...While comparing Henry David Thoreau's Walden, or Life in the Woods (1854) and Ralph Waldo Emerson's Nature (1836), there are comparable beliefs regarding simplicity and the capacity of the human mind. Transcendentalism is considered a philosophy of self-reliance and individualism, however transcendentalism was often seen as more than a philosophy; it was treated almost as a religion. Nature was viewed as its church and it idealizes God as its sacred being. Emerson’s and Thoreau’s key theme in their writings was to help one reconnect with nature and gain a simpler understanding of life. For instance, Henry David Thoreau experiments the transcendentalist beliefs about nature by living at Walden Woods in a small cabin on Emerson's property. Here Thoreau discovered the simplicity in nature and the exposure it brings to our mind. Both Emerson and Thoreau believe that nature is what imposes us not to rely on others' ideas but to establish our own. Nature is always changing so we must keep seeking for the meaning of human life. Thoreau wanted to live a simple life, in order to find a deeper meaning of human existence. He writes, "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I...
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...What is one’s duty to? Is it to himself or to the society he lives in? In 1841, Henry David Thoreau accepted an offer to stay with neighboring Ralph Waldo Emerson's family and earn his keep as a handyman while he concentrated on his writing. Thoreau began to adapt to and follow Emerson’s belief in transcendentalism, writing many essays about his belief in transcendentalism. In “Civil Disobedience”, he strongly addresses its readers that they should follow their conscious and not be influenced by a government. In his work “Walden”, Thoreau discusses the insignificance of material goods. He also debates the importance of living close to nature, similar to Emerson’s “Nature”. Some may argue that Thoreau's beliefs and ideas are extreme, but in many ways, they are both idealistic and realistic. While not all of his truths can be classified as realistic, they are ideal. (Witherell and Dubrulle)...
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...Michael Lichtenwalner Father Samway Texts and Contexts 11 April 2012 In What Ways Does Thoreau's Walden Embody the Concept of Transcendentalism? Social networking, a craze sweeping across America, allows people to become connected with their friends, family, coworkers, and acquaintances 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Users of social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter are periodically updated with happenings and insight into the lives of others. This would likely seem meaningless and idiotic to Henry David Thoreau, a prominent transcendentalist American author. He encourages his readers to live lives “simple and well as Nature”, independent from those of others and society (Thoreau 53). He therefore moved to Walden Pond on July 4, 1845 for two years and two months in order to live a simple and independent life. Thoreau claims that “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I have not lived” (61). In Walden, Thoreau upholds beliefs that he shares with transcendental authors such as Ralph Waldo Emerson. These beliefs include solitude, self-reliance, immersion in nature, and spiritual rebirth. Transcendentalism, a philosophical movement in the 19th century, stood against the individual’s conformity to societies and institutions. Instead, transcendentalism encouraged individuals to rise above society and...
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...Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson were both influential people. Thoreau was inspired by Emerson's ideas. They encouraged the people around them to think for themselves, simplify their lives, and enjoy nature. These are the major similarities in their philosophies on life. Thoreau and Emerson both believed in self-reliance. Thoreau thought that people should live their life exactly how they want. He did not want people to live the life that their parents wanted them to. Thoreau said, "pursue his own way." He saw that many people just take the easy route and conform to the world. He wanted people to break tradition and do what they loved. Emerson believed that you should trust yourself. He said, "speak what you think now… and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks… though it contradicts everything you said." He was not afraid to contradict himself, because that meant he had learned from his experiences. He wanted people to say what they thought, whether others agreed with them or not. Thoreau and Emerson's belief in self-reliance also trickled into a life of simplicity....
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...Emerson and Thoreau share many of the same beliefs and are key components of the transcendentalism movement. These beliefs are easier to compare than to contrast. The way Emerson thinks of society relates to Thoreau's views on government, and both men have similar views on nature. The fundamentals of transcendentalism are rooted in the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson. In "Nature", Emerson says "Standing on the bare ground - my head bathed by the blithe air and uplifted into infinite space - all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eyeball" (Nature 367). Here, He is saying nature's simplicity allows him to think clearly and have deeper thoughts. As for society, Emerson states "Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members," Society plans to take what makes us individuals by making us into conformists "Self-reliance is its aversion"(Self-Reliance 369). With this quote, individuals are shown how Emerson believes that to combat this conformity people need self-reliance. The ideas of transcendentalism are expressed in Thoreau's In Walden. Thoreau explains his thoughts on nature similarly:"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what It had to...
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...2. Define and clarify three characteristics of Emersonianism/Transcendentalism Three main characteristics of transcendentalism as defined by Emerson himself in “The Transcendentalist,” are; respect for intuitions, withdrawal from labor and competition, and pursuit of a critical, solitary lifestyle. Transcendentalism can also be defined as a pursuit of the truth. Fundamentally, truth can be anything that an individual believes to be correct, based on his or her own intuition. All generally accepted social beliefs are to be tossed aside and one is to follow his or her instincts. Emerson rejected labor and any outcomes of labor. He did not believe in competition or government but rather in a self propelled world. Living a solitary lifestyle is thought of as an important feature in transcendentalism. Simplicity is said to stem from self-dependency. “Society is good when it does not violate me; but best when it is likest to solitude” (Emerson). It is believed that is one lives a simple life; all will go well for them. These are just three of the many principles and characteristics of transcendentalism. 4. Explain this statement in Thoreauvian terms: “Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.” This quote taken from Thoreau’s “Civil Obedience,” is a statement that has made a large impression on countless. Thoreau believed that if the government is committing unjust actions, one should put his or her entire selves...
