (Subject to Change) 70% of your grade • Inductive Analysis Essay 1 (Emerson) = 50 points • Deductive Analysis Essay 2 (Annie Dillard’s “Seeing”) = 100 points • Personal Essay (Kimmerer) = 50 pts • Research Essay (Gardening) = 200 points

20% of Your Grade • In-class Essay = 25 pts • Group Presentation = 25 points • Assignments (Various Points) • Reading Quizzes (Various pts.)

10% of Your Grade • Participation (Attendance + Class Discussion + Online Tutorials + Student-Teacher Conference) = 25 points

The Complete and Detailed Schedule for the Class Is on Canvas

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Revision Process

If your grade is below passing, then disregard this process. You must meet with me in person so that we can discuss your rewrite. It is your responsibility to make this appointment.

Turn in a printed copy of the rewritten essay to me – Do Not Upload Rewrites to Canvas

This exercise in revision is not just a process of fixing the corrections or responding to the comments I made. Treat this as a revision of the essay as a whole. Think about how you can improve or tighten up your points/writing. In other words, this is a revision of the whole essay. As you revise your essay keep notes about the changes you have made to your essay. I need to know WHY you made EVERY change. Note: Because Nathan marked it / told me to is not an acceptable reason. If I asked you a question or commented about something you wrote, I expect you to address what I said and tell me how and why you fixed it. I want to know what your reasoning is for every change you make. Keep track of these changes on your freshly-printed, revised draft. Go ahead and write on the essay in pencil. (A) Underline / circle the section you have changed in your revised essay and then explain the nature of the problem, how you fixed it, and why your fix has taken care of the problem. The amount of points you are awarded will be based on how detailed your explanations are. If you are going to only make minor changes and / or spend no time explaining this, then do not bother revising the essay. (B) For all sentence related errors—name the error (such as run together sentence, misspelled word, subject-verb agreement, incorrect verb tense, proofreading error, wrong word choice, the sentence fell apart/derailed/too weighty, etc) and then explain what you have done to fix the problem. (C) If it is repetitive problem—such as forgetting to use the right tense or keeping the comma inside the quotation marks or incorrectly formatting your in-text citations— then explain the nature of the error and circle each instance of that error. Do not explain the instance of each error. If you do not follow these requirements, then I will not read your revised essay. The amount of points that you are rewarded will reflect the quality of your rewrite and how detailed your explanations are. In general, your grade will be boosted a half grade or a full grade if you do a good job (for example a C+ will become a B-). If your rewrite significantly improves your essay, then I reserve the right to increase it a full grade (for example, a C could become a B). Provide me a printed copy with your corrections. Do not upload the revision to Canvas. Please Note  If you received an A- or better, then you cannot rewrite the essay.  Only the first two essays of the semester can be revised / rewritten.

If I am not requiring you to rewrite / revise your essay, then don’t bother with this process unless you really want to rewrite your essay and learn something from the process. Anything less will receive no points. Just changing a few quick things will not yield very many points (and might receive no points).

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Sample Format Guidelines for Essays Not a Writing Sample – Just a Formatting Sample

Bane

Personal Essay (Solitude)

December 31, 9768

The Eye of Solitude

Since my early childhood days, I have often returned to the Point Reyes National

Seashore, but after moving to Marin County a few years ago, that "often" has been

replaced with "as much as once a week," especially during the winter and spring after a

good rain has settled but the clouds have not yet left. As a child, my family was far too

poor to ever travel, but over several summers we would board the Golden Gate Transit

bus before sunrise, in the dark, and then leave to come home on the final bus, which

would return us to San Francisco in the dark. And thus began a tradition of sorts, one

that stretches back to those early childhood days and looks further forward to whatever

I may encounter in future visits. Now that I live in Novato, a forty five minute drive

away, I visit Drake's Beach each week, camera, neutral density filters, and tripod in

hand so that I can find yet another way to photograph this stretch of beach where land

ends and the sea begins-- or if you wish where the sea ends and land begins-- or,

perhaps, where the land and the sea simply meet, that shoreline bringing to mind the

line on a map where the blue of the water is separated by the color of the land mass.

