Henry David Thoreau Social Experiment Research Paper

Henry David Thoreau was a great American writer, philosopher, and naturalist of the 1800’s who’s writings have influenced many famous leaders in the 20th century, as well as in his own lifetime. Henry David Thoreau was born in Concord, Massachusetts in 1817, where he was later educated at Harvard University. Thoreau was a transcendentalist writer, which means that he believed that intuition and the individual conscience “transcend” experience and are better guides to truth than are the senses and logical reason (Prentice Hall 1174). Thoreau is well known for writing Walden Pond, Excursions, The Maine Woods, Cape Cod, and A Yankee in Canada. In 1849 Henry David Thoreau wrote an essay

Henry David Thoreau, born in 1817, is the author of Civil Disobedience, an essay the highlights the importance of individualism and maintaining autonomy within a society that strongly favor majority rule. In 2017, especially within the past election, this is of major significance. In his essay, Thoreau focusses on many ideas, some of the most prevalent being, standing up for what one believes is wrong, no matter the consequences, along with the idea that with the right leaders government can work.

Thoreau inspired countless people, including Jon Krakauer and Chris McCandless through his novel Walden. His main intent through writing this novel is to display that in modern society, most people, although free, have

A significant philosopher of the pre-Civil War era of the United States, Henry David Thoreau appeared to be above the standard with his philosophically driven life style. He wrote detailed accounts of his life in his book titled Walden, in which he expressed his desire to escape the confining pressures of human society. His second chapter lauded the concepts of individualism and self-sufficiency, yet he never took into account the potential harm of his mentality, for it could hurt individuals as well as communities, and modern life simply cannot support his ideals.

Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau are still considered two of the most influential writers of their time. Ralph Waldo Emerson, who was a lecturer, essayist, and poet, 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 and nonconformity. In Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay "Self Reliance" and Henry David Thoreau's book "Walden" and essay "Resistance to Civil Government ("Civil Disobedience")", both thinkers speak about being individual and what reforms and changes need to be made in society. Thoreau stayed with Emerson for a while and was affected by his ideas, especially relating to the individual and

Continuously, Thoreau also wanted to flee society, but for different reasons than McCandless. Thoreau wanted to flee society because he believed that life moved too quickly and he wanted to try and find the true meaning of life. To begin, nature was the best setting for him to do this because he did not have to follow society's fast-paced life, which he believed allowed for no time to appreciate and find the meaning of life. Detached from society and in nature, he can set his own, slower pace and therefore spend more time pondering and appreciating life. To begin, Moreover, Thoreau believes that society moves too quickly, and while part of civilization he could not appreciate life. This is shown when Thoreau explains we are forced to keep up with the pace of a society that has telegraphs and cars that move at 30 miles an hour (which was very fast for the time), that doesn’t allow us time to slow down (Thoreau 60). Attempting to keep up with the fast-paced society is so preoccupying that we end each day with no time to truly understand and appreciate life. Leading into my next claim, Thoreau wanted to flee society to find the true meaning of life. This is shown in the quote, “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 had not lived”(Thoreau 59). Something that living in the woods taught Thoreau is how similar some animals are to humans. An example of this is when Thoreau observes the red and black ants during their battle. Thoreau compares the ants and the humans when he says that there is no war in American history that had the number of soldiers as the red and black ants, and also no war where the troops were as patriotic and courageous (Thoreau 149). Thoreau didn’t want to be dying and have not figured out the meaning of life, and by going into the woods, he felt as though he learned some things without being bogged down by distractions, such as the materialistic items and the company of others.

