The second major influence on scholars, Emerson claims, is the past. The history of ideas, the development of science, the influence of philosophy -- these are the forces that shape one's thinking about thought. However, Emerson claims there is a difference between thinking, and reading with a mind to accept someone else's thought at full value. In the essay "Self-Reliance" he clarifies this thought when he writes that "To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, -- that is genius" (Essays, 31) . This idea is closely linked to the earlier discussion of nature, in that the past serves to inform, but nature itself serves to inspire. hy should Americans take their thought second-hand from the European continent or elsewhere, when they have as ready access to the stuff of nature as any other people, Emerson…...
Consistent with Emerson and Fuller's beliefs regarding transcendentalism, Justice Holmes' emphasis was on the achievement of a higher level of knowledge, wherein he explicated on the importance of transcendentalist belief when interpreting and understanding the rudiments of law. In "Common Law," he argued that understanding the law would entail the avoidance of "two errors" by the "writer and reader" (of law): "One is that of supposing, because an idea seems very familiar and natural to us, that it has always been so...The other mistake is the opposite one of asking too much of history." This wisdom in the practice of law and its interpretation, Holmes was able to impart how, through the years, transcendentalism has remained true in its stance of achieving non-conformist, higher level of knowledge for human society, encompassing all the differences humanity may have with each other as individuals.
ibliography
Emerson, R.W. (1841). E-text of "Self-reliance." Available at http://www.emersoncentral.com/self-reliance.htm.
Transcendentalism
aking Up to Life and Living Deliberately:
A Close Reading of "here I Lived and hat I Lived for" in Thoreau's alden
During the 1830's in Concord, Massachusetts, a group of literary men and women set out to redefine the common philosophy of American culture. The reigning philosophy was based on the traditions of John Locke and his "materialists." However, for Henry David Thoreau and the others who were a part of this literary group, a new way of thinking was in order. hile Lockean theory held that everyone was a blank slate -- tabula rasa, and that men were made up of their outside experiences and education (Geldard 10), there was another idea -- that each person had the inherent capability of answering life's most metaphysical questions; the only thing a person has to do is tap into them. Transcendentalism was thus born from this form of thought and alden…...
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Works Cited
Geldard, Richard G. The Essential Transcendentalists. Tarcher, 2005.
Transcendentalism in Henry David Thoreau's works, especially "Walden." In particular, it will discuss how Thoreau's "Walden" fits and does not fit the definition of Transcendentalism, and how he viewed the Brook Farm Experiment.
TANSCENDENTALISM AND THOEAU
The fact is I am a mystic, a transcendentalist, and a natural philosopher to boot," Henry David Thoreau.
Henry David Thoreau seemed destined to spend time on Walden Pond and write his most famous book, "Walden." A young college graduate of twenty-eight, he taught school for a while, worked with alph Waldo Emerson, and suffered mightily over the death of his brother. A friend suggested he spend some time at Walden to discover himself, and on Independence Day, 1845, he moved in to a small hut on the shores of the pond (Thoreau xiii). "Watching and listening, studying, thinking, dreaming, attending to the varying moods of the pond, writing in his journals, trying the virtue of…...
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References
Brulatour, Meg. "What is American Transcendentalism?" Virginia Commonwealth University. 2002. Kesten, Seymour R. Utopian Episodes: Daily Life in Experimental Colonies Dedicated to Changing the World. 1st ed. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1993. Thoreau, Henry David. Walden and Other Writings of Henry David Thoreau. Ed. Brooks Atkinson. New York: The Modern Library, 1950.http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/transweb/tr-def.htm .
Transcendentalism
The Perversion of the American Dream
The oracle of transcendentalism, Ralph aldo Emerson, and his acetic companion and one-time roommate Henry David Thoreau (that's correct, when Thoreau got tired of sleeping in the forest, he moved in with Emerson and his family for a few weeks) both had a lot to say about man, nature, the nature of man, and the communion between nature and man, which if properly exploited can lead to great personal gain.
Emerson and Thoreau were great thinkers, philosophers, and purveyors of the English language and their work, although long-winded and at times tortuous, helped to define and shape the American dream. However, in recent years, their instructive thoughts and musings on certain tenets of the American dream, i.e. self-reliance, self-reflection, and critical thinking, have been subverted by 21st century avarice and greed. It is the purpose of this paper to investigate how many of the ideals Emerson…...