These are the kinds of thoughts that I often play with as I wait for the seconds to pass

into minutes during the long exposure photographs that I work on each visit. Indeed,

gazing out into the sea, I often find a certain kind of silence, a silence that is experienced

in between the sounds of the sea, a silence that I only find in solitude.

Lately, I have been thinking about what Emerson and Thoreau had to say about

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SAMPLE PROCESS LETTER Dear Mr. Nathan,

Overall, I feel like I understand the question and answered it well; however, I really struggled

with my introduction and my conclusion. I know that they are supposed to be like the bookends of the

essay and really tie together my overall points/thesis, but I don’t feel like I fully introduce my essay and I

am not certain if the introduction even really relates to my thesis. I wish I had taken more time with it. I

am not entirely certain if I ever fully figured out exactly what Emerson is saying about solitude. I do,

however, feel that I have a good grasp of Emerson’s main ideas (I am not certain that I adequately

explained his thoughts, and I may have claimed he said things he never actually says in the essay).

I feel confident about my body paragraphs. I worked very hard on trying to write good

transitions between paragraphs and I think most of them are very effective, but I also think a few of them

are a bit too formulaic. I think I did a really good job integrating the sources and finding ways to support

my argument that solitude helps us to understand nature in very human terms. I am used to thinking of

the first sentence of each paragraph as a topic sentence, so it might take me a while to adjust to your

instruction about considering them as points.

I wish I had taken a little more time to revise the essay. I feel good about the writing overall, but

I know that I could have cleaned up and better focused some of the sentences. I’d really appreciate it if

you would comment on the conclusion and let me know if you think I successfully tied together all the

elements of my body paragraphs and my thesis.

I plan to start the next essay even earlier so that I have lots of extra time to proofread and

rethink my sentences (and make sure that all the elements of the essay work together smoothly). I know

every student says that!

Thanks! Miley

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Essay 1: Inductive Analysis Essay -- Emerson (50 pts.) Length: 4-5 pgs. Due Date: Check Canvas Task: Analyze the text of the excerpt from Emerson’s Nature and discuss how the writer explains (a) his experience with nature while in solitude and (b) the spiritual connection that he has with God through nature. • To successfully accomplish this task, you will need to analyze Emerson’s actual language. This is essential. I am

not asking you what your thoughts are about Emerson’s views. I am asking you to analyze what he wrote. • You need to make sure that you analyze the following key elements in Emerson’s essay: a) What Emerson feels is required to achieve the kind of solitude he is discussing. How one can achieve it. b) How our awe for the stars help us to understand what true solitude means. c) How all “natural objects” can fill us with the same sense of awe if we are open to their influence. d) How seeing this way is the way the poet sees. e) How seeing with this sense of wonder is the way many people experience nature when they are children. f) How the “transparent eyeball” passage represents the awe, the willingness to be open to the influence of all “natural objects,” the way the poet sees, the child-like wonder that we can have for nature, and his connection with God through nature.  be very thorough about this (do not skip it). Please note I am not asking you to discuss your views about his thoughts. Your task is to analyze the text (so you will need to summarize, paraphrase and directly quote from Emerson and use your analysis of the text to shape your understanding of how he experiences solitude and nature). And your essay is not only a summary … it is an analysis. Do not write from the perspective of what you think Emerson is trying to say; instead, write from the perspective of what he actually writes and how his observations are interconnected-- and what they, ultimately, lead to.  Audience: Your audience will be familiar with this excerpt, so you should not retell everything that happens in them. Instead, focus on those passages that you choose to analyze. You should summarize, paraphrase and quote those passages that will help you to demonstrate how Emerson describes his experiences with nature in solitude. Do not use “I” or “You.”  Essay Structure: This is an inductive analysis essay, which means you do not begin your essay with the traditional introduction that includes a thesis statement. Instead, you should, after stating the title and the author’s full name, jump right in and start analyzing what Emerson does and how he does it. Your goal is to connect the various elements of his essay and show how he ultimately connects with God through his deep connection with nature. Thus, it makes the most sense to discuss his essay by analyzing these elements in the order he writes them in—your job also including the need to make connections between these elements. Your conclusion must, ultimately and conclusively, state how Emerson’s essay explores his connection with God through solitude and nature. And, very importantly, state your thesis in your conclusion. Think of it this way: this essay form requires you to argue towards your thesis (instead of stating it at the beginning of your essay).  MLA Formatting: (1) When writing about the essay, use the present tense (Example: Emerson explains a certain quality of solitude). (2) In your introductory paragraph, refer to the title of the full essay (Nature) and the author’s full name (Ralph