In chapter twelve, "Emerson, Thoreau, and the American Soul" was a captivating section. This is because Emerson and Thoreau were effective and influential transcendentalist writers. Ralph Waldo Emerson born May 25, 1803, started his career as a Unitarian clergyman but left the profession in the 1830s. He was known for writing essays criticizing other authors in an attempt to change American life. Emerson wanted to reform the American mind and had tried to do so in his essay called "Self-Reliance" which showed supreme individualism and called for readers to go against society's norms. One of his followers, Henry David Thoreau, tried to live a life of simplicity, but simply could not because the world was advancing to quickly. In his book "Walden"

Henry David Thoreau, author of “Civil Disobedience” and Walden, has become one of the most influential authors of all time in the eyes of many. Though some might be led to believe his essays and writings, including “Where I Lived, and What I lived For”, make him a down to earth and even rugged author, as he spent some of his life in the forest. However, his life in the woods was not one of heavy duty work and he often was supported with objects and material possessions, contrary to what many of his essays describe. Although some might think of him as a cheater or a liar, Thoreau’s conflicting lifestyles prove him to be a literary genius as he successfully dictates a lifestyle he himself does not take part in throughout paragraphs one

A Comparison of Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Beliefs concerning Simplicity, the Value and Potential of Our Soul, and Our Imagination.Henry David Thoreau tests Ralph Waldo Emerson’s ideas about nature by living at Walden Pond, where he discovers that simplicity in physical aspects brings deepness to our mind, our soul to its fullest potential, and our imagination to be uplifted to change our lives. These two men believe that nature is what forces us not to depend on others’ ideas but to develop our own. Nature is ever changing so we must keep searching for explanations about human life. They feel that nature is the key to knowing all.Thoreau lives at Walden Pond to find the true meaning of life. He wants to experience

life and instead of eating three meals per day, just one. He too wrote. In his

Thoreau is a hugely influential character in the history of America, helping to define American thought and continue to inspire our modern ideas and authors. “Countless contemporary nature

As America continued to grow and developed so did its writers. A major changed came with writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Emerson was an American philosopher, poet and the leader of the Transcendentalist movement. This movement started as a protest against the current state of the society and culture; and was based on a fundamental belief in the unity of the world and God. "Emerson declared literary independence in the United States and urged Americans to create a writing style all their own and free from Europe" (Ralph). This type of methodology is easily portrayed in his two stories, The American Scholar, and Self Reliance. Thoreau was a nonconformist and attempted to live his life at all times according to his rigorous principles, which became the subject of many of his writings. In "Walden", Thoreau not only tests the theories of Transcendentalism, he re-enacts the collective American experience of the 19th century, living on the frontier. The overall story of "Walden" is in fact a view on Thoreau's radical and controversial perspective of society. Many of Thoreau's repeated, irrelevant details can be traced to his description of what is wrong with the American society. He believed that the society is extremely overwhelmed with material things and they often seem to think that is what matters

Henry David Thoreau’s words that “disobedience is the true foundation of liberty” and that “the obedient must be slaves” is a political statement that never lost its topicality during the Romantic era. Thoreau is an important contributor to the philosophical and American literary movement known as New England Transcendentalism. Nature and the conduct of life are two central themes that are often weaved together in his essays and books that were published in the Romantic era of literature. Thoreau brought these two themes together to write on how people ought to live a simplistic life. His naturalistic writing intertwined cataloging and observation with Transcendentalist views of nature. Through his life and his work, Henry David Thoreau has contributed to American Literature since the Romantic era.

There have been numerous religious rebellions throughout history, but none quite like that of Transcendentalism. This movement embodies the idea that spiritual growth can be achieved through personal journey instead of conflicting with organized religion. By the time of the movement’s onset, newly gained religious freedom in the United States allowed for new ideas and beliefs to prosper freely. At the heart of this movement was Transcendentalism philosophy famous ambassadors, Ralph Waldo Emerson and apprentice Henry David Thoreau. These men believed nature is what forces us not to depend on other ideas but to develop our own.

While "the Enlightenment" prized rationality and science, Romanticism preferred emotion, imagination, and intuition of the individual. During this era, there was a period of literary creativity in New England circles that became known as Transcendentalism. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau were two important American writers and leaders of the Transcendentalist movement near Boston. Emerson outlined the Transcendalist basic philosophies in The American Scholar, which was originally written as a speech for Harvard’s Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society. Thoreau elaborated on living a simple transcendental life in his book On Walden Pond. Emerson and Thoreau both present philosophies of the transcendental life, critique society establishments such as religion and government, and explain the role they believe individuals and nature play in mankind’s quest for progress.