Henry David Thoreau's Life Without

"

Furthermore, it is noteworthy that many of the views espoused by Thoreau within his works of literature were regarded with as much condescension, and perhaps outright disdain, as he seemingly regarded those pursuing the gold rush in the preceding quotation. For instance, it is known that of the 1,000 original copies that the author published of alden, he was only able to sell approximately a third of it. To a certain extent, his commercial misgivings can be attributed to the lifestyle he advocated in that manuscript and in other works of literature such as "Life ithout Principle." The following quotation from Nathaniel Hawthorne, who was a contemporary of Thoreau, illustrates the most common regard for the author and his views on living and the simplicity he embraced with nature. Hawthorne claimed that Thoreau "repudiated all regular modes of getting a living, and seems inclined to lead a sort of…… [Read More]

Henry David Thoreau Did Not Live a

Henry David Thoreau did not live a long life, however, he is perhaps America's most famous and beloved philosopher, rebel, and environmentalist. In 1846, he protested against slavery and the Mexican ar by not paying his taxes and spent a night in jail (Thoreau pg). Thoreau said, He said, "It costs me less in every sense to incur the penalty of disobedience to the State than it would to obey" (Henry pg). His essay "Civil Disobedience" has influenced countless great men, including Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. Although, he was regarded as a nature writer, "he declined membership in a scientific society, saying he was, 'a mystic, a transcendentalist, and a natural philosopher to boot'" (Thoreau pg). He died before completing the "Kalender," a book he was writing based from his vast collection of Indian data that would be "a total, all comprehending picture of life" (Thoreau pg). During…… [Read More]

Henry David Thoreau Left Us Two Most

Henry David Thoreau left us two most important options when things go very bad in this world: a bloodless but effective way of saying "no" and a fitting advice to rely on ourselves. He did this through his famous works, "Civil Disobedience" and "Walden."

Civil Disobedience" is about showing protest by resisting the orders of the authority being opposed. When authority conflicts with one's true values, the person has the right and duty to defend his or her conscience, and open rebellion does not have to be bloody. Thoreau advises what he himself practiced: that of refusing to obey the law, which he finds unacceptable and unjust:

Law never made men a whit more just and by means of their respect for it, even the well-disposed are daily made the agents of injustice."

Essay on "Civil Disobedience") as he did when he preferred imprisonment to supporting the Mexican Way by…… [Read More]

Thoreau Simplicity Henry David Thoreau Was a

Thoreau Simplicity

Henry David Thoreau was a prophet who understood that the materialism of the modern world would lead to a society that was impersonal and damaging to the world around it. He came to understand that the burgeoning materialism and consumerism of the 19th century would, in time, ultimately lead to a world that was plagued by possessions and damaging to the environment. As the world enters the 21st century, and people are consumed by their consumer products and the environment seems to be changing for the worse, Thoreau's predictions seem to be coming true. It is time that society as a whole begins to understand what Thoreau recognized more than a century ago, simplicity is a necessity.

If Henry David Thoreau thought that the 19th century was filled with the "clutter" that invaded a person's life and overwhelmed them with nonsense, he would be astonished to see how…… [Read More]

Henry David Thoreau's on the

It can have no pure right over my person and property but what I concede to it (Civil Disobedience (http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/thoreau/civil/)."

He believed that the government should respect and bow to the people that elected its officers. According to Thoreau dissent should take place by way of refusal to pay taxes as the taxes are what line the pockets of those who are elected by the people and then do not obey the wishes of those people.

Thoreau argues that until the government recognizes the power of the individual voter over its massive head, and acts accordingly, with respect, then people should stop paying taxes.

The philosophy of Thoreau in his Civil Disobedience work carries through to current political issues as well. People who are not happy with the elected officials in government believe that those elected officials need to realize that they work for those they are ignoring.

In addition,…… [Read More]

Walking Written by Author Henry David Thoreau

alking" written by author Henry David Thoreau, the writer discusses the importance of living in nature and the beauty of an untouched world. Some critics have labeled Thoreau as one of the world's first environmentalists. He and the other members of the transcendentalist school were inspired by the wilderness and featured aspects of the natural world in their published works (Bagley 1). This is because the emphasis of much of his writing, "alking" in particular, deals with the environment and the natural beauty that human beings take for granted and then abuse by destroying these places of nature and building structures and towns when the beauty should outweigh the human need.

hat Thoreau desires, according to some, is to impart the importance of the wild and the wilderness. Even in metropolitan areas there are still locations of wildness which have yet to be manhandled. People need to stop and appreciate…… [Read More]

Lincoln Martin Luther King Henry David Thoreau

Letter From a Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr., and "Civil Disobedience" by Henry David Thoreau. Specifically it will explain the reasoning of Thoreau's argument for civil disobedience and his general understanding of our obligation to law. Thoreau did not like too much government, or too many laws, and he felt people had a moral obligation to stand up to unjust laws, just as King did. Both men employed "creative protest" to get their message across to the public and gain support for their ideas and beliefs.

