Romanticism in American Literature

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

To some, adventurers like Chris McCandless are young, idealistic, and resolute people with high moral standards. They want to take everything they can out of life, and they want to experience every facet of it. However, this isn’t a view everyone shares. To some, McCandless was an irrational kid with no experience who couldn’t handle is family issues. On the other hand, Henry David Thoreau is viewed as a calm, steady, and contemplative man with a strong love of nature. Chris McCandless and Henry David Thoreau share many similarities, but they also have defining differences. There are three ways that we can compare these people: Chris went to the woods to escape his past whereas as Thoreau went there to be with nature, Chris was very

Henry David Thoreau philosophized about living the good life. According to him, the good life is reached through what can be interpreted as an ever-evolving soul. The ever-evolving soul matures and begins to tune in to spiritual instinct. Epistemologically, Thoreau argues that spiritual instincts are sentiments or feelings that act as a life compass and distinguish the metaphysical aspect of higher laws from the world of being. In order to live the best life, according to Thoreau, one must avoid being overwhelmed by material possessions and practice economy. Which leads ethically to a spiritual evolution. In accumulating various material possessions we waste valuable time that could be spent with family and friends, traveling or expanding our personal interests. On July 4, 1845 Thoreau declared his independence from American society and moved into a cabin that he built next to Walden Pond in his home state of Massachusetts. After two years, two days and two months he returned home. By immersing himself in nature, Thoreau hoped to gain a more objective understanding of society through personal introspection. Simple living and self-sufficiency were some of Thoreau 's other philosophical precepts. In April of 1992 a recent graduate of Emory University named Christopher McCandless, set into the Alaskan wilderness, far away from civilization, to practice an extreme example of economy. It can be said that within the fateful story of McCandless and the philosophy of Thoreau certain

The romantic period in writing in America was a heavy time of finding values within the people of America. The first example is “Dr. Heidgegger’s Experiment” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. This text speaks as to what humans are capable

Henry David Thoreau was born on July 12th, in Concord Massachusetts. Thoreau was many things, not simply just a writer; but he was one of the most influential writers America knows today. Early on in his life he grew up in a simple home with hard-working parents, and an abundance of siblings. His father and mother both had worked as teachers as well as investing in many other trades to get by. Henry started developing his talent for writing early on, by age ten he had written his first piece of writing, “The Seasons,” as well as many other academic achievements for somebody his age. He was articulate and mature beyond his years, these things developed into key traits that brought him to, instead of listening in on lectures at the Concord Lyceum- being the one leading the lectures in the later years of his life. He came back to Concord after graduating from Harvard University, starting to work at a public school he’d attended as a child. He was a man with morals; known to look at things in a more progressive way than many in his life. After being asked to conduct corporal punishment on a student he left the school he was teaching at to expand his studies and find further employment. His talents broadened further than essays and poetry, he gave himself away to a life of helping others, sheltering runaway slaves on their journey to freedom. He was a man of nature, not as much an adventurer, but he took two years to emerge himself into the depths of nature and not

Henry Thoreau was born in Concord, Massachusetts to a successful pencil manufacturer John Thoreau and a strong-willed, quick-witted mother,

Thoreau 's life really changed over the years but he always held to his beliefs and stood up for them. I think that the death of his brother John and the school closing sent Henry on a path of self discovery. One such path was what led to him writing "Resistance to Civil Government", also known as "Civil Disobedience". Thoreau had become friends with Ralph Waldo Emerson who introduced him too many people. One of whom was Ellery

He was frequently feeling ill however; he graduated with a bachelor of arts on August 30, 1837. Thoreau began to write journals on October of 1837, writing over two million words that made 14 volumes. In the fall of 1838, Thoreau along with his brother John, opened their own private school. John thought English and math while Henry thought language and science. After his brother's death in 1841, Henry had to close the school not being able to handle by himself. He returned to work with his father in the pencil business but his friend, mentor and neighbor Ralph Waldo Emerson invited him to work as a live-in handyman in his home. After living with Emerson for two years, Thoreau developed ambitions to become a writer, with his help, Henry wrote some poems and essays which were published in journals. Since he was writing all the time he decided to move out in order to have some privacy and silence. He needed a retreat. Thoreau developed a plan to build his own cabin in 1845. The cabin was built on 14 acres of land on the northwestern of Walden Pond. While living there, he refused to pay a poll tax and got arrested by the local

Henry David Thoreau represents a new attempt at fulfilling the American dream. He follows in the footsteps of Ralph Waldo Emerson, embracing transcendentalism and even staying at Emerson’s house to write. Thoreau calls for personal liberation and to embrace a connection with nature. In Baym’s introduction to Thoreau, before including Walden, she writes about the purpose of his essay:

Thoreau was a versatile writer, gifted of communicating unambiguous reality in strong language and of conveying delicate detail and subtle nuance. His work is characterized both by directness of style and by the proposal of far more than appears on the surface. He efficiently employed a variation of techniques, paradox, exaggeration, and irony, for example, to create a penetrating prose. He brought substantial abilities and resources to his art — breadth of vision, closely examined personal experience, wide and deep reading, imagination, originality, a strong vocabulary and a facility for manipulating words (and even sometimes for minting new words to suit his purposes), an alertness to symbolic correspondences, and an aptitude for the figurative

The Romantic Movement, or period, was from the year 1828 to about 1865. The main feature of the American Romantic period was the celebration and praise of individualism. This time is also considered to be the first period of genuine American creativity. Emotion, instead of reason, became the largest source of inspiration and creativity during this period. All of this was a reaction to all of the constraints that were forced on people during the era of Realism. At this time in history, America was in a great period of expansion, the writers of the American Romantic period were discovering that could create a new and vastly different voice for this new era in

An American essayist, naturalist, poet, historian, pencil maker, surveyor, philosopher, and abolitionist Henry David Thoreau was and still is an inspiration to many readers around the world. By immersing himself into nature he hoped to gain more of a keen understanding of society through his own personal inspection. Living in simplicity and self sufficiency were other goals of Thoreau. This lifestyle was inspired by the transcendentalist philosophy, a popular custom during the American Romantic period. Proven in his literary works Thoreau was not an author that wrote stories, he wrote some

Henry David Thoreau was born in Concord, Massachusetts and attended school at Harvard. He was a philosopher, poet, essayist, naturalist, as well as an outspoken social critic. In Thoreau’s essay “Where I lived, and what I lived for” he expresses how people should live a simpler life. Thoreau believes that we should break free from the rush of the average daily life. In addition, he talks about how we should remove things that are meaningless and have no purpose in life. However Thoreau’s philosophy could severely jeopardize the economy. Although Thoreau’s philosophy doesn’t apply today it can help you find the most important things in life.

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

Through the late 1700s and early 1800s, the period of Romanticism blossomed. “Romanticism” very loosely describes the era in which modern culture began to take shape. During the Romantic era, many advancements were made in all aspects of people’s lives and cultures. One aspect in particular has held great value even to this day. That aspect being the expansive amount of literature created during the era. The era of Romanticism had its name for a reason. It can be greatly attributed to the romantic style or genre of literature that defined the period. Romantic writers wove many tales of admiration, longing, and aspirations. They were fantastical, in a sense, and almost the antithesis of realism, even. Amidst the great breadth of literature