Waldo Emerson). (3) For the rest of the essay, use the author’s last name (Emerson). Do not repeat his full name again. (4) Once you have mentioned the title, do not mention it again. Do not write “in the essay.” We will know that you

are discussing the essay. (5) For in-text citations / quotations, use the page number in the course reader. You do not need to mention the

author’s last name in the citation because once you have introduced us to the title and the author’s name, we will know that you are only quoting that source because your task is to analyze that essay and that essay only.

(6) Provide a Works Cited page. Here is the correctly formatted bibliographical citation. Pay attention to the italicized titles and the indented second line.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Nature. English 1A Course Reader. Edited by Nathan Wirth, Nathan’s Mind Inc., 2019.  Final Draft: Upload your final draft to Canvas. Check the course schedule for due dates and the upload link.  Process Letter: You must also include a process letter, in which you write about your writing process for the essay. Please make this the first page of your document (and it does not count as one of the required pages). You can find a sample process letter in this course reader.  Formatting: Check the formatting requirements in this course reader before you upload your essay.

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Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1836 To go into solitude, a man needs to retire as much from his chamber as from society. I am not solitary whilst I

read and write, though nobody is with me. But if a man would be alone, let him look at the stars. The rays that come from those heavenly worlds, will separate between him and what he touches. One might think the atmosphere was made transparent with this design, to give man, in the heavenly bodies, the perpetual presence of the sublime.1 Seen in the streets of cities, how great they are! If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore; and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown! But every night come out these envoys of beauty, and light the universe with their admonishing2 smile. The stars awaken a certain reverence, because though always present, they are inaccessible; but all natural objects make a kindred impression, when the mind is open to their influence. Nature never wears a mean appearance. Neither does the wisest man extort3 her secret, and lose his curiosity by finding out all her perfection. Nature never became a toy to a wise spirit. The flowers, the animals, the mountains, reflected the wisdom of his best hour, as much as they had delighted the simplicity of his childhood. When we speak of nature in this manner, we have a distinct but most poetical sense in the mind. We mean the integrity of impression made by manifold natural objects. It is this which distinguishes the stick of timber of the wood-cutter, from the tree of the poet. The charming landscape, which I saw this morning, is indubitably4 made up of some twenty or thirty farms. Miller owns this field, Locke that, and Manning the woodland beyond. But none of them owns the landscape. There is a property in the horizon which no man has but he whose eye can integrate all the parts, that is, the poet. This is the best part of these men's farms, yet to this their warranty-deeds give no title. To speak truly, few adult persons can see nature. Most persons do not see the sun. At least they have a very superficial seeing. The sun illuminates only the eye of the man, but shines into the eye and the heart of the child. The lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted to each other; who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood. His intercourse with heaven and earth becomes part of his daily food. In the presence of nature, a wild delight runs through the man, in spite of real sorrows. Nature says, -- he is my creature, and maugre5 all his impertinent6 griefs, he shall be glad with me. Not the sun or the summer alone, but every hour and season yields its tribute of delight; for every hour and change corresponds to and authorizes a different state of the mind, from breathless noon to grimmest midnight. Nature is a setting that fits equally well a comic or a mourning piece. In good health, the air is a cordial7 of incredible virtue. Crossing a bare common, in snow puddles, at twilight, under a clouded sky, without having in my thoughts any occurrence of special good fortune, I have enjoyed a perfect exhilaration. I am glad to the brink of fear. In the woods too, a man casts off his years, as the snake his slough, and at what period soever of life, is always a child. In the woods, is perpetual youth. Within these plantations of God, a decorum and sanctity reign, a perennial8 festival is dressed, and the guest sees not how he should tire of them in a thousand years. In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life, -- no disgrace, no calamity, (leaving me my eyes,) which nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground, -- my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, -- all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God. The name of the nearest friend sounds then foreign and accidental: to be brothers, to be acquaintances, -- master or servant, is then a trifle and a disturbance. I am the lover of uncontained and immortal beauty. In the wilderness, I find something more dear and connate9 than in streets or villages. In the tranquil landscape, and especially in the distant line of the horizon, man beholds somewhat as beautiful as his own nature. The greatest delight which the fields and woods minister, is the suggestion of an occult relation between man and the vegetable. I am not alone and unacknowledged. They nod to me, and I to them. The waving of the boughs in the storm, is new to me and old. It takes me by surprise, and yet is not unknown. Its effect is like that of a higher thought or a better emotion coming over me, when I deemed I was thinking justly or doing right. Yet it is certain that the power to produce this delight, does not reside in nature, but in man, or in a harmony of both. It is necessary to use these pleasures with great temperance. For, nature is not always tricked in holiday attire, but the same scene which yesterday breathed perfume and glittered as for the frolic of the nymphs, is overspread with melancholy today. Nature always wears the colors of the spirit. To a man laboring under calamity, the heat of his own fire hath sadness in it. Then, there is a kind of contempt of the landscape felt by him who has just lost by death a dear friend. The sky is less grand as it shuts down over less worth in the population.