Thoreau believed in the ability of people to make their own decisions, not necessarily because of laws, but because of their own understanding of what is right and wrong. He wrote, "It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at…… [Read More]

Socrates Think of Henry David

Socrates and Thoreau are similar through the fact that both of them lobbied for a just world where slavery would not be present concomitantly with taking advantage of the institution of slavery. Socrates would thus identify with Thoreau, given that each of these two men lived in a time when their opinions were worthless when compared to those of the masses. Thoreau and Socrates were well aware that violence would be pointless in times when slavery was still considered to be normal by the majority. Socrates would however feel that Thoreau's perspective in regard to Brown's decision to use violence as a means to achieve justice is erroneous. This is because Socrates lived in a period when slavery was highly esteemed and when it was virtually impossible for someone to rise against the state with the purpose of abolishing it. In contrast, Thoreau, his abolitionist contemporaries, and society in general…… [Read More]

Thoreau Stowe Melville and Douglas Reflections on

Thoreau, Stowe, Melville and Douglas: Reflections on Slavery

Henry David Thoreau, Harriet Beacher Stowe, Herman Melville and Fredrick Douglass all opposed the intuition of slavery in the United States in the middle of the nineteen century. This matter deeply divided the nation and ultimately led to the Civil ar in 1860. hile southerner's saw the matter as a state's rights issue, abolitions framed the debate from a moral perspective. Most people in the south felt that slaves were their property, and it was for them to decide the moral and religious right of the slavery question. They saw the abolition of slavery as a threat to their very way of life. Abolitionists believed there was no distinction between slavery and liberty, a nation that condoned slavery could not be truly free (Foner). Each of these writers presented their views of slavery in there literary works.

Discussion

Henry David Thoreau

On…… [Read More]

Thoreau's Resistance to Civil Government This Is

Thoreau's Resistance To Civil Government

This is a paper discussing the Henry David Thoreau's essay 'Resistance to Civil Government' and arguing that his ideas represent the extreme individualism and anarchist ideology.

The renowned American author and naturalist Henry David Thoreau is considered to be one of the most influential minds in the American thought and literature. Thoreau had not only great influence on American thought but also on the politics of the world, some of his ideas and concepts that he developed were the most original political doctrines devised by American thinker. We appreciate this more, considering the fact that he was an unconventional thinker. At the heart of Thoreau political philosophy was the concept of individualism, he was a supreme individualist and championed the human spirit against materialism and social conformity. His most famous book, "Walden" 1854 is an eloquent account of his experiment in near solitary living in…… [Read More]

Thoreau Quiet Desperation Hard Work Has Always

Thoreau Quiet Desperation

Hard ork has always been a virtue in American society, and some say it comes from the country's Puritan heritage. If so, it could explain a great deal about how hard work has become a form of self-imposed slavery. Puritan society was highly judgmental, and society's opinion of a person could become a form of slavery; if one attempts to always fulfill what others expect of them. Henry David Thoreau, in alden, discussed the kind of self-imposed slavery that one can become a victim to when they fall into the trap that society has created.

hen discussing slavery, Thoreau explores a more diverse definition of the word than simply a legal term, he discussed the nature of slavery and its impact upon a person's psyche. According to Thoreau, who wrote alden while slavery was still legal in some places, feels that while what he called "Negro Slavery"…… [Read More]

Thoreau the Reading Selection I

Nowadays especially the influence of the media has become so invasive and widespread that all people seem to do is just discuss about whatever the media portrays the world as being. I also feel that the media has succeeded in "dumbing down" people's thoughts, so that they do not even bother discussing anymore about politics or current events unless they are forced to. Instead many people today occupy themselves frivolous news surrounding celebrity gossip and entertainment. If people took the initiative towards breaking away from these superficial thoughts in order to start thinking, questioning, and investigating what is really happening with their lives and with the world, it can then be said that we have become the rational thinkers that Thoreau yearned for in society. Then we would no longer be engaged in boring and meaningless gossip and instead we would have the ability to not passively accept what more…… [Read More]

Thoreau and Locke Acknowledge the Right of

Thoreau and Locke acknowledge the right of the people to renounce their allegiance to their government, what is the difference between their understandings of this right and what different conditions would warrant such an act?

When do citizens have the right to throw off the yoke of a sovereign and adopt a new form of governance that is more in keeping with the wishes and their needs of the majority of the populace? During the age of the Enlightenment in Great Britain, the philosopher John Locke wrote in his "Second Treatise of Governance," that all governments of the world must protect the life, liberty, and property rights of the common citizens. Locke wrote that if a government fails to honor this function, then its citizens had the right to revolt against the government, as the social contract between the governed and the government was not being honored. For example, if…… [Read More]

Henry Thoreau and Ralph Emerson Were Two

Henry Thoreau and Ralph Emerson were two of the romantic American writers of the transcendentalist movement, which in essence stresses that less is more, that nature is to be studied, to be a true intellect you must read the classics and that living a life off the beaten path is more satisfying than one on the beaten path. Though Emerson began his writings first, Thoreau and Emerson are both credited with this movement. Emerson was clearly the founder of this initial movement, but Thoreau's writings were also critically acclaimed. The publishing of Thoreau's Civil Disobedience (1849) and alden (1854) followed the 1837 commencement speech of Emerson entitled "The American Scholar" and the 1841 essay "Self-Reliance." The similar views of these two men and their principles for living are seen throughout their respective works though it can be said that Thoreau applied Emerson's beliefs to his own.

"The American Scholar" was…… [Read More]

Government's Curtailment of the Liberal

He centers on people's inability to act according to the dictates of their conscience, for the existence of laws and policies rendered society paralyzed and unable to think conscientiously about their actions -- that is, whether the actions they committed were conscientiously right or wrong. Asserting this point, he stated, "Can there not be a government in which majorities do not virtually decide right and wrong, but conscience?... Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience, then? I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward." From this passage, Thoreau stressed the importance of civil society as the primary holder of power and control in the sovereign rather than the individuals who were supposedly given the function to represent civil society (i.e., political leaders and officials).

