...composed of nonfiction and free will. Lastly, the transcendentalist believed that there should not be any government. There literature consisted of nature and individualism. The canonical literature created by some of the celebrated writers in the United States shows a decline of government intrusion in people's lives. First of all,...
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...Chris McCandless was only 22 years old when he decided to commence his excursion to Alaska. He met people on the way, but he never stayed in one place for long. Is anyone who does not agree with society a transcendentalist? McCandless does not conform to society but does not prove to be a transcendentalist but rather a spontaneous idealist. The movements do, however, bounce off each other in many ways. Transcendentalism, started in the 1830s, was best known as a theoretical movement with the belief that your knowledge based on life and nature was more important than social status and knowledge based on social class. Idealism is best defined as impractically alluding without thinking about the practicableness of the situation. Transcendentalists are well known for their general beliefs of living simply, knowing your own value, and appreciating nature. Idealists are people who believe things should be the way they see it, instead of how reality truly is. Idealism is a...
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...Chris Mccandless lived a life that many have dreamed and wished for. He decided to just pack up and live off the grid. He didn’t find the need to stress himself with things others stress so hard over; for example money. He was seen as a coward for running away from his problems but in others eyes he was seen as one of the greatest transcendentalist. Chris Mccandless had qualities of Transcendentalism by believing in living closer to nature, relying on self-trust and self-reliance, and found dignity in manual labor. Chris Mccandless believed living closer to nature to avoid the stress of society. Chris had many problems with his family, especially his father, because of this he felt the need to run away and show his family he could live on his own. He found nature as a comfort spot he could run to when he didn't want to deal with society anymore. “I do not think he ever hung out with any employees after work or anything. When he talked, he was always going about trees and nature and weird stuff like that. We all thought he was missing a few screws.” (Krakauer 29). Chris found comfort in nature and loved talking about it. He wanted to help everyone understand the importance of nature....
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...Transcendentalist beliefs, such as divinity penetrating all nature and humanity, are permeating throughout society today and contradict a majority of the Holy Bible’s truths. There are three main points that Transcendentalist believe about a higher power; these ideas however are not supported by the Holy Bible. The first Transcendentalist belief is that God is apart of nature and is nature; which is not Biblical. Christians believe that the Holy Bible is God breathed and they hold a high respect for its context. Looking at Nehemiah 9:6 it talks about God is the creator of all nature and his power is above everything he has created. According to the Bible it is clear that God is not nature and that he created nature to show his glory. Ralph...
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...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...
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...want change. Civil Disobedience directly aligns with freedom of speech and our American freedoms to have unique thoughts and opinions. In the constitution it is stated that Americans have the right to protest something that goes against their personal values, or they feel goes against the constitution. In addition, it is a major enlightenment ideal. During the formation of our country, and our Constitution, there was a time of enlightenment. France and Haiti were also going through revolutions. Many thinkers such as Adam Smith, John Locke, and even Thomas Jefferson were encouraging revolution, and governments for the people. All were backed by the ideals of protest when necessary. The term of civil disobedience was coined with a transcendentalist author by the name of Henry David Thoreau. His essays talk about the importance of ones self, and going against conformity. By peacefully protesting and accepting ones actions one is going against conformity. They are taking an action against something they do not believe in. They are being true to themselves, and enacting change. Henry David Thoreau did not believe in using others to enact change. Therefore Civil Disobedience is completely non violent. It is a positive aspect of society. Civil Disobedience, peaceful protest, and accepting the consequences is not only positive but more effective than any other form of protest. It is incredibly powerful when someone is willing to serve jail time, or be publicly shamed for doing something...
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...In 2008, American author and journalist, Richard Louv wrote in his book, Last Child in the Woods, about the gap that has continuously been developing amongst people and nature as technology advances, overrunning humanity. Richard Louv expects that in the not so distant future, many of the younger generations will be so disconnected from nature that even looking outside a car window during a drive, would be quite bizarre. By utilizing testimonies that represent either the average technology-loving American or the modern transcendentalist, nostalgic imagery, and rhetorical questions he develops a well thought out argument about the severance between people and nature. After Louv learns about the advance science has reached, where altering the very color of a butterflies wings is now a luxury, that the science of synthetic nature has let Americans’ achieve, he comes across Matt Richtel, an American writer and journalist for the New York Times, who believes Americans have developed a new advertising medium, a medium that could captivate people’s attention much faster than any other traditional method, such as billboards and street benches. And although Richtel is correct to a certain extent, by implying he is right about how “moving ads out of the virtual world and into the real one” is something that is currently taking place, however, Louv suggests that such a form of advertisement is not even worth looking at. Louv quoting Richtel’s ridiculous statement where he claims “It’s time...
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...The best know Transcendentalist writers include the likes of Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, who became well known for their strong political opinions (Brodrick). Issues that are extremely important to the Transcendentalists such as slavery and the forcible removal of Native Americans from their land are not addressed, and barely mentioned in the body of the...
