The "Transparent" Emerson
This famous metaphor describes a state where "mean egotism vanishes" and the individual becomes "part or parcel of God".
What is the Transparent Eyeball?
Douglass identifies this 1776 document as the "ring-bolt to the chain" of the nation's destiny.
What is the Declaration of Independence?
While Emerson preferred the woods, Professor Crosby’s favorite place to find an 'original relation to the universe' on the BYU campus is here.
What is "The walk along the stream on the southwest part of campus (between the Richards Building and the Science Building, near the duck pond)"?
Angelina Grimké describes herself as an "exile" from this specific state.
What is South Carolina?
Both Grimké and Douglass reference this "spirit" or "curse" as something that destroys the hearts of citizens, not just the enslaved.
What is Slavery?
Emerson defines this as everything that is "not me," including one’s own body.
What is Nature?
Douglass argues that instead of "light" or "gentle showers," the American conscience needs these three things to be roused.
What are fire, thunder, and a storm (or whirlwind/earthquake)?
If he wasn’t busy teaching us about famous rhetoricians, you might find Professor Crosby pursuing this 'alternate reality' career path.
What is "Foreign Service, specifically working as a diplomat living in another country - and maybe serving as a spy!"?
Grimké argues that women should specifically use this tool to reach the legislature since they cannot vote.
What is a petition?
While Emerson says nature is a "mirror" of the spirit, Grimké says this region of the U.S. has a heart so "corrupt" it prepares people to apologize for barbarity.
What is the North?
According to Emerson, this group of people is most likely to possess the "inward and outward senses" still truly adjusted to each other.
Who are children?
This 1850 federal law is one of the "crimes" Douglass denounces for making the North a hunting ground for slaves.
What is the Fugitive Slave Act?
This is the specific 'commodity' Professor Crosby relies on to survive a long night of grading our assignments
What is "Wild Berry Celsius and a Cliff Bar or Snickers"?
Grimké claims that this group is "worldly-wise" and silent on slavery because they want to keep the favor of all parties.
What is the Church?
Both Douglass and Grimké use this biblical concept of "justice" to warn that God will punish nations that uphold oppression.
What is Divine Judgment (or the justice of God)?
This "service" of nature provides the basic requirements for human survival, like food and water.
What is Commodity?
Douglass argues that this founding document is actually a "GLORIOUS LIBERTY DOCUMENT" and contains no mention of slavery.
What is the U.S. Constitution?
Most of us see a professor, but in his spare time, Professor Crosby possesses this surprising secret hobby or skill.
What is "I love playing the drums. I've played since middle school and have enjoyed playing in bands for most of my life. I highly recommend starting a band of your own."?
To Grimké, the fact that a mob is throwing stones at the windows is evidence of this.
What is the "spirit of slavery" in the North?
Emerson believes nature is a "mirror" of our internal spirit, but Frederick Douglass argues that for the slave, this specific holiday is actually a "mirror" (or revelation) of the nation's "gross injustice and cruelty".
What is the Fourth of July?
Emerson suggests that a person is only truly alone when they look at these, which are "always present" but "inaccessible" in their distance.
What are the stars?
Douglass highlights the cruelty of this trade, which he calls "one of the most abominable of all human practices," noting its persistence in American cities like Richmond and New Orleans.
What is the internal/American slave trade?
This 'bizarre' or memorable experience from his own undergraduate years proves that even Professor Crosby was once a 'student of nature' just like us.
What is "Pretending to get arrested on the night I proposed to my wife" ?
Grimké notes that many Northerners return from the South praising the "generous character" of slaveholders because they only ever entered this specific part of the house.
What is the parlor (or the table)?
While Emerson finds the "Universal Being" in nature, Douglass uses this metaphor to describe the Declaration of Independence as the secure point for the nation's future.
What is the ring-bolt?