In "On the duty of civil…… [Read More]

Walden and Other Writings by

They both are seeking wisdom and spiritual growth, but for very different reasons. Frankl has to find some kind of order and reason in his experience, or he will either go mad or die. Thoreau's spiritual quest is one of peace and harmony, while Frankl's is one of duress and oppression. He writes, "What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general, but rather the specific meaning of a person's life at a given moment" (Frankl 171). At that given moment in time, Frankl's life did not mean anything to anyone but himself, and he used this experience to develop his own philosophy on life and wisdom, just as Thoreau used his experience to develop his own philosophy. The two men had the same goals, but reached them very differently due to their circumstances.

It is difficult to judge who has the best approach, because they both did…… [Read More]

Walden the Term Economy Has

Question #4)

Thoreau argues that his solitude does not equal loneliness. First, Thoreau describes the brilliance of his relationship with plants, animals, and the elements. Second, Thoreau comments on the connections he maintains with the world outside of Walden Pond, as visitors frequent the house to leave cards, flowers, and gifts in support of his endeavor. Finally, Thoreau feels paradoxically less lonely when he is alone: "I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude."

Question #5

In the opening chapter of Thoreau's conclusion to Walden Pond, the author notes, "The universe is wider than our views of it." One of the reasons Thoreau leaves Walden is because the experiment has increased his appreciation for the vastness and the beauty of the world. He leaves because Walden Pond has inspired him to go out into the world and apply what he learned during the experiment. He explicitly states…… [Read More]

Compare and Contrast the Concept

nature in American literature, from earliest writings to the Civil War period. It is my purpose to outline the connection between spirituality, freedom and nature and explain how American writers have chosen to reflect and interpret these themes in relation to their historical realities.

At the beginning of the colonization process there were two congruent depictions of nature. Initially, the tribes comprising The Iroquois League lived in close contact with nature and believed in the importance of maintaining a harmonious relationship with it. In this respect, the Iroquois Constitution imposes a devout display of gratitude to all by-human elements of the world before the opening of any council. On the other hand, the early explorers and founders of the United States perceived an immense natural potential in the country. In this sense, Thomas Hariot describes the New World as a land of wealth, his words and images aimed both at…… [Read More]

Memoirist's Commitment to the Truth

It is about impression and feeling, about individual recollection. This memoir is a combination of facts about my life and certain embellishments. It is a subjective truth, altered by the mind of a recovering drug addict and alcoholic" (rey 2006).

Defenders of rey were even more explicit in noting that telling a good story and creating a vivid image in the mind of a reader often demands the use of certain literary techniques. Lee Gutkind, in an article titled "The Creative Nonfiction Police" pointed out that even Henry David Thoreau compressed certain elements of Thoreau's famous two years spent on Walden Pond into one for the sake of creating a more compelling narrative (Gutkind 2004). Compressing certain events can be used to create the impression of how an event 'really felt' even if it is not how the event really was, much like how time sometimes seems to slow down…… [Read More]

Charles Fort's We Do Not Fear the

Charles Fort's We do not Fear the Father and Louise Edrich's the Lady in the Pink Mustang, what are the metaphors, similes and allegories in these two poems? How do they enhance the meaning of the poem?

A pink car signifies that she wants to be a girly-girly with a simple life, but the car, proud, and different. The car is a mustang, which is a wild, fast, and promiscuous creature. "The sun goes down for hours, taking more of her along than the night leaves with her," reflects the kind of empty work that she does during the night, and that she only belongs to herself in the day time when she is not performing. "It is what she must face every time she is touched, the body disposable as cups." Could the girl in the pink mustang be a stripper, a showgirl, or a prostitute? Regardless, she feels…… [Read More]

Native American Trickster Tales Coyote Skunk and

Native American trickster tales "Coyote, Skunk and the Prairie Dogs," and "Owlwoman and Coyote" and "Walden," by Henry David Thoreau. Specifically it will look at the depiction of the interactions of humans and nature, their similarities and differences, and what relevance the depictions have for Americans today.

HOW HUMANS INTERACT WITH NATURE

Walden" is often called Thoreau's ode to his beliefs - he wrote in while he spent over two years in a cabin on Walden Pond, about a mile away from Concord, Massachusetts. He did see friends and go into town occasionally during his solitary life, but for the most part, he lived apart, wrote, and philosophized.

His time there was serene, and he said, "Both place and time were changed, and I dwelt nearer to those parts of the universe and to those eras in history which had most attracted me. Where I lived was as far off…… [Read More]

Mexican War

Mexi War

The term "manifest destiny" was coined by John L. O'Sullivan during the administration of President James Knox Polk in the middle of the 19th century. However, the concept of manifest destiny seemed to have guided the original settling of the European colonies in North America, with the accompanying sense of entitlement to the lands and people therein. Manifest destiny suggested that God ordained America to be special, and wanted Americans to conquer and amass as much land as possible. Territorial acquisition became the cornerstone of American politics in the 19th century. Under President Polk, the boundaries of the United States stretched as far as they could possibly go, warranting war with a neighboring state: Mexico. Therefore, the events leading up to the Mexican War were directly linked to the overall concept of Manifest Destiny.

However, there were other precursors to the Mexican War. ebellions in California led to…… [Read More]

Recurs Through a Few Works

As William Henry Davies would have averred, "… we have no time to stand and stare…" Frost describes, at length, how a young boy might have enjoyed himself swinging along the boughs. Certainly, one boy might have not been able to have bent several boughs. Frost does realize the cause of the bending of the boughs. It is the weight of the ice that collects on the boughs that causes them to bend. But a man can wish, can't he?

