Transcendentalism Essay Examples

The relationship between humans and nature has been interactive, chaotic, and complex. From a many human viewpoints, nature can be considered as both a source of everyday needs, and an adversary, a rather indefinite force which we interact with. Many people today consider themselves a separate entity, existing completely outside, if not above nature, especially…

Many of Henry D. Thoreau’s ideas are clearly seen in his piece of writing ‘Where I Lived and What I Lived For’. Through his work, not only do we learn about his experience in the woods at Walden Pond, but also about his values and the way he sees life, which he shares with his…

Henry David Thoreau, in his essay, civil disobedience, argues that when a person is not in comfort with the government, then we have a right as humans to act against its injustice. Thoreau supports his argument by first stating that unjust laws exist and that we shall endeavor to amend them instead of being content…

The 1989 film Dead Poets Society revisits transcendentalism. In it, several boys attending a staunch private academy are deeply affected by their new English teacher Mr. Keating, or “O Capitan, My Capitan” as he dares them to call him. He wants them to, “carpe diem” or seize the day. Some of the boys begin meeting…

In their respective fields, both Walt Whitman and Ralph Waldo Emerson were considered to be quintessential American writers. Their thoughts and statements regarding nonconformity and individuality were revolutionizing for the era that they lived. Thanks to them,similar thoughts and statements, are now much more mainstream and unexceptional.Although they used different tactics to get their points…

Ralph Waldo Emerson, nineteenth century poet and writer, expresses a philosophy of life, based on our inner self and the presence of the soul. Emerson regarded and learned from the great minds of the past. In his writings he says repeatedly that each person should live according to his own thinking. In Nature and Self-Reliance…

Some aspects of Transcendentalism can be applied in today’s society, while others have lost their relevance due to the changes of social and economic conditions since the time of Thoreau. The Transcendentalists’ goal was to create a Utopia in America. They believed in a society without rules in which you would be free to do…

The Transcendentalists and the Dark Romantics were the two major literary groups of America’s literary coming of age. The transcendentalists believed in transcending everyday, physical human experiences and objects, in order to determine the reality of God, the universe, and the self. Transcendentalists, led by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, believed in the…

In our class, Survey of American Literature, we have read and analyzed the classic American works that have influenced and in some cases ingrained themselves into our country’s identity and belief system. Among those studied has been Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essays, The American Scholar and Self -Reliance, and Frederick Douglass’ Narrative. Each…

The Puritans see God as mysteriously involved in the acts of the universe, whereas the transcendentalists think God is connected to mankind through nature and intuition. The outlook on Puritan writing is that their style tends to be plain and introspective. Transcendentalist writing shows how nature and feelings are triumphant over logic and rationality. In…

Many people in our world are often trying to be self-reliant; trying to make it on their own and be original in thought and true to themselves. Many of those people end up conforming and doing what has been done in the past. They end up walking down the worn out path that so many…

Ralph Waldo Emerson, who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century, once wrote, “The virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance is its aversion. ” The Transcendentalist were a group of people who believed that everyone was equal and had power inside them as an individual. In the mid-19th century Emerson, Henry David Thoreau,…

Transcendentalism is a lifestyle in which one strives to rise above and reach a level of perfection. Transcendentalists believe in self-reliance, non-conformity, individualism, simplicity, the greatness of nature, and God being within oneself. Transcendentalism is often represented in modern day pop-culture; a strong example of this is The Hunger Games. The book depicts the life…

The main theme of The Grapes of Wrath is the idea that all men are part of the family of man. This is closely related to the philosophical movement of transcendentalism, what the author Ralph Waldo Emerson followed. There are four main points of the story that express this in the story; the ex-preacher’s search…

Note: Nineteenth Century American Transcendentalism is not a religion (in the traditional sense of the word); it is a pragmatic philosophy, a state of mind, and a form of spirituality. It is not a religion because it does not adhere to the three concepts common in major religions: a. a belief in a God; b….