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Works Cited
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Essays on Wealth and Culture. Girard, KA: Haldeman-Julius,
[19-. Print.
Thoreau, Henry David. The Portable Thoreau. New York: Penguin, 1977. Print.
Sealts, Merton M. Emerson on the Scholar. Columbia: University of Missouri, 1992.
35). The suggestion implicit in the confession is that the Minister is no different from anyone except that he is showing in an exterior way the inward disposition of his soul: it is stained with sin and is in need of saving. "This veil is a type and a symbol, and I am bound to wear it ever, both in light and darkness, in solitude and before the gaze of multitudes" (par. 31).
The veil also gives the Minister a priestly aspect that transforms him into a "better clergyman" -- just as the priests of Christendom wore their own especial garb -- which differentiated them from the laity whom they served. Indeed, he becomes known as Father Hooper in the Puritan village -- a title that would have been given to a Catholic priest in medieval times: the black veil becomes a symbol of death to the world. It is…...
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Works Cited
Duffy, Stephen J. "Our Hearts of Darkness: Original Sin Revisited." Theological
Studies vol. 49, 1998: 597-622. Web. 16 Aug 2011.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Self-Reliance." Web. 16 Aug 2011.
This gave everyone motivation to let themselves be heard and say whatever it was that was on their mind. This was what American life at the time was all about, and it was through American Literature that they were able to do so. Transcendentalism brought upon a literary era that encouraged the succeeding eras of literature to define American Literature.
ealism was a literary period in American history that came after the Civil War era. With individuals trying to recover from a very dark period where the reconstruction of lives, families, and states were underway, writers, educators, and poets contributed to this period by providing realistic representations of what was occurring around them. From 1865-1900, ealism was a popular genre in America, as it was trying to recover from internal damage, from which came individuals who were willing to share their stories. Although it might be thought as boring and…...
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References:
Bryant, William Cullen. "To a Waterfowl." The American Tradition in Literature, 12th ed. Ed. George and Perkins, Barbara. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2009. p 785. Print.
Emerson, Ralph. "Self-Reliance." The American Tradition in Literature, 12th ed. Ed. George and Perkins, Barbara. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2009. p 1334. Print.
Wheatley, Phillis. "On Being Brought from Africa to America." The American Tradition in Literature, 12th ed. Ed. George and Perkins, Barbara. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2009. p 403. Print.
Thoreau advocated an end to formal law and government, as America's original founders advocated freedom. Thoreau refused to pay his taxes to what he saw as an evil government -- just as the Puritans were also willing to be jailed, and eventually fled England in pursuit of what they felt was the truth.
Anne Bradstreet, contemplating a terrible event like Thoreau contemplated the awfulness of the Mexican-American War, wrote "Verses on the Burning of her House, July 18, 1666" to explain her beliefs as a Puritan. Unlike Thoreau, Bradstreet in this example wrote about a personal, rather than a national tragedy, which may affect the phrasing of her work. But the poem also underlines the lack of resistance in the face of the divine will that characterized Puritanism and stands in contrast to Transcendentalism. Although Puritans might have resisted earthly government when it threatened the free practice of their faith,…...
eserver.org/walden02.html).This, he implies is impossible in society. Thoreau stresses that although he is alone, he is never lonely. In fact, it is society and living away from nature that creates a sense of loneliness and hatred for one's own species: "I experienced sometimes that the most sweet and tender, the most innocent and encouraging society may be found in any natural object, even for the poor misanthrope and most melancholy man. There can be no very black melancholy to him who lives in the midst of Nature and has his senses still" (Thoreau, Chapter 5, Paragraph 4, (http://thoreau.eserver.org/walden02.html).People only long for what they do not have, when they can see other people who seem to be having a better life, alone and in nature, longing for material goods and a superficially large circle of friends goes away. The presence of nature alone quiets the senses, and the innocent and natural…...
The Sense of Self and the Omniscient I in hitmans Song of MyselfIntroductionalt hitman\\\'s \\\"Song of Myself\\\" is an epic poem that celebrates the individual self while exploring the interconnectedness of all things. The poem is filled with imagery and symbolism, and it is characterized by an omnipresent \\\"I\\\" that seems to encompass all of humanity. hitman\\\'s conception of the self in this poem is one that is both public and universal while simultaneously deeply personal. This essay will examine the sense of self and the omniscient \\\"I\\\" present in \\\"Song of Myself\\\" and explore how hitman\\\'s perception of self relates to the common public perception of the self at the time, historically and culturally.The Self and IThe sense of self in \\\"Song of Myself\\\" is both individualistic and universal. On the one hand, hitman celebrates the uniqueness of the self, urging the reader to \\\"celebrate [their]self\\\" (line 1) and…...