In "Mending Walls," Frost celebrates the notion of solitude. He twice mentions, "fences make good neighbors;" this is despite what one hears very often in modern parlance that, one should build bridges, not fences." The poem is interplay between two individuals or two opposing concepts. One is about the protection of one's privacy and the celebration of solitude. The opposing view supports the notion of community living and the need…… [Read More]

Ethics That Government Is Best Which Governs

Ethics

"That government is best which governs least," (Thoreau). The opening line of Civil Disobedience testifies to the importance of individual enlightenment over blind conformity. Government should ideally be by the people and for the people. Laws are often arbitrary and reflect outmoded social norms. In Crito, Plato foresees centuries of government oppression of the people via unjust laws. Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela are both figureheads of civil disobedience because they followed the rational and sound examples set by Plato and Thoreau. Like Socrates in Crito, Martin Luther King understands that anarchy is not the solution to overturning unjust laws. No individual should obey an unjust law. The intelligent individual promotes democratic ideals and self-empowerment rather than acting as a martyr. In fact, obeying an unjust law is akin to perpetuating injustice. It is the duty of every conscious citizen, who is intent on promoting the good life,…… [Read More]

Politics Culture and Human Nature

Mill take issue with the Puritans? Explain.

Famed government theoretician John Stuart Mill took great exception with the Puritans who traveled to the New orld in order to start a community based upon similar fanatical religious beliefs. The reason that he took such issue with the Puritans is that they used religion as a basis of government but worse than this they used that religious intolerance in order to oppress and marginalize others. The Puritans made their laws based upon the assertion that their restriction encouraged moral behavior, but in doing so they took away each person's right to make individual choices. Mill wrote, "ith respect to what is said of the necessity of protecting society from the bad example set to others by the vicious or the self-indulgent; it is true that bad example may have a pernicious effect, especially the example of doing wrong to others with impunity…… [Read More]

How Free Is the Will of the Individual Within Society

Conflict between Civil Obedience and Moral Freedom (Free ill and Personal Conscience) in the Discourses of Henry Thoreau, Martin Luther King, and Plato

People in societies, upon establishing institutions that provides and maintains order, unity, and peace within the society, are bound together through an agreement. This agreement, termed the "social contract," binds people together to commit subject themselves to the power of the government, where part of an individual's free will is given to it. The government acts as an agent, the representative of the people, in order to ensure that all members of the society comply with the laws of Nature, wherein humans are under obligation to follow.

In effect, the government plays a vital role in ensuring the society that peace, unity, and order are established. Any deviation or disobedience from the laws imposed by the society can result to punishment of the individual. Indeed, social institutions…… [Read More]

Geology Stratigraphy the Period in

" (New York Daily Times, 1854)

The liquor law plays a role in the aforementioned news story of the day. Socio-economic issues were tied in directly to socio-political and socio-economic issues as was the case not only in Maine but throughout the new union as well. Socio-political and socio-economic links were abundant in the south and were critical to the start of the bitter Civil War battles. Just after this period, the commencement of the Civil War in 1861 to its end in 1865. The period just after the culmination of the Civil War is known as the period of econstruction, which defines the era of post war rebuilding and strengthening of socio-economic, socio-political, and socio-cultural ties.

Maine's exposure to these periods after 1857 was not as prolific as were in many areas of the union and the confederacy. In fact, there were no Civil War battles fought on Maine…… [Read More]

Society Is One in Which

Heavy rule will always lead to destruction one way or another. Individuals can only take being oppressed for so long. An ideal society is one where the government and the people are happy.

e see the results of oppression when we look at Martin Luther King's ideas and dreams for a better society. A world apart from Machiavelli's time, King captures the plight of the oppressed individual. He knows all too well what people experience when they are held down by a government that encroaches on everyday freedom. He urges his readers to "rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice" (King). He also sees hope in the future and asks people to "make justice a reality for all of God's children" (King). Justice is part of the government's responsibility to the people. Elizabeth Cady Canton also understood the struggle for independence.…… [Read More]

American Myths Nature Environment Unlimited Growth and

American Myths Nature Environment

Unlimited Growth and Finite Resources

Western Civilization is currently coming to terms with some very important and unsettling realities. Capitalism, and modern economics thinkers, have idolized economic growth without limit. In most economic textbooks and theories, economic growth is considered an end good, and a lack of economic growth a problem.

Though we can argue about whether economic growth is a good in all situations, it is indisputable that economic growth has natural limits. These natural limits are created by our own natural environment. For this reason, the culture of "more" which dominates Western Civilization and drives all of our reasoning, is not sustainable.

The effect of Western industrial capitalist civilization on the environment has been huge. The culture of Western civilization, currently driven by an ethic of individualism and materialism, empowered by science and technology, has done irreversible damage to the natural environment and continues…… [Read More]

Revolution Education and Modernization Revolution Education and

evolution, Education, And Modernization

evolution, Education and Modernization

Is revolution an acceptable way to change government? Why or why not?

In 1776 the founding fathers of the United States faced a situation where this question was paramount among the interests of their fellow countrymen:

"When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation" ("The Declaration of Independence," 1776).

History shows that when the needs of a society are not being met revolution is generated from outside the existing system since it is that system that is perceived as…… [Read More]

Jim Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry

John Brown's Raid On Harper's Ferry

John Brown and his raid at Harper's Ferry have a symbolic importance, as he himself was well aware, to suggest that not all white people counted themselves complicit in the persistence of slavery within the antebellum United States. In other words, Brown was engaged in what old-style Marxist revolutionaries used to refer to as "propaganda of the deed." His letters from prison were consciously intended as propaganda, as he asked for them to be circulated (and indeed published): "Please let all our friends read my letters when you can; & ask them to accept of it as in part for them."(Earle 98). And although his stated intention at Harper's Ferry -- to seize the weaponry there, arm the slaves of western Virginia, and thus begin Spartacus-style uprising -- failed, Brown craved martyrdom as justification, claiming: "I have now no doubt but that our seeming…… [Read More]

Black Churches and the Struggle for Civil Rights

Civil ights: The ole of Black Churches

The audience will understand the role that black churches played in the ongoing Civil ights Movement.

