...The poems from Walden, “Nature”, and “Self-Reliance” all highlight key aspects of transcendentalism. In Walden, Henry David Thoreau moved to the woods by a pond to live simply and the way he wanted to with nature. In “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...
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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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...reading, I continued reading the Walden’s Universities cover page and ran across the mission and the vision statement that Walden University wrote for its students. The mission statement was such an inspiring statement that let me know that Walden University continues to provide an assortment of scholarly, educational courses, which gives all professionals the ability to go into the community and become that great inspirational person that could create social change among...
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...be to instill confidence for those who feel they are inferior to others in a social environment. Transforming their outlook from one of negativity to the positive within the person would be my focus within the scope of my profession. Children and adults can be cruel when it comes to how they look at other individuals, what they say to and about them, and how they act towards them. People need to realize that those actions (physically and verbally) cause permanent damage to the other individuals self esteem and confidence level. As a survivor from battling thoughts about my weight and personal appearance, I’ve become incredibly passionate about topics of eating disorders, depression, anxiety, and low self esteem. Struggling to fight the demon within me and ignore peers comments was the first step to a new beginning. Walden University’s vision to their students it to advance their teaching skills and allow the student to achieve a greater global good (Walden University n.d.). Walden allows the students to develop their own style and learn more about themselves in order to better their skills in the real world. Within the school of Counseling and Social Services, their vision is one of the most uplifting statements that made me confirm my reasoning’s for choosing this particular University. The School of Counseling and Social Services envisions a future where students and faculty join together as...
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...Looking Forward: What Will I Accomplish? Tamakio Scott Walden University Dr. Teri Davis EDUC 6990: Capstone: Application in the Early Childhood Field April 24, 2013 Looking Forward: What Will I Accomplish? Elementary students in the third and fifth grade are challenged with passing the Criterion-referenced tests (CRCT) and academic subject in order to be promoted to the next grade. The CRCT measures how well students are grasping information in the subjects of reading, English/language ars, and mathematics (Phillips, Roland, ndero, 2013). As a parent of the Peach County School System curriculum, teachers spend time working with student to build on the skills needed to successful pass the CRCT and academic subjects. Many parents and concerned citizen feel as if not enough time is spent preparing students for the CRCT test. The Peach County Schools Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) group meets once a month to discuss strategies on how to improve students’ academic grade which will lead to passing the CRCT test. The PTO group agrees that students need extra help outside of school. Currently, Peach County School’s does not have the funding to operate an afterschool program. To improve student’s academic grade and CRCT results a free afterschool tutoring program need to be organized. My Challenge Living in a small community where resources are limited for a tutoring program for the school-age children. All students deserve the opportunity to learn...
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...Walden Summary In his first chapter, "Economy," Thoreau introduces his purpose in writing the book, saying he intends to answer questions people have asked about his reasons for living alone in a cabin in the woods near Walden Pond for two years. He explains that most people live their lives as if sleeping, blindly following the ways of their parents, and become trapped into these lives by owning property and slaving in jobs to maintain their way of life. In contrast, he sought to discover the true necessities of life and built a cabin, for the cost of $28. 12 _ near Walden Pond, where he lived for two years, beginning in the summer of 1845. Making a profit of $8.71 _ by selling the beans he grew and working occasionally at odd jobs, he found he was able to support himself with very little work and much time for contemplation of himself and nature. Thoreau, in the second chapter, "Where I Lived, and What I Lived For," talks about how he once considered buying the Hollowell farm for himself but the purchase fell through. Instead, he created a new existence for himself at Walden, where he found joy and fulfillment in nature, truly awakening in his mornings there, while most of society remains perpetually asleep, living mean lives when the possibility of a much better life is possible. The key to achieving such a life, he says, is simplicity. In the third chapter, "Reading," Thoreau describes how he derives enlightenment from reading Homer and other great writers, men who spoke...
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...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 into the movement. “Cast...
