WebQuest: Thinking Like a Transcendentalist

Overview: In this WebQuest, you will explore the history of journaling in the United States, look at Walt Whitman’s notebooks, consider Annie Dillard’s famous journaling work, and study resources that provide insights for your own work as a journaler. 

Step 1: Get ready to keep a journal.
Get inspired by reading Chapter 1 of Hannah Hinchman’s book, A Trail Through Leaves: The Journal as a Path to Place. Don’t be intimidated by Hinchman’s book – I’m not a visual artist by any means, but her emphasis on seeing the world around us has helped me focus the verbal work I do in my journal. And lest you think this type of journaling can’t be done in an urban or suburban area, take a look at Christian McEwen’s essay, “Inside a Stone: Nature Writing in a City Classroom.”

You’ll need to have your journal and writing implement in hand by Tuesday, January 17 – so go out, explore, have fun shopping, and buy something that reflects your unique spirit! The journal can be a notebook, legal pad, sketchbook, blank book – virtually anything that will work for you. The writing implement could be a set of colored pencils, a gel pen, a ballpoint pen, a fountain pen, a #2 pencil – again, whatever works for you. Note that you don’t need to start keeping your journal yet. Just bring it with you to class on Monday, January 23.

Next, read “Journal Guidelines.”

Step 2: Consider why Linda and Patricia are taking this approach to teaching Transcendentalism.
Read John Elder’s essay, "Teaching at the Edge." Elder is co-editor of The Norton Book of Nature Writing and is a director of the Orion Society.

Step 3: Explore the history of journaling in the United States.
Learn about the history of spiritual journaling in the United States. Quakers were especially fond of keeping spiritual journals. The most famous Quaker journaler was John Woolman. Skim this page about his life (and be sure to read the paragraph on journaling in the introductory section). If you would like to read more about Quaker writers and journalers, see Street Corner Society.

Learn about the history of keeping journals to record the exploration and discovery of place. View Lewis and Clark’s journals online. You can also view parts of the journal via a searchable database.

Step 4: Explore Walt Whitman’s notebooks.
Follow this guided tour of the Library of Congress’s project, “Poet at Work: Recovered Notebooks from the Thomas Biggs Harned Walt Whitman Collection.” Then read selected excerpts from Whitman’s journals (in The Norton Book of Nature Writing, pp. 223-229).

Step 5: Learn about the life and work of Annie Dillard.
Get your bearings by visiting this New York Times feature on Annie Dillard.

Read David Bowman’s short essay, “Nature Girl” (from Salon’s Brilliant Careers series).

Read Grace Suh’s interview with Dillard: “Ideas Are Tough; Irony Is Easy.”

Skim the following essays, and choose two to read carefully.

Bennett, Michael, “Urban Nature: Teaching Tinker Creek by the East River” (abstract only)

Lavery, David, “Noticer: The Visionary Art of Annie Dillard”

Lavery, David, “Unlicensed Metaphysics: Annie Dillard Revisited”

Smith, Pamela A., “The Ecotheology of Annie Dillard: A Study in Ambivalence”

Then read the Dillard excerpts in The Norton Book of Nature Writing (pp. 867-891). Finally, get a few writing tips from Dillard in her essay, “Write Till You Drop.”

Step 6: Think about your own life as a journaler.
Skim all of the following pieces, and choose two to read carefully.

Keeping a Travel Journal (from Journeywoman)

McEwen, Christian, “Inside a Stone: Nature Writing in a City Classroom”

Kaiser, Robert Blair, “The Way of the Journal” (from Psychology Today)

Ferguson, Tom, “A Psychological Journal as Self-Care: An Interview with Ira Progoff”

Journal Prompts
As always, at least one of your journal entries this week should be in response to the WebQuest. Here are some possible prompts to get you started on that task (but you aren’t limited to these starting points!).

Journal Prompt #1: If you have been a lifelong (or longtime!) journaler, consider the history of your journals. When and why did you begin keeping journals? How have your journals changed over time? In what ways has your journaling been a useful practice to you? Do you ever “lapse” from journaling? Why or why not?  If you have never been a journaler (or have been a very sporadic journaler), how do you feel about the prospect of keeping a journal? Excited? Anxious? Nervous? Not wanting to bother with another task in your life? Reflect here on what you imagine might happen this semester as you begin keeping a journal on a regular basis.

Journal Prompt #2: Why are we asking you to keep a journal in a course on Transcendentalism? How does the practice of journaling relate to the philosophy and practice of Transcendentalism? To answer this question, you should refer to at least one of the following readings (though you may refer to all of them if you wish): Hannah Hinchman, Chapter 1; John Elder, “Teaching at the Edge”; Annie Dillard, “Write Till You Drop.”

Additional journal prompts for your consideration:

Journal Prompts for Tinker Creek, Chapter 1 (“Heaven and Earth in Jest”)

Journal Prompts for Tinker Creek, Chapter 4 (“The Fixed”)

Journal Prompt for Tinker Creek, Chapter 6 (“The Present”)

Essay Question
Drawing from your reading of Dillard, other Transcendentalists, and the links above, write an essay in which you discuss the history of spiritual journaling. When and why did this practice emerge? How has it changed over time (particularly from the Transcendentalist movement to the contemporary period)? You will want to examine closely at least one journaler (such as Dillard). As always, be sure to include resources from the WebQuest. See the Essay Guidelines for more detail about research, sources, length requirements, and documentation. Essay due to Dr. Tate via email by Wednesday, January 30, at 3:00 p.m.

“American Transcendentalism: An Online Travel Guide” was produced by students in ENGL 446, American Transcendentalism, and ENGL 447, American Literature and the Prominence of Place: A Travel Practicum. These courses were team-taught in the Department of English at Shepherd College (now Shepherd University), Shepherdstown, West Virginia, in Spring 2002 by Dr. Patricia Dwyer and Dr. Linda Tate. For more information on the course and the web project, visit “About This Site.” © 2003 Linda Tate.