In this speech, I will show that black churches -- through methods of advocacy, spiritual leadership and active participation -- play a significant role in the ongoing Civil ights Movement that began in the mid-20th century and clearly continues on into today's times.

Everyone knows of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the important role he played in the Civil ights Movement. But how many people know about or realized that King was one of many black pastors to bring black churches into the Movement, providing leadership, spiritual nourishment, and advocacy to African-Americans struggling for equality? Or that black churches continue today to be part of that ongoing struggle? Just as black churches are making an impact in cities around the country where communities are torn by racial…… [Read More]

Green Roofs Living Walls Green

However incentives such as cleaner air, less pollution in areas where there is little greenery, natural beauty, and a healthy food source are attractive blogs Kevin Songer on 'Living Green oofs (2010).

What are "Living Walls"

Living Walls are similar to Green oofs providing benefits of insulation, natural beauty, longevity, and recycling advantages according to ELT Living Walls an article that avidly supports environmentally friendly living (2010). Plants can also be grown on the walls of homes. Many countries have already adopted this eco-friendly solution in countries such as Tanzania, and Nova Scotia, for example, where there are extremely hot and cold temperatures comments Chicago Green oofs (2011). Combining 'Green oofs' with 'Living Walls', a YouTube video demonstration presentation by showing how panels can be added to the home (YouTube, 2011).

Economic Advantages

So far the case for "Green oofs and Living Walls" has incorporated the societal, historical, and cultural…… [Read More]

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, a Florida Folklife riter

It is important when pursuing the study of history, not to get caught in the habit of reciting historical dates and facts. If this is the true study of history, then it involves nothing more than memorization. For one to truly understand why the people of a certain time period behaved as they did, it is necessary to get into their personal daily lives. It is important to know the passions of their daily struggles. It is rare that we get such as glimpse into these other lives, so long ago. This is the type of valuable information that we get when reading the works of Marjorie Rawlings.

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings is one of the most famous Florida writers of all time. She loved the folklife in Alachua County, Florida and has been compared to Henry David Thoreau in her style. She gives…… [Read More]

Scott Russell Sanders

Scott Russell Sanders -- a Modern, Midwestern Transcendentalist

His evolving life and vision

Scott Russell Sanders is one of the most distinguished authors of creative and environmentalist fiction, nonfiction, and poetry of the contemporary Midwest alive today. His many publications include novels, such as The Invisible Company, Bad Man Ballad, Terrarium, and the Engineer of Beasts, as well as books for children. His writings have appeared regularly in such literary trade publications and journals as the Georgia Review and Orion, as well as the environmentalist publication Audubon, and numerous anthologies. He is not merely a great writer, however. Sanders is also a great thinker who seeks to connect saving the individual soul, saving the environment, and seeking a quality spiritual live through the medium of creative works and prose. He is, in many ways, a kind of modern, Midwestern Transcendentalist along the lines of Thoreau and Emerson. He seeks to…… [Read More]

Nathaniel Hawthorne Was an Eighteenth Century American

Nathaniel Hawthorne was an Eighteenth Century American author who through his works explored the subject of human sin, punishment and guilt. In fact, themes of pride, guilt, sin, punishment and evil is evident in all of his works, and the wrongs committed by his ancestors played a particular dominant force in Hawthorne's literary career, such as his most famous piece, "The Scarlet Letter" (Nathaniel Pp). Hawthorne and other writers of the time, Ralph aldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Herman Melville, looked to the Puritan origins of American history and Puritan styles of rhetoric to create a distinctive American literary voice (Nathaniel Pp).

Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1803. His father, who died when Nathaniel was four years old, was a sea captain and direct descendent of John Hathorne, one of the judges in the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692 (Nathaniel Pp). Growing up in seclusion with his…… [Read More]

Arranged in a Pleasing and

I think Dickinson's poem is a work that is quite special because of the way she has taken the topic of death and she has made death into human form that is not at all like we would imagine him to be.

It is the sensibility that poets and others writers have, how they come to universal issues and human topics, that make a piece of writing literature. Some may argue that literature is only the classics, however, even popular books (e.g., the Harry Potter series or Twilight series) can be categorized as literature if they fulfill the purpose of the journey. Literature is literature if it speaks to people in a universal way and a lot of popular works can do that.

Within literature there are definite styles and movements. Henry David Thoreau was a writer who focused on what it meant to be human by comparing the human…… [Read More]

Nathanial Hawthorne The Ministers Black

Mr. Hooper states that he is no better or worse than the other members of his community, who he believes also harbor secret sins, even though they act as though they do not. The anti-Transcendentalist concept, like Transcendentalism, suggests that society harbors a false surface, but it believes this is due to an innate sinfulness of humankind, not because human beings outside of society are better.

