Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1888) was the major American essayist of the 19th Century and an enduring influence on American literature and philosophy. He enacted and encouraged an American art that was spiritually and formally independent of many prior models, especially in the Old World. We will read six of his essays, including “Self Reliance,” “The Divinity School Address,” and “Experience.” To highlight Emerson’s uncanny anticipation of later artists, we will pair each essay with a poem or two.  Poets will include Whitman, Dickinson and Stevens.  Texts will be provided electronically.