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...authors gained fame form this movement, such as : Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Walt Whitman. Ralph Waldo Emerson is often regarded as the heart and soul of the Transcendentalism movement. He left Unitarian church ministry to focus more on physiological and spiritual writing. His first well known essay was "Nature" ; It gave insight to Emerson's view of the natural world, and in it he said that through exploring nature, man would find out more about himself. He also believed it was fundamental that man take a break from the distractions in society and get lost in ones thoughts about the natural world. “The happiest man is he who learns from nature the lesson of worship”. This direct quote from "Nature" embodies the principles of the transcendentalist movement by restating their belief on separation from the church to build a better 'Eternal Self' with the universe and nature. Henry David Thoreau was inspired to start writing with a more transcendentalist view after borrowing a copy of Nature, by Ralph Waldo Emerson, from a neighbor. he was so heavily influenced by this essay and Emerson that he went to Walden Pond, land owned by Emerson, and built his own home. Here, he explored nature to its absolute depths and wrote many essay's. His best...
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...Independence * 9. The passage above is from * a. William Bradford’s The History of Plimouth Plantation 10. All of the following are writers of the Colonial era EXCEPT b. Margaret Fuller 11. The passage would best be described as an example of d. Sentimentalism 12. The first paragraph of the passage provides an example of which of the following figures of speech ? c. Apostrophe 13. Which of the following best describes a theme of Whitman’s poem “ Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking’’? e. The awakening of the poet to his vocation 14. Which of the following did NOT write a slave narrative? d. Charles Brockden Brown 15. The sentences are taken from the opening pages of e. Henry David Thoreau’s Walden 16. The phrase “the furniture of my mind was all undusted...
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...There are many ways that authors can show their readers the time period that their stories take place in. They can say it outright in the narrative, include obviously dated references, or attempt to vaguely hint at the time’s culture and events. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is set in the late 1940s, early 1950s. Salinger paints an image for the readers, giving hints to let them figure out the time setting on their own. He mentions events just a few years past, references things that only would make sense in such a time, and goes even deeper, writing characters that most plausibly would have existed in such a culture, in such a time. When examining the historical aspects of The Catcher in the Rye, a reader can see how J. D. Salinger conveys the essence of the late 1940s; he does this through basic, obvious references to forms of entertainment, as well as through the more complex depths of the time period’s social constructs and the impending counterculture revolt of the 1960s. In the novel, many references are made to things that limit the possible time period for this novel. Many of these references dealt with forms of entertainment, from bar pianists to old-timey movies. Holden talks about his visit to a night club called Ernie’s which “was jam-packed…[but] it was pretty quiet, though, because Ernie was playing the piano” (Salinger 83). Compared to the nightclubs of today, this is pretty bland. Modern night clubs are overflowing with sweaty bodies dancing suggestively...
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...PREFACE This major project examines the indispensable desiderata of Transcendentalism in comparison to the Dark Romantics background and how these technicalities prepare this work of art as an influential synthesis of human imagination incorporated with mystic facts. Transcendentalism and Dark Romanticism were two literary movements that occurred in America during roughly the same time period (1840—1860). Although the two had surface similarities, such as their reverence for Nature, their founding beliefs were quite different, enough to make one seem almost the antithesis of each other. Moreover one’s genesis is ventured out from other; i.e. Dark Romanticism from the roots of Transcendentalism or precisely the lacunae are best determined for raising up the term called Dark Romanticism. Contents S. No. Page no. Chapter 1.........................................................................................................4-14 Chapter 2.........................................................................................................15-23. Chapter 3..........................................................................................................24-27 Resolution.........................................................................................................28-29 Work Cited................................................................
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...The Concept of Nature in the Poetry of William Wordsworth and Robert Frost : A Comparative Study Chapter One Introduction 1. Background Poets have long been inspired to tune their lyrics to the variations in landscape, the changes in season, and the natural phenomena around them. The Greek poet Theocritus began writing idylls in the third century B.C.E. to glorify and honor the simplicity of rural life--creating such well known characters as Lycidas, who has inspired dozens of poems as the archetypal shepherd, including the famous poem "Lycidas" by John Milton. An idyll was originally a short, peaceful pastoral lyric, but has come to include poems of epic adventure set in an idealized past, including Lord Alfred Tennyson's take on Arthurian legend, The Idylls of the King. The Biblical Song of Songs is also considered an idyll, as it tells its story of love and passion by continuously evoking imagery from the natural world. The more familiar form of surviving pastoral poetry that has retained its integrity is the eclogue, a poem attuned to the natural world and seasons, placed in a pleasant, serene, and rural place, and in which shepherds often converse. The first eclogue was written by Virgil in 37 B.C.E. The eclogue also flourished in the Italian Renaissance, its most notable authors being Dante and Petrarch. It became something of a requirement for young poets, a form they had to master before embarking upon great original work. Sir Philip Sidney’s Arcadia and Edmund Spenser’s...