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...In the book Into the Wild and Thoreau’s passages from Walden, John Krakauer shows how Thoreau is important to Chris McCandless and how he was influential to McCandless. Chris’ story in Into the Wild tells how he is driven by Henry David Thoreau’s Transcendental beliefs. Transcendentalism is a religious and philosophical movement that began in New England in the mid-nineteenth century. It was formed by the ideas of American Democracy. Both Thoreau and Chris McCandless grasp Transcendentalism through concepts such as simplicity, self-reliance, and to live an honest life. The first Transcendentalist belief that Chris McCandless follows is to simplify his life. For example, Chris brings a very small amount of food with him on his expedition because...
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...of god (nature 391) Emerson believes that individuals in nature share a common purpose with god ,i.e,the”over-soul” In the woods we return to reasons and faith(nature 390) When the individual is removed from the stresses of everyday life ,he is able to focuses on true understanding of himself There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the convection envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide’ (from self-reliance 393) Emerson means that if you envy someone or something you are being “a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds (from self-reliance 394) Don’t let The little things bother you in life If we do not get out sleepers and forge rails and devote days and nights to the work but go to tinkering upon our lives to improve them who will build the railroads (From Walden’411) I think thoreau was trying to say Don’t let life pass you by go out and live the way you choose I think the richest vein is somewhere hereabouts so by the dividing rod and thin rising vapors I judge and here I will begin to mine (From Walden’411) I think thoreau was trying to say Don’t trust what you hear go with your gut That government is best witch governs the least ( from civil disobedience 416) I think thoreau was trying to say a minimal government is the best The standing army is only an arm of a standing government ( from civil disobedience 416) I think thoreau was trying to say he doesn’t want a standing army no less a government Transindentelism-is...
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...David Thoreau opens the book by stating that he had gone to live at Walden Pond near Concord, Massachusetts for two years. There he wrote this book and sought self-reliance, solitude, and his true self. In the first chapter, Economy, Thoreau criticizes the materialistic way of life that most men lead. He believes that those who live and work to gain luxuries will only encounter dissatisfaction and anxiety in life. Furthermore, he believes for one to find true divinity they should embrace simplicity and independence. That being said he goes out to live in Walden Pond as an experiment. Through help from family and friends Thoreau could attain what he considers the four necessities of life: food, clothing, shelter, and fuel for only $28.12. He was given permission to build his small cabin by his friend, Ralph Waldo Emerson, who owns the land. Thoreau finished the cabin in spring of 1845 and moved in on July 4th of the same year. He could sustain himself by planting two and half acres of beans, peas,...
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...wondering if I would have enough time actually to do well in Walden. It is week four, almost five, out of six in my first online class. As of today, I have an A in my first online Walden class. I see myself as a person who is determined to achieve its goals. To keep being successful, I have to promise myself to keep organizing my time well since time management is the key to everything. Also, it is very nice to know that I am not alone because I am surrounded by many people who are part of the Walden Community. I am always interacting with everybody in the Walden Community, my advisor, professor, and classmates to name a few. When reading Tool-Using Animals, an online slide show by Rachel VanCott, made me think how animals have found a way to make their life much easier by using tools. For example, chimpanzees using long sticks to get termites, the sea otter uses a stone to open up sea urchins, and the veined octopus using a coconut shell as a refuge. We humans have also used tools to make our lives easier, and as time passes by, those tools become more sophisticated. The problem with us humans is that we depend too much on technology and due to that we become useless most of the time. For example, I remember working in the health field, and when the computer system went down, all the patients had to be rescheduled because the electronic medical records were not working. I feel that the animals can still find be self-sufficient unlike us we...