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Works CitedWhitman, Walt. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Song of Myself.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Leaves of Grass. 1855.Reynolds, David S. Walt Whitman\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s America: A Cultural Biography. Vintage, 1996.Richardson, Robert D. Emerson: The Mind on Fire. University of California Press, 1995.
" The narrator of the film asks: "hat's this war in the heart of nature? hy does nature vie with itself, the land contend with the sea? Is there an avenging power in nature?" Because it is a war film set during the Battle of Guadalcanal, the film explores the meaning of death and acts as a meditation on death much in the same way Christian eschatology contemplates the Four Last Things. In this sense, Malick's Thin Red Line explores themes similar to those explored by hitman and recognizes the need for spiritual transcendence in a world obsessed with death.
Likewise, just as Emily Dickinson represents the force and power of eternity in "Because I Could Not Stop for Death," so too does Malick in the Tree of Life. Dickinson writes in her poem of her understanding of immortality: "Since then -- 'tis Centuries -- and yet / Feels shorter than…...
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Works Cited
Dickinson, Emily. "Because I could not stop for death." Bartleby. Web. 22 Oct 2012.
Malick, Terrence, dir. The Thin Red Line. Los Angeles: 20th Century Fox, 1998. Film.
Malick, Terrence, dir. The Tree of Life. Los Angeles: Fox Searchlight, 2011. Film.
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. NY: Penguin Books, 2002. Print.
Emerson, he believed resistance to conformity and exploration of self, led to a kind of self-reliance that permeated the inner workings and imaginings of the human soul. What began as a simple analysis of self-explored concepts, took on the form of universal philosophy. This essay will examine Emerson's work, "Self-eliance" in a way that will not only analyze themes, but also provide a closer look into the context surrounding Emerson at the time as well as possible meanings behind the text.
alph Waldo Emerson wrote an 1841 essay titled "Self-eliance". An American essayist and transcendentalist philosopher, Emerson provides his most thorough statement of one of his ongoing themes: the avoidance of false consistency and conformity. Meaning, Emerson preached for people to follow their own ideas and instincts instead of relying on society's imposed rules and standards. His famous quote, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by…...
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References
Andrew C. Hansen. (2008). Reading Sonic Culture in Emerson's "Self-Reliance". Rhetoric & Public Affairs, 11(3), 417-437. doi:10.1353/rap.0.0053
Bloom, H. (2009). Ralph Ellison's Invisible man. New York, NY: Infobase Publishing.
Brown, L. R. (1997). The Emerson museum: Practical romanticism and the pursuit of the whole. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Emerson, R. W. (2012). Self-Reliance and Other Essays. Dover Publications.
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, there…...
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Works Cited
Brulatour, Meg. "Heaven on Earth: The Legacy of 19th Century Transcendentalism as an Ecumenical Philosophy of Nature." American Transcendentalist Web 1999
Self-Reliance and the Road Not Taken
American Transcendentalism: Emerson and Frost
There are several qualities that are inherent in American literature that help to set it apart from English literature. Among the earliest themes explored in American literature was the concept of self-reliance and individuality. These concepts are prevalent of writers and advocates of Transcendentalism, a subset of American Romanticism. Ralph aldo Emerson explored the concept of individuality in his essay, "Self-Reliance," and also aimed to define how self-worth is measured. Likewise, Robert Frost embraces the concepts of individuality and self-worth as defined by Emerson. Emerson's influence on Frost can be seen in the theme and narrative of Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken." Both Emerson and Frost comment on the importance of the self and the impact that individuality has on a person.
Transcendentalism is an American literary, political, and philosophical movement that aimed to bring an individual to recognize that non-conformism…...
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Works Cited
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Self-Reliance." Emerson Central. Web. 7 August 2012.
Frost, Robert. "The Road Not Taken." Mountain Interval. Web. 7 August 2012.
"Romanticism." Brooklyn College. Web. 7 August 2012.
Reuben, Paul P. "Chapter 4: American Transcendentalism (AT): A Brief Introduction." PAL:
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…...
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