Anti-transcendentalists believed that humans are hypocrites, and removing social constrictions will not heal the sins of humanity. Mr. Hooper, unlike Emerson's joyful sense of solitude in nature also experiences his isolation as a penance. He chooses to punish himself, not to gain a more positive sense of his inner self, but to fully understand and apprehend its sinfulness. Another key concept of Transcendentalism is the idea that a person's inner life is more important than their social, outer life. However, in Mr. Hooper's estimation,…… [Read More]

Backpacking Is Often Regarded as an Activity

Backpacking is often regarded as an activity, which is undertaken only by those people who have a deep love for the outdoors, adventure, or for roughing it out. However, while it is true that backpacking is not for the fainthearted, it is an activity that perhaps everyone should try at least once in his or her lifetime. For, backpacking can prove to be an enormously rewarding experience. It is the objective of this paper to describe the benefits of backpacking as well as explore some of its more practical aspects.

The term "backpacking" means literally that, as in "carrying something in a pack on the back." However, in point of fact, the word "backpacking" has grown to connote much more than the simple act of carrying a pack on the back. Indeed, today, backpacking virtually signifies a subculture in the world of travel and tourism: "Backpacking is traveling long distances…… [Read More]

Social Studies Instruction Observations

The Social Studies instruction that I observed was in a high school setting with students of diverse ethnicities and backgrounds. The demographic of the class consisted of 12 students, 5 female, 7 male; 3 African-American, 1 Asian-American, 1 Hispanic-American, and 1 foreign exchange student from Germany, as well as 6 Caucasian Americans. The overall demographic of the school is about 75% Caucasian American, 15% African-American, 5% Hispanic-American, and 5% other. There is about a 50-50 mix of males and females in the student body. The teachers are mostly female, with only about 30% of the faculty being male. Less than 5% of the faculty is African-American. There is 1 Hispanic teacher. The school’s faculty is thus not very reflective of the study body in terms of ethnic background.

The Social Studies instruction I observed helped to prepare students for participation in a democratic society by focusing on the recent Occupy…… [Read More]

Mexican-American War Mr Polk's War

Perhaps because he was writing in the wake of the Vietnam Era, Schroeder is highly conscious of the 'dammed if you do, damned if you don't' position anti-war politicians often find themselves, when it comes to morally and financially supporting the troops abroad. As was often the case since, most Congressmen, agreed to send aid, even if they opposed the war.

But even if congress voted to apportion funds, and obeyed Polk's degree, the dissent to the war continued to be expressed loudly and eloquently by pro-slavery and abolitionist forces alike. For the first time, the oppositional part of the Whigs articulated a clear position against the chief executive's major military policy initiative, creating the foundation, however unintentionally of the modern philosophically differentiated two-party system, where the party out of power often disagrees quite strongly with the foreign policy of the party in power. The notion of how to be…… [Read More]

Environmentalism Group Environmentalism Is Defined

To a great degree individual environmentalists, and especially martyrs, those who have lost their lives or liberty are seen by those in the most radical circles as defining members of their group. It is also clear that for the most part individuals in the movement are not recognized as such, excluding public figures such as former vice president Al Gore, who just received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on climate change ("Al Gore" 21) or the frequent Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader, an ardent environmentalist.

Hentoff 19)

orks Cited

Al Gore." estern Mail (Cardiff, ales) 13 Feb. 2007: 21.

Baird, Stephen L. "Climate Change: A Runaway Train?. The Human Species Has Reshaped Earth's Landscapes on an Ever-Larger and Lasting Scale." The Technology Teacher 66.4 (2006): 14.

Environmentalism." The Columbia Encyclopedia. 6th ed. 2004.

Crichton, Michael. "Environmentalism as Religion Run Amok." USA Today (Society for the Advancement of…… [Read More]

Nathaniel Hawthorne Life Imitates Were All the

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Life Imitates

ere all the literary works of Nathaniel Hawthorne compiled into a single manuscript, then appropriately filtered to include only works of prose and fiction, and if an attempt were then made to uncover a single motif spanning through the vast majority of the remaining text, it would read something like the following. A protagonist is haunted by a vague, strangely preternatural feeling of foreboding and doom that eventually manifests itself physically before mortally claiming its victim. Sadly, but not surprisingly so, this motif could also apply to Hawthorne's life. Despite the fact that the author who many have acclaimed as one of the finest in American history enjoyed a celebrated literary career (with a number of impressive, political boons as well), he was never able to fully surmount all of his 'demons' and enjoy the happiness that should have rightfully been his. Instead, the celebrated author…… [Read More]

Ad to Present the Civil

S. responded to the Great Depression by electing FDR, who brought out his Alphabet Programs which were supposed to put the nation back to work with public works projects. When that failed to restore the economy, the world elected to start with a new war: WWII. Germany had been buried by the Western powers following WWI -- and now the country threatened to assert itself once more. Russia was in the middle of its own revolution: Stalin was liquidating the kulaks and rounding others up and shipping them off to the Gulag. That did not help Russia's economy any more than FDR's Alphabet program -- but it did not matter: war was on the horizon. Japan was being strangled by Western powers: the American military-industrial-congressional complex essentially forced Japan to attack -- and then sat back and let it happen when Japan finally decided to bomb Pearl Harbor. Thus, America…… [Read More]

Family Influenced Your Career Direction in Both

family influenced your career direction in both subtle and direct ways?

My grandparents, parents and siblings have all influenced my career direction in direct and indirect (but sometimes not so subtle) ways. For instance, my paternal grandfather always insisted that I should attend college and "make something of myself" because he never had the opportunity. Likewise, my maternal grandmother consistently encouraged me to pursue a career in art because I liked to draw and once drew a picture when I was 10 years old that looked vaguely like her (she still has it framed and hung on her bedroom wall). My father is adamant that I should become some type of professional ("It doesn't matter what kind, just learn how to do something people will pay you a lot of money to do"). In addition, my older brother (a certified public accountant with an insurance company) has encouraged me to…… [Read More]

Role of Identity in Conflicts

human condition is the inevitability of conflict. In fact, in virtually any organizational setting, conflicts will take place on a regular basis as part of normal operations. To determine how to respond to conflict in constructive ways, this paper provides a review of and reaction to two chapters from Jones and Brinkerts' text, Conflict Coaching to determine how Narrative Theory gives insight into resolving conflict and how the identity perspective is helpful in understanding the nature of most conflict situations. An example from the author's personal life related to the role that identity (the issue of face) plays in creating and resolving conflict is followed by a list of identity or 'face' triggers? Finally, a summary of the research is provided in the conclusion.

eview and Discussion

a.

