Maximo Gutierrez

Mrs. Storer
English 3 Honors American Literature
January 22, 2019

Socratic Circle Reflection on Nature, Self-Reliance, Walden, and Civil Disobedience

The circle discussed Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Nature and Self-Reliance, and Henry David
Thoreau’s Walden and Civil Disobedience, and discussions took place involving the analyzation
of the texts and how they relate to the naturalist viewpoints of the authors. Questions focusing
more on Ralph Waldo Emerson’s writings were the topic of the first round, while questions
involving the writings of Henry David Thoreau and the comparison between the two authors’
viewpoints were central to the second and third rounds. My specific group excelled at speaking
in a clear and understandable way, adding text evidence to our opinions, and adding depth to
other opinions that help the group later in the discussion. For example, we used many real world
examples and connected them to our own opinions of the readings to make the discussion more
relatable to others.
I presented my opinions regarding whether I agree or disagree with the ideas brought up in
Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Nature in light of my own experiences and how his religious occupation
as a preacher could have had an impact on such ideas. I added textual evidence later in the round
that followed up past quotes with new quotes based around the same idea, giving examples that
added to and deepened the points and opinions of others, introduced my own viewpoint on the
ideas of nature, and spoke when it was necessary. Next time I would want to find more evidence
from the text in my discussions and present it at an earlier time. I also want to collect more
evidence for other stories so I can easily add on to discussions on any of them.
The ideas expressed in the stories of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau
present viewpoints of nature that stress spirituality, simplicity, and transcendentalism in a world
too busy for them.
I would use three main points to support this thesis that could be split into three body
paragraphs. This includes analyzing Emerson’s Nature and Self-Reliance and the themes of
spirituality in relation to the author’s background; it also includes analyzing Thoreau’s Walden
and Civil Disobedience in terms of the author’s emphasis on simplicity and viewpoints of today’s
society; finally, it includes a comparison of the two authors’ viewpoints in terms of the concept
of transcendentalism and individualism. I could look at the context of the time period in which
the stories were written and use specific lines from each story to make connections to common
occurrences and mindsets in today’s world.
These writings are pieces of literature that are able to have connections to the modern world
and to past readings. The beliefs of Puritan writers from the first unit and how their beliefs
permeated into their writings make for a compelling case about how common beliefs and their
appearances in American literature have evolved to give different messages of American life and
its relationship with the natural world. These writings would also be useful in comparing to
today’s issues. Life for many people nowadays is the busy and complicated mess that Emerson
and Thoreau warned about in their writings, so it would be interesting to see how their messages
impacted the world they lived in and how they could impact today’s world should people choose
to look back on them.