Transcendentalism : A Philosophical Movement

There are many challenges for people while they are growing up. In fact, these challenges are very common for most teenagers. However, many authors have written pieces with the intention to help students overcome their struggles. That is why a student who is struggling to find their inner self can trust several of the ideas of transcendentalism. In fact, Thoreau and Emerson include the ideas of optimism, intuition, and originality in many of their pieces of literature. It is clear that a teenager who is struggling developing their character should connect with the transcendent ideas from Thoreau and Emerson.

paint, I don't draