...Jonathan Veldhuyzen Professor Matthew Towles English 201-002 11/21/2014 Ralph Waldo Emerson: His own God and Transcendentalist Worldview “The foregoing generations beheld God and nature face to face; we, though their own eyes. Why should not we also enjoy an original relation to the universe? Why should not we have a poetry and philosophy of insights and not of tradition, and a religion by revelation to us,” (940, 941) were the words written by Emerson in the introduction of his renown work “Nature” as he espoused that men should not necessarily believe in a God through ideals seen in the Bible and evidenced in nature, but rather use their own logic through poetry and philosophy to determine their own God. His writings espoused beliefs that do not reflect a Christian worldview, but rather bases man’s salvation on his own intuition. Emerson was a rebel in his time, he had independent views that did not align to any system of values. According to “Anthology of American Literature,” Bronson Alcott declares that “Emerson’s church consists of one member-himself.” These words signify that Emerson’s ideas and values were so radical for the time that very few people shared his beliefs. Yet, he was not alone in espousing thinking that seemed somewhat pantheistic and contradictory to what he had preached many years earlier. During the 1830’s Ralph Waldo Emerson joined with some other literary authors of the day in supporting a set of values that looked beyond a Supreme Being for...
Words: 1121 - Pages: 5
...Ralph Waldo Emerson was conceived on May 25, 1803, in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1821, he assumed control as executive of his sibling's school for young ladies. In 1823, he composed the sonnet "Good-Bye." In 1832, he turned into a Transcendentalist, prompting the later expositions "Self-Reliance" and "The American Scholar." Emerson kept on composing and address into the late 1870s. Emerson married Ellen Tucker in 1829. When she passed away from tuberculosis in 1831, he was filled with sorrow. Her death, added to his own faith crisis which made him leave from the ministry. Emerson traveled to Europe were het met with literary figures and on his return back to home in 1833,is when he began to lecture on topics of spiritual experience and ethical...
Words: 389 - Pages: 2
...Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American Transcendentalist poet, philosopher and essayist during the 19th century (www.biography.com). One of his most famous quotes was, “Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow" (Emerson). To me, this has been a quote used many times throughout my life. Things in my life have relayed this message to me in many different ways such as trying new foods, playing new sports, and wearing different clothing. Growing up, my mom has encouraged me to try different foods that I’m not used to. When I was little, she would say, “Eat your greens!” Of course I would never listen, but when I got older, I started eating them more. This sparked new curiosities that led me to trying...
Words: 502 - Pages: 3
...Ralph Waldo Emerson says: ”The happiest man is he who learns from nature the lesson of worship”. In his first book; "Nature", Emerson tells many ideas about life but the most important is about the relationship between nature and humans.Emerson lived long enough in a forest to realize many lessons that nature can give us, one of which was one of the ones that most surprised him was its worship. Emerson learned to see the world in a different way from the rest of the authors, that's why his books were very special. Emerson was a Christian since he was a little boy, then he was ordained as a pastor. He concentrated on biblical studies; In my opinion, Emerson learned the true meaning of writing and wisdom from his studies of the Bible. When...
Words: 298 - Pages: 2
...“Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.” As Ralph Waldo Emerson outlined in this quote, those who wish to be present in society, therefore classified as “a man”, must live by a transcendental way of life. Transcendentalism, a political and social movement, takes root in nonconformity. It alo relies heavily on the reflection of the Divine Soul that can be found in all objects, and on the importance of nature. The journey into nature, taken by Chris McCandless, is a direct representation of the views of Emerson, as reflected in “Nature”, and “Self-Reliance”, put into action. Emerson wrote both of these essays in order to show the positive impact transcendentalism can have on one’s live, and why more people should live by it, like McCandless. In his essay entitled “Nature”, Emerson wrote, “The rays that come from those heavenly worlds, will separate between him and vulgar things.” By separating oneself from the material world, all the detrimental aspects of life will be eliminated. In this essay, he also references childhood and the importance of childhood curiosity even as an adult. People should think of their childhood, and about...
Words: 835 - Pages: 4
...Transcendentalism Essay The transcendentalism era is a religious movement that started in the 1800s. Transcendentalist such as Margaret Fuller edited “The dial” and Henry david thoreau wrote “Civil disobedience”. Ralph Waldo Emerson; one belief of a transcendentalist; is believing that everyone is naturally good. He also believed that a person’s power is limitless. He wrote both of “Nature”, and “Self-Reliance”. Ralph Waldo Emerson a transcendentalist who believed that people should be independent is why he led the transcendentalist club and relates his theme to the hunger games movie. (“Guided Notes”) Ralph Emerson is a transcendentalist who wrote the essay “self-reliance”. The theme of “Self-Reliance” is being able to rely on yourself or...
Words: 552 - Pages: 3
...“Nature”, Ralph Waldo Emerson, who was Thoreau’s friend, writes about how nature brings us back to who we really are. In the excerpt from “Self-Reliance”, Emerson writes about how the only person you can really trust or need is yourself in order to have a simple, happy life. Thoreau and Emerson both believed that in order to have a happy life, you need to live simply. In the excerpt from Walden called “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For.” Henry Thoreau writes that he “moved to the woods to live deliberately”. This means he willingly wanted to live in the woods to find himself in nature. He also wanted to “front only the essential facts of life, and see if...
Words: 654 - Pages: 3
...he or she is carrying out a divine purpose of life, as no one before them could have had the exact same ideas, strengths, or mental environment to work with. Those who flout the rules and conventions of society and religion do, however, suffer disapproval as a result. But, Emerson points out, those men who were earlier condemned are now considered some of the greatest thinkers...
Words: 424 - Pages: 2
...Ralph Waldo Emerson once indicated " to be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment". The world is full of people who tries to make you conform to their opinion of a perfect society. Also if every individual would conform then there would be no personality. Conformity plays a big part of why people do not chase their dreams and be their selves. Not only would life be plain and boring but no one would have their own opinions about how they live their life. For instance, in the story For muslim american baby Aidan or baby muhammad the narrator was scared to name his son Aidan because of the criticism he would endure. This demonstrates how society wants you to conform to stereotypes...
Words: 283 - Pages: 2
...Ideal Society Through Thoreau’s and Emerson’s Eyes Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau are considered two of the most influential and inspiring writers of their time. Ralph Waldo Emerson, who was an essayist, and poet, was born on May 25, 1803, and is generally considered the father of American philosophy that rejects the idea that knowledge can be fully derived from experience and observation rather, truth exists in the spiritual world. Henry David Thoreau is his student, who was also a great essayist and critics. Both men extensively studied and embraced nature, and both men encouraged and practiced individualism, nonconformity and freedom. In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay “Self Reliance” and Henry David Thoreau’s essay “Civil Disobedience”, both composure thinkers speak about being individual and what changes need to be made in society. Ralph Waldo Emerson and his follower, Henry David Thoreau, both individualists, attacked the religious, political, and cultural values of American society in order to make people aware that they are more important than everything, including government and society. According to Emerson, society is an obstruction against the individuality of its members, “Society is a joint-stock company, in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater. The virtue in most requests is conformity”. The solution, for Emerson, is self-reliance, meaning that man is only responsible...
Words: 781 - Pages: 4
...Individualism: In the year of 1841, a writer by the name of Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote an essay titled “Self-Reliance” about his philosophy on what it means to be a self-reliant individual through a series of ideas. Emerson’s philosophy is one of optimism and hope, it is based as much on intuition as it is on logic or reason, and it is idealistic in its validation of the inherent worth of each individual form of existence. Two of the ideas that Emerson writes about are “Charity” and “Individualism.” He rejects the idea of charity being an “apology” and wants the individual to live free of shame. According to Emerson, it is better for charitable acts to be genuine rather inconstant. However, he believes that Individualism is important and that people should trust and be true to themselves. Emerson considers charity as an unacceptable institution. According to him, charity is uncharitable and hypocritical. He argues that a man should worry more about his or her own family and community at home than about “black folk a thousand miles off” (4), and he chides people who give money to the poor. “Are they my poor?” he asks. He refuses to support morality through donations to organizations rather than directly to individuals. The concrete act of charity, in other words, is real and superior to abstract or theoretical morality. He sees charity as cloaked with hate and pride, as an untrue institution that serves only our vanity. Emerson also believes that men only act charitably in penance...