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...Castro 1 Jessica Castro Professor Kazarian Mosaic II 22 November 2013 Paper 2 - Thoreau on Work, Debt, and Slavery For this paper, I chose to focus on subject 7 of the syllabus which was Thoreau on Work, Debt, and Slavery. The first chapter of Walden, Thoreau states that his neighbors seem to work their lives away and are deeply in debt. Readers have come to read Thoreau’s book on stolen or borrowed time, robbing their employers of time. Readers are also imposing slavery upon themselves. These three claims relate to one another in the mode of economy. In order to acquire the necessities of life, man must work to make a living. In order to make a living, man must have money to acquire tools in order to make that living. If man does not have the means in which to acquire tools, he himself becomes the tool of production via labor power. Men who constantly work in order to produce these necessities daily are slaves to themselves and to those who employ them. One without the other leaves man without life’s necessities; thus, leading to his demise. In Walden, Thoreau claims: . . . my townsmen, whose misfortune it is to have inherited farms, houses, barns, and cattle . . . Better if they had been born in the open pasture . . . might have seen with clearer eyes what field they were called to labor in (8). Castro 2 In this passage, Thoreau clearly provides an example of how man works his life away. The inherited land given to the new “serf of the soil” must be constantly...
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...For the past six weeks being back in the classroom has help me to shift my focus when it comes to communicating. There was a point and time when I felt like what I said and how I said it was the only thing that mattered. However, I have learned throughout this course that Communicating an authentic self requires consistency between your presentation of self and your self – concept. Our presentation of self depends on whom we are communicating with and is called facework (Dobkin (2006). Communication in a Changing World). In this essay, I am prepared to show evidence of how I have learned to communicate better as well as the things that I need to improve within my methods of communication. After reviewing my Personal Skills Inventory Chart, I am not where I want to be but I am better than what I use to be six weeks ago. These changes will not happen overnight but, I am bound to improve them prior to me advancing to my next level as a student of Walden University. My grandmothers always use to tell us that there are three sides to every story, your story, the other person story and then the truth. This old age theory still holds truth when communicating whether, it’s online or face-to-face. I have learned that in order for me to be effective in communicating that I have to be face-to-face with an individual so that the other person would be able to see and notice the sincerity that I pose within the conversation. While communicating face-to-face...
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...Unit 1 Discussion Board Applying Learning Theories EDU622-1304C-02 Regina Dzwonar Most records acknowledged formal education as existing as least as far back as ancient Greece. The big three names universally known are Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Education at this time was concerned mainly with reason, logic and philosophy. Socrates, Plato and Aristotle differed in preferences of extremes. Socrates is infamous for pushing limits while Aristotle preached balance. Many historians consider Plato the most sophisticated of the three; Socrates taught on the streets of Athens. Sources, such as the American Psychological Association, credit Plato, with founding the first formal institution of education, “After returning to Athens, Plato set up his own school, which was called the Academy. Philosophy and other subjects were taught there, and the Academy continued to produce scholars for many centuries after Plato died.” (Downey, 2006, para. 6). Aristotle, according to legend, was the teacher of Alexander the Great. The most notable theory from this time the Socratic Method, which consists of posing probing questions to students rather than espousing a hierarchy of knowledge. Brief History of its Founding Modern theories such as behaviorism, founded in the early twentieth century, are associated with theorists including Watson, Skinner, Pavlov and Thorndike. Watson known as the father of behaviorism proposed an alternative to the views of Wilhelm Wundt the founder of...
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...Adlerian Approach with Abby Sylvia Montalvo Walden University Adlerian Approach with Abby The therapeutic approach in the case profile of a client named Abby after an assessment is given, and a summary is developed based on the information collected is the Adlerian approach. According to the COUN 6722 study notes, Abby is a 57 year-old African American women who came into the office seeking counseling. Abby works part-time as a free-lance editor. Abby has a bachelor’s degree in literature. Abby is married to her husband Ron who was diagnosed two months ago. Abby has a difficult time accepting that her husband was diagnosed with cancer (Walden University, 2012). She cannot cope with the situation, therefore Ron’s brother is the one who takes him to have his treatments, and to his doctor’s appointments. Abby is depressed, and spends her time crying, sleeping, has lost her appetite, and feels fatigued. She feels guilty that she is not supportive toward her husband (Walden University, 2012). Abby has always believed to be hopeless throughout her life. She has low self-esteem, and believes that everyone around her has a better life than she does, though she has lived comfortably. Abby has expressed that she suffered from migraine headaches in her twenties, which has become worse over the years (Walden University, 2012). Doctors have prescribed medications for the migraines, which has not been effective. Abbey claims that she drinks alcohol two...
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