How Narrative Theory gives insight into resolving conflict?

Narrative Theory holds that the fundamental issues involved in a conflict can be discerned…… [Read More]

Social Change Pushed by Transcendentalists

Transcendentalists

Transcendentalism emerged in early 19th century. It is believed that Ralph Waldo Emerson who denied that he was a transcendentalist started transcendentalism. Amongst his peers, he was seen as the pioneer of American transcendentalism. Emerson has criticized various things in his essay especially regarding the Unitarian church. Other key transcendentalists were Henry David Thoreau, Thomas Parker, Amos Bronson Alcott, Margaret Fuller, James Freeman Clark, and Mary Moody Emerson. Ralph Emerson urged Americans to be themselves and searching for inspiration from Europe. He aimed at encouraging people to think openly and search for answers from nature and art. Emerson held on to the belief that people were naturally good, and they all had limitless potential. Emerson was totally against slavery, but was unwilling to speak up about it initially. Eventually in 1844, he began taking an active role in slavery opposition.

Thoreau pushed for simple living and encouraged people to…… [Read More]

English Grammar Letter From Birmingham

The first independent clause begins in a strong active voice, with a strong decisive verb, (Graff, 2006).

This represents his shift from true passiveness to a form of non-violent action. Then, the dependent clause "realizing that except for Christmas," begins with a gerund. The verb to realize is transformed into a noun with the adding of a "-ing." This is aimed at showing the general modality of the speaker. The speaker and all involved had a previous knowledge of the realization involved in the process. Then King Jr. refers back to the object Easter with the subject and verb of "this is." This is a form of a relative clause which is therefore a form of adjective clause, (Lewis, 1986).

The next sentence continues the modality of the gerund verb. This sentence is a dependent attached to an independent clause first beginning with a gerund, "Knowing that a strong economic…… [Read More]

American Literature it Can Be

One of his major works was a long poem written in three cantos about the horrors he experienced while being held prisoner on a ritish prison. ship. There we see a much edgier, angry Freneau who is willing to write about real life in real terms:

Here, generous ritain, generous, as you say,

To my parch'd tongue one cooling drop convey;

Hell has no mischief like a thirsty throat,

Nor one tormentor like your David Sproat."

All of these influences eventually came together, resulting later in the 19th century in Transcendentalism. This time when American writers reached to the past, they combined the best higher ideals of both the Puritans and the Enlightenment, and the love of nature from neoclassicism, and produced bodies of work that transcended all its previous influences. The roots for the literary movement that would bring us "Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry…… [Read More]

America and British Traditions in

So alike yet distinct did these early writers create, that they are now required reading in British schools (Duquette).

In terms of religion, American culture emulated Britain less than many of the early settler were reactionary against British conservatism. Several of the original 13 Colonies were established by English, Irish, and Scottish settlers who were fleeing religious persecution. By 1787, in fact, the United States became one of the first countries to place a freedom of religion code into law, even if it was only at the Federal level (Gaustad).

Thankfully, America has a taste for more exotic foods and cuisine than the British, but if we think of many of the celebrated Holidays, they either derive from or are part of the British tradition. Thanksgiving, for instance, is now a traditional American holiday evolving from the Pilgrim's plight during the first winter of their landing. Christmas, Easter, and Lent…… [Read More]

Obedience to Authority Asserts That

' However, ill-tempered is a somewhat subjective judgment, given that the protestors of the civil rights era were likely to be judged as similarly 'ill tempered' by those who opposed African-American legal parity with whites. King's claim of lovingly breaking the law did not mean that he joyously accepted his punishment of jail time for exercising his rights in the segregated south: King may have embraced his punishment because of his hopes for change, not out of some sort of self-abnegating humility. The civil rights movement was about self-assertion of one's rights. The love in his heart came from his hope for the possibility of change. This did not mean, just like contemporary groups, that he was not outraged by his jailing and the violent actions of the police against civil rights demonstrators.

But James J. Lopach and Jean A. Luckowski seem to have another agenda: their distaste for the…… [Read More]

Democratic Individuality George Kateb in

The first is based on actual political rights and the second is based on a sense of idealism about those rights.

Critical Summaries

Zakaras has his own set of theories about individuality and democracy, some of which merge with Kateb's and Emersons, and some of which diverge. The concept in which all three of these authors (Zakaras, Kateb and Emerson) seem to be in the greatest alignment is self-reliance. Each of these authors appears to view self-reliance as the ultimate source of freedom.

Patell lauds Kateb and Emerson for their ability to distinguish between true individuality and democracy and idealized individuality and democracy. He agrees with Kateb that true individuality cannot be fully ripened until these two distinctive worlds are merged.

Explanation

I found the Zarakas source in the local library. I looked up the name of Kateb's essay in the database and was directed to this book. Zarakas' book…… [Read More]

18th Century What Makes the 18th Century

18th Century

What makes the 18th century such a vast plethora of diverse opinions, creations and philosophies is the fact that the world was changing in a variety of ways. The Industrial Revolution and rationalism were having profound effects upon previously held religious and esthetic ideals. While some passionately pursued new directions of thought, science and art, others held desperately to old philosophies. Furthermore the different countries of the globe expressed their views and philosophies in different ways in reaction to the changes occurring within their borders.