Words: 1665 - Pages: 7
...Title: Thoreau and Emerson In today’s society each individual has the ability to thinks for themselves, but the inception of different ideas and thoughts has led to a population that’s dominated by the majority . We live in a society where a media, television and internet are the sources of manipulating a person’s mind. It also creates their mindset to determine how one think about themselves or and different view point on topic. In this particular essay I am going to be talking about two main people who had similar argument about how to be individual and not let government take control over your lives. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau were most influential writers of their time. They both had encouraged and practice individualism and nonconformity. In Ralph Waldo Emerson essay “Self Reliance” and Henry David Thoreau essay “Resistance to Civil Government” both spoke about how to become individual and what improvements needed to be made in American society. Emerson’s writings focus more on the self part of humanism and independence from society. On the other hand, Thoreau focused on writing on matters of the self but tended to have more of a political overtone in his argument. They both wanted to attack the dominant religious, political and cultural values of American society in order to make people aware that the individual is more important than the government and society. Thoreau and Emerson tried to incorporate the idea of relying on others to determine...
Words: 1674 - Pages: 7
...Final Reflections Mary Ray American Literature Everest University Online Throughout this quarter of American Literature, I have read a lot of stories I really enjoyed reading. There was one particular story that I can relate too, and the name of that story is Self- Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson. The other story that I read is Everyday use by Alice M. Walker The reason why I can relate or have an connection to Ralph Emerson story Self- Reliance because I do believe in using my own mind, I am more of a leader than a follower and I also believe what I should do in life is what concerns me and not what other people think I should do. I chose Ralph Waldo because he is an outstanding self-motivator and he believes in himself. Ralph Waldo has a great impact of my life and after reading the story self- Reliance I have more confidence in myself and what I choose to do. The other story that I enjoyed reading was Everyday Use by Alice Walker .I can’t really relate to this story because I am the only child but I can feel the confliction between the two daughters over quilts they mother cherished. Those quilts was a symbolic of their heritage and the mother wanted to make sure she making the right decision on which daughter will take care of the quilts like she did. Dee was an selfish daughter that didn’t care about anything but herself and could not take “no” for and answer, and the other daughter Maggie was the responsible daughter that the mama could depend on. When mama stood...
Words: 353 - Pages: 2
...up the American villages. Additionally, it gives an account of how American political and social views changed before and after the Revolutionary War. Establishing Rip Van Winkle as a piece of American Literature. Wheatley’s poem, To His Excellency General Washington, can be called American Literature because it demonstrates the unbreakable attitude of those who become true Americans. Despite being taken from her birth country, Wheatley adapts and becomes a productive member of American society. She further provided inspiration to society and the leader of America through her poetry. Finally, Emerson’s work, The American Scholar has provided and will continue to provide sound advice for creators of American literature to follow. Emerson tells American Scholars to break away from the classic literary works of the Europeans. The American Scholar should be men of action, not just thinkers. The American Scholar should form their own ideas when creating pieces of literature, specifically, American Literature. Undoubtable, Hemingway has been proven...
Words: 1494 - Pages: 6
...Meghan Harriman American Lit. Before 1865 Mrs. Gailey 16 October 2012 The Influence of Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson is a man who is widely known to have influenced and changed American literature. From the beginning Emerson separated himself from other authors is his diverse style of writing that is seen in his book Nature and other essays and poems. Many believe that Emerson was the most inspirational figure that made his essays also made with the most optimism and confidence that draws in American’s support and Europe’s. I believe that he shaped American literature into what it is today. Without him and his influences on Transcendentalism and American literature I do not think that individualism would have taken place. I believe that he did transform the 19th century for the better. Before the 19th century American literature was some say to be bland and boring. Not many authors were well known because they did not intrigue their readers. Before the 19th there was Unitarianism which is the belief in one God and not three, it also is not Christian. Transcendentalism took over Unitarianism and that was when Emerson came into play. Emerson believed in individualism, non-conformity, and the harmony between man and nature. He never intended to be known as a philosopher but emerged as one though his most popular writing. Nature is about Emerson describing his Transcendental philosophy. Transcendentalism, being focused on nature, god in nature, and belief of...
Words: 1131 - Pages: 5