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...Transcendentalism took off in the 1800’s with a little help from Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Emily Dickenson. These transcendentalists expressed their beliefs through writings such as poems and essays. These few transcendentalists went out of their way to represent their ideals and beliefs. Only a number of people understood the idea of transcendentalism because it is so complex and involved a much deeper thought process. It was this complexity within Transcendentalism that makes it stick out in history still to this day. Transcendentalism is an idealistic philosophical and social movement that developed in New England. Transcendentalism was developed in reaction to rationalism in 1836. It taught that divinity pervades all nature and humanity. The transcendentalist members held progressive views on feminism and communal living. Ralph Waldo Emerson, one of the better known transcendentalists, became a transcendentalist in 1832 which lead to the writing of “Self-Reliance” and “The American Scholar.” He later became the central figure of his literary and philosophical group, known as the American Transcendentalist. In the 1840’s he founded and co-edited the literary magazine The Dial. In 1841 and 1844 he published essays, including, “Self-Reliance,” “Friendship” and “Experience.” In “Self-Reliance” Emerson writes: A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the luster of the firmament of...
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...Adventure… Leaving… New life… The life of a transcendentalist is a person who believes in living close to nature with the belief of finding truth and inspiration from it. In the book, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, a young man named Chris McCandless sets out on a journey in the wilderness, leaving society behind. Like a transcendentalist named Henry David Thoreau, he began “essential living”. Chris McCandless is considered a transcendentalist because he lives a simple life, and choses to abandon society and live out in the wilderness. A simple life is what transcendentalists believe in. In the book Walden, Thoreau mentions, “Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!” This hints at the idea of a simple life where everything is organized and reduced....
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...There are many different points in the story Into the Wild where things Chris McCandless does and ways that he acts suggest that he had a transcendentalist way of thinking about things. From his distaste for money, need to find his true self, and his views on how society was corrupt and impure, Chris exemplifies his high moral standings and his outlook on how things should be. There are many good examples that help to prove that McCandless was a transcendentalist in the essay Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson. One belief of transcendentalists that McCandless expresses multiple times throughout the book is a need to disconnect from corrupt society and find his inner self by taking trips with strange motives, and retreating into the wild...
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...Transcendentalism isn't a part of everyone but it's a very big part of me. I am a transcendentalist because I'm very optimistic, I'm independent, and I love nature. Transcendentalism is about having an open mind and being positive through thinking and living. Being optimistic is one reason to think I'm a transcendentalist. I love to always see the positives in situations and I've been told by many people that one of my best characteristics is always seeing the good in people. Emerson was an optimist about a lot of things. He was mostly optimistic about the goodness of human nature and just the goodness of the world as a whole. Always thinking positive and looking on them bright side is a good thing, you see the world and all of it imperfections and turn them into positives. Being optimistic not only makes me happier but I find that it makes others around me happy too....
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...Fight Club Essay In today's society, the teachings of transcendentalist figures such as Emerson, Fuller, and Whitman are both thriving and dead. Many activities commonly practiced today are the opposite of what these men preached, such as social trends. However, one place we see a continuous use of transcendentalist ideals is in the movie business. Films are brimming with messages of non-conformity, the importance of individualism, and the idea that society corrupts people. One movie that translates these messages is Fight Club, written by Jim Uhls, released in 1999. This movie encapsulates all of the aforementioned themes and delivers them in a way that shows how these core concepts are still a part of our lives, although being written over...
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...The Puritans’, Enlightenment/Founding Fathers’, and Transcendentalists’ View of God American literature was influenced by three different religious philosophies between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. Even though the Puritan, Cotton Mather; the Enlightenment author and Founding Father, Thomas Jefferson; and spiritual philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson had a different view of God, each philosopher believed in God and felt a connection to our Creator on some spiritual level. Their ideas differed particularly on predestination, science and rationale, and intuition. (clearly stated thesis) During the seventeenth century, Puritanism was the most common form of religion and played an important role in Puritan life. Since God was at the forefront in Puritanism, individuals believed that human and natural occurrences were messages from God. Cotton Mather was a great historian and a highly respected clergyman during this period. In one of his most famous works, The Wonders of the Invisible World, Cotton Mather gives his account of the Salem Witch Trials in which he was convinced that he received this command from the Lord. Cotton Mather believed that witches were doing the work of the devil and had to be destroyed before the Puritans could fulfill their destiny as “a people of God.” The Puritans believed they were chosen by God to serve a special purpose which was already predestined. According to the Puritan beliefs, one cannot choose salvation; since God was all-knowing...
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...Would you drop everything just to go live in a run down bus in the midst of an unknown area? In John Krakauer’s book, Into the Wild, a young man, by the name of Chris McCandless, embarks on a quest of independence. He believes life’s answers lie in the frozen Alaskan wilderness. Transcendentalism is the philosophy that one can discover a higher truth in nature and self perfection is achieved by transcending beyond the human experience. Therefore, Chor McCandless is a transcendentalist due to his desire to escape the society of conformity and his passion for self discovery. First, Transcendentalists believe in escaping society and conformity. In the essay Self-Reliance, Emerson states, “Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood...
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