Philosophers such as the German, Immanuel Kant for example applied universal, reasonable rules to all science, morality and art. According to Kant, these rules were to be followed by all rational beings (rehier 67). John Locke followed the same philosophy, finding that all understanding needs to be based upon the use of the senses. In a more esthetic sense, this English philosopher also…… [Read More]

America Wealth and Power Are

Unfortunately many aspects of modern American society threaten individual liberties. For example, the disparity between the rich and the poor in American society impacts the level of freedom enjoyed by certain segments of the population. The "freedom" to pay workers a pittance in order to increase profits in a large corporation is therefore not really a "freedom" at all. Therefore, it is up to the government and to the people who support it to ensure that the rights and freedoms of all persons are preserved. Similarly, when religious institutions hope to influence public policy, they inadvertently infringe on the rights and freedoms of the American people. Even if well-meaning, religious institutions cannot bind people in a free society to do what they do or believe what they believe. Morals are a reflection of common sense and education, not of specific religious values. Therefore, the government cannot bend its legislation to…… [Read More]

Leadership Competencies the Accelerating Pace

In traded industries where there is fierce competition, it is not possible to pay men more than equally productive women -- every little disadvantage can be fatal to a company's survival. This means that gender equality emerges faster in these industries, as U.S. evidence shows. On virtually every criticism of globalization, one can find good, rather than bad, things to say. So globalization does have a human face. The really interesting question is therefore what can people do through institutional design and policies -- both domestic and international -- to improve it.

d. The accelerating pace of globalization, communications, and technological innovation; the changing patterns of cross-border capital flows; the fluid state of corporate mergers and partnerships; all these have created -- and will continue to create for the foreseeable future -- fundamental shifts in the ways in which business is conducted. Where many old-fashioned -- and still widely current…… [Read More]

Scarlett Letter

Scarlett Letter

Review of the Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850. Hawthorne has been canonized in many literary circles and is widely recognized as one of the most famous writers of American literature. He wrote The Scarlet Letter at the age of 46, at a time in which he lived with his wife in Concord, Massachusetts. Hawthorne belonged to the Transcendentalist school of writers, which included notable New England writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau; this group of writers were less indebted to religion than was common at the time, and preferred to look toward nature and individual thought as sources of wisdom. By the time that The Scarlet Letter was written, Hawthorne was already a well-established writer. He had published his first novel in 1828, a full 22 years before The Scarlet Letter. In this regard, The Scarlet Letter…… [Read More]

Close Reading Analysis

Unfair

Robert Francis was an American poet whose work is reminiscent of Robert Francis, his mentor. Francis' writing has often compared to other writers such as Frost, Emily Dickinson, and Henry David Thoreau. Although Francis's work has frequently been neglected and is "often excluded from major anthologies of American poetry," those that have read his work have praised him and his writing. In "Fair and Unfair," Francis comments on balance in nature and in society. Like Frost, Francis contends nature has the ability to provide guidance if only man is smart enough to observe it. In "Fair and Unfair," Francis is able to find balance through what is written and how it is written.

The poem is told from a first person, omniscient perspective and the narrator appears to be addressing the general public; it appears as though the narrator seeks to bring attention to how nature has become disregarded…… [Read More]

Self-Fulfilling Prophecies and Communication

Self-Fulfilling Prophecies and Communication

Does the full moon really effect one's behavior? Does Friday the 13th really deserve extra precaution? Is a Harvard professor wiser than say an Appalachian hermit? Or is someone who abandons their life of wealth and fame, suffering from mental illness? Is one race or gender more adept at a particular profession than another? There is no scientific evidence that proves the full moon has any effect on a person's personality or behavior, yet those in law enforcement and the medical profession often say that crime, accidents, and psychotic behavior are higher during the full moon, moreover, many people say they feel more anxious or nervous during a full moon. Henry David Thoreau lived in the woods for several years, St. Francis of Assisi abandoned his wealth and military position for a life of poverty, and many people regard Friday 13th as a lucky day. Self-fulfilling…… [Read More]

Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson Project in

alt hitman and Emily Dickinson project, in their poetry, an individual identity that achieves its power from within, thus placing a premium on the individual self. Ironically, this premium on the individual self was very much in vogue in America at the time; from Emerson to the early pioneers of 19th century industrialism. As a result, their projections of individual power were greatly influenced by the culture in which they live in. This is just one way in which cultural power influences individual power. Another way this occurs in their poetry has to do with their treatment of gender. America during the late 19th century can be characterized as a time of great social upheaval, but also as a time when gender roles were still very much strictly prescribed. Both hitman and Dickinson, while challenging the cultural assumptions about gender in the late 19th century, also project an individual identity,…… [Read More]

Nature and Human

landscape studies pioneer, John rinckerhoff Jackson, studied the contemporary landscape - common, everyday places where we live, work and play - for the clues it provides to American culture.

In 1964, the American Congress passed the Wilderness Act, thereby protecting over 100 million acres of public land from development. Wilderness was "recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain." Wilderness must remain "in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape." Finally, Wilderness is "an untamed natural realm,"..."that's ideally"..."unpeopled.."

People should stay back, as if in front of a picture, admire and enjoy it but they are not allowed to trespass it. The landscape has to remain untouched. As I was reading the above mentioned fragments from the Wilderness Act, a question popped up: "Why?"

Isn't it…… [Read More]