1 sublime = of such grandeur, or beauty as to inspire great admiration or awe (so much awe that it comes with fear / respect & thus reverence) 2 admonish = to urge to a duty; remind 3 extort = obtain (something) by force, threats, or other unfair means 4 indubitably = too evident to be doubted 5 maugre = in spite of 6 impertinent = not pertinent to a particular matter; irrelevant. 7 cordial = a comforting or pleasant-tasting medicine 8 perennial = lasting or existing for a long or apparently infinite time; enduring or continually recurring. 9 connate = (especially of ideas or principles) existing in a person or thing from birth; innate.

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Sample of Essay One – Emerson William Fitzgerald English 1A Mr. Nathan

The Transparent I Ralph Waldo Emerson begins his essay Nature by offering his readers the conditions necessary to

find a certain quality of solitude, one that he later experiences when he finds a very deep and personal connection with nature and, ultimately, God: “To go into solitude, a man needs to retire as much from his chamber as from society” (10). One should note that Emerson specifically indicates the necessity to leave both his connections with home and the society that his home is located in; in fact, he indicates the need to sever his ties from others even further by realizing that being physically alone, being at home without anyone else around, is not necessarily enough, for even when he reads and writes in solitude he is still connected with those whose thoughts he might read and for those whom he might write. To best find the truest sense of the solitary, he explains one should look to the brilliance of the heavens and its many stars, for this is how one can feel truly disconnected from the rest of the world. The stars, Emerson writes, “will separate” man “between him and what he touches” (10). In other words, those who look to the brilliance of the stars will see something filled with such immensity they will feel a sense of awe that separates them from all that is material, all that is touchable, and, as a result, leave them to feel alone and solitary in the face of such grandeur. But the stars are not just beautiful. They also fill one with the sense of the sublime, a word which not only describes the sheer beauty and grandeur of the lights that fill the night but also indicates the power of the stars, a power and intensity that elicits veneration and respect and awe and, thus, a touch of uneasiness. That fear, that respect, that reverence, is essential to understanding what Emerson wishes to communicate because the heavens in all their vastness and mystery are, in his words, “the city of God” (10). So, ultimately, Emerson equates the intensity of this quality of solitude he seeks with the intensity of connecting with God, but, at this point, God is high in the heavens and out of his reach.