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...Narrative A narrative is a sequence of events that a narrator tells in story form. A narrator is a storyteller of any kind, whether the authorial voice in a novel or a friend telling you about last night’s party. Point of View The point of view is the perspective that a narrative takes toward the events it describes. First-person narration: A narrative in which the narrator tells the story from his/her own point of view and refers to him/herself as “I.” The narrator may be an active participant in the story or just an observer. When the point of view represented is specifically the author’s, and not a fictional narrator’s, the story is autobiographical and may be nonfictional (see Common Literary Forms and Genres below). Third-person narration: The narrator remains outside the story and describes the characters in the story using proper names and the third-person pronouns “he,” “she,” “it,” and “they.” • Omniscient narration: The narrator knows all of the actions, feelings, and motivations of all of the characters. For example, the narrator of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina seems to know everything about all the characters and events in the story. • Limited omniscient narration: The narrator knows the actions, feelings, and motivations of only one or a handful of characters. For example, the narrator of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has full knowledge of only Alice. • Free indirect discourse: The narrator conveys a character’s inner thoughts...
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...Beginning theory An introduction to literary and cultural theory Second edition Peter Barry © Peter Barry 1995, 2002 ISBN: 0719062683 Contents Acknowledgements - page x Preface to the second edition - xii Introduction - 1 About this book - 1 Approaching theory - 6 Slop and think: reviewing your study of literature to date - 8 My own 'stock-taking' - 9 1 Theory before 'theory' - liberal humanism - 11 The history of English studies - 11 Stop and think - 11 Ten tenets of liberal humanism - 16 Literary theorising from Aristotle to Leavis some key moments - 21 Liberal humanism in practice - 31 The transition to 'theory' - 32 Some recurrent ideas in critical theory - 34 Selected reading - 36 2 Structuralism - 39 Structuralist chickens and liberal humanist eggs Signs of the fathers - Saussure - 41 Stop and think - 45 The scope of structuralism - 46 What structuralist critics do - 49 Structuralist criticism: examples - 50 Stop and think - 53 Stop and think - 55 39 Stop and think - 57 Selected reading - 60 3 Post-structuralism and deconstruction - 61 Some theoretical differences between structuralism and post-structuralism - 61 Post-structuralism - life on a decentred planet - 65 Stop and think - 68 Structuralism and post-structuralism - some practical differences - 70 What post-structuralist critics do - 73 Deconstruction: an example - 73 Selected reading - 79 4 Postmodernism - 81 What is postmodernism? What was modernism? -...
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...THE INTELLIGENT INVESTOR A BOOK OF PRACTICAL COUNSEL REVISED EDITION B E NJAM I N G RAHAM Updated with New Commentary by Jason Zweig To E.M.G. Through chances various, through all vicissitudes, we make our way. . . . Aeneid Contents Epigraph iii Preface to the Fourth Edition, by Warren E. Buffett viii A Note About Benjamin Graham, by Jason Zweig x Introduction: What This Book Expects to Accomplish COMMENTARY ON THE INTRODUCTION 1. 1 12 35 The Investor and Inflation 47 COMMENTARY ON CHAPTER 2 3. 18 COMMENTARY ON CHAPTER 1 2. Investment versus Speculation: Results to Be Expected by the Intelligent Investor 58 65 COMMENTARY ON CHAPTER 3 4. A Century of Stock-Market History: The Level of Stock Prices in Early 1972 80 General Portfolio Policy: The Defensive Investor 88 COMMENTARY ON CHAPTER 4 5. 101 124 Portfolio Policy for the Enterprising Investor: Negative Approach 133 COMMENTARY ON CHAPTER 6 7. 112 COMMENTARY ON CHAPTER 5 6. The Defensive Investor and Common Stocks 145 iv 155 COMMENTARY ON CHAPTER 7 8. Portfolio Policy for the Enterprising Investor: The Positive Side 179 The Investor and Market Fluctuations 188 v Contents COMMENTARY ON CHAPTER 8 9. Investing in Investment Funds COMMENTARY ON CHAPTER 9 213 226 242 10. The Investor and His Advisers 257 COMMENTARY ON CHAPTER 10 272 11. Security...
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...Copyright © 2013 by McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. ISBN: 978-0-07-180360-1 MHID: 0-07-180360-2 The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: ISBN: 978-0-07-180359-5, MHID: 0-07180359-9. E-book conversion by Codemantra Version 1.0 All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. Rather than put a trademark symbol after every occurrence of a trademarked name, we use names in an editorial fashion only, and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark. Where such designations appear in this book, they have been printed with initial caps. McGraw-Hill Education eBooks are available at special quantity discounts to use as premiums and sales promotions or for use in corporate training programs. To contact a representative please visit the Contact Us page at www.mhprofessional.com. Trademarks: McGraw-Hill Education, the McGraw-Hill Education logo, 5 Steps to a 5 and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of McGraw-Hill Education and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property...
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