Next, he shifts from the reverence and awe one might feel for the stars to reverence for the many facets of nature down here on earth, writing that that the stars are “inaccessible,” that we can never touch them and that, in the end, this is an essential part of the reason why they “awaken a certain reverence” (10)— “awaken” implying our senses and spirit have been asleep or dulled and that through this experience those inactive senses are stirred up, excited, and aroused. And this is precisely where Emerson associates that same awakening, that same awe, that same reverence for the majesty of the nighttime sky with all and any “natural objects” (10), the phrase “kindred impression” (10) connecting the stars to all “natural objects” (all of which we can touch, unlike the stars, if we choose). “Kindred” denotes there is a definite similarity between the stars and the natural objects of the earth, but even though they are not the same, they do, in a sense, come from the same natural origin (later in the essay, the “Universal Being”). “Impression” indicates the effect something has on the mind, the conscience, and one’s feelings. So, when combined in this context, these two words indicate, once again, that Emerson is drawing a connection between the intensity and awe we hold for the stars and the awe and reverence that we might have for any natural object, but, for this to happen, the mind must be “open to their influence” (10). “Influence” is the key word here, for it indicates that experiencing these natural objects and surroundings can affect one’s moods and feelings, that one can experience the same awe for the stars in the entirety of nature if one is open to seeing that influence, that, ultimately, nature is as grand and awe-inspiring as those stars (and, by connection, one can also experience God in and through nature).

Emerson then shifts to explaining how the wise person— i.e., the person whose mind is open to the influence of nature— recognizes that nature does not act meanly, that nature is not a trivial toy to be played with, that nature never ceases to amaze and intrigue the person who experiences it, and, perhaps most importantly, the truly wise person realizes the best moments experiencing nature as an adult return one to the wonder which childhood was often filled with, to a time before the experiences of being an adult deadened and dulled the innocence and curiosity of childhood experiences in nature. In other words, one of the deepest consequences of opening one’s mind to the influence of nature is that it awakens, in part, some of that lost wonder of our childhood. Emerson then connects this reawakened mind to a “most poetical sense” of how we see things. To see things poetically is to see them as they are and not in an analytical or purely functional way; the poet sees nature in its entirety and not by its material divisions. He offers the example of the woodcutter— who sees a tree only for its potential

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materials— and the poet, who sees the tree for what it is: as a whole tree with all the beauty one might associate with a tree— as well as a “natural object” that shares a “kindred impression” with the stars that invokes a sense of awe, reverence and wonder. He further explains this poetical perception by describing a walk through a variety of farms and woods, in which he sees all these parcels of individually owned land as one landscape and not a landscape divided by ownership. The poetically-awakened mind realizes one can possess a deed to some land, but one can never own the landscape, the view, the experience (and the awe and the wonder it can invoke if one’s mind is open to the influence) .

And it is this poetical sense of mind that Emerson sees through when he later goes for a walk in the woods at twilight. The poetically-minded individual is the one whose mind, heart, spirit and eyes, “whose inward and outward senses,” are “still truly adjusted to each other; who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood” (10). Indeed, the “lover of nature,” as Emerson refers to it, sees nature not only with the eyes but with a curiosity and exhilaration that has not been deadened, one that can continually be reawakened. As he takes his walk, he feels a perfect exhilaration and his senses are filled with delight, recognizing that every season brings its own delights and reactions and that, very importantly, one can feel a sense of excitement even when one feels sad. For Emerson, experiencing nature is like a ritual, one that offers him an opportunity to communicate with both the heavens and the earth, for God can be found— if one’s mind is open to such influence, to such awe and reverence— in both those celestial stars he discusses at the beginning of the essay and the natural world that he is now taking a walk in. He recognizes that a man (woman) can “cast off his years” and “what period soever of life” be always a child (10). So, before he describes the very intense connection with the natural world that he is about to have, Emerson once again connects the feeling of childhood wonder and the awe of nature that can be found if one’s mind is open to their influence. In fact, this connection is so intense he likens it to a “perennial festival,” which implies that a walk of this kind is very similar to a ritual one might experience in a church, but, in this case, no building is necessary, for nature, itself, is the place of worship, the place of ritual. He also takes the reader back to the beginning of the essay by saying that a person would never tire of this ritual in even a thousand years, which brings us back to how even more intense the stars in the night sky would be if they only appeared every thousand years. But, in this case, he states that one would never tire of what is clearly there, what can be clearly touched.

And it is in this state of “perfect exhilaration” that one returns to reason and faith, these words being essential because, for Emerson and his fellow transcendentalists, the spiritual and the scientific were never in competition with one another. They generally believed that the world could be understood through spiritual intuition, but they also accepted scientific doctrine. For some, this might be difficult to understand— especially since he is about to speak about his very deep, mystical connection with nature in exceptionally poetic terms— but that poetic outlook is exactly what fuels his direct experience. It may be poetic, but it is also reasoned through a connection to what is there, to what he sees in terms of what these natural objects actually are. And with this focused attention on his surroundings, he then writes about the intensity of his connection to both the natural landscape and God:

There I feel that nothing can befall me in life, -- no disgrace, no calamity, (leaving me my eyes,) which nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground, -- my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, -- all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God (10).

At first glance, Emerson’s words seem to suggest an almost hallucinatory experience, but when one considers the reverence, the childhood wonder, and the most poetical sense of mind that he has already introduced us to, one can see the absolute delight and awe he has for such an intense experience, a moment of experience in which he fully absorbs his surroundings, the intensity of the connection itself being what instructs and connects him. Indeed, he speaks in mystical terms, in a connection through which he purely experiences the moment itself as if he is there, but not there, and, in that state, connects with God. In this perennially festive moment, he lets the self, the “mean egotism” go, and it is as if he joins, in that moment, the same “infinite space” where one would find the stars and the “city of God,” as if he has bridged the “intercourse with heaven and earth” (10). To be transparent is to be opaque, as if you are there but cannot be seen. One might also think of a substance like water which is sheer and allows light to shine through, as if in those moments the light of everything in the universe, viz., the “Universal Being,” radiate through him thus allowing him to absorb everything in his surroundings. The “eye,” the organ through which we see, can also be seen as a pun on the personal pronoun “I,” which

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connects this experience to the self, and, as a result, the self, the “I,” is also made transparent and one then becomes nothing, as if one is no longer there, and then becomes a “part” of God or a minute particle of God, both indicating that he has connected and become part of nature and part of God. At the very least, one sees the absolute intensity by which he finds this connection, one that is bound to reverence, to wonder, and to a most distinctly poetical sense of mind.

Emerson clarifies one last time the wonder he has for nature by explaining that every time he sees the “waving of the boughs in the storm,” it “is new to” him “and old,” for it takes him “by surprise, and yet is not unknown” (10). At first this might seem paradoxical, for how can something one sees often be both known and surprising? The answer lies in the wonder of the poetical mind open to the influence of nature. Regardless of the amount of times, he has seen such things and experienced such moments, he always feels wonder for them (as if each experience is “new”). Finally, he ends by pointing out that nature itself does not provide the emotional connection. It is the individual who connects in this way—and he calls this connection a “higher thought” or “better emotion,” both suggesting that one must, again, be open to such influences. For, after all, one could go for a walk in the woods and feel nothing but boredom, for it is the mood of the individual that sets the experience. Earlier, he said that nature “never wears a mean appearance” (10) and then ends with the observation that nature “always wears the color of the spirit” (10), a claim that clearly states that nature itself does not control our mood—though it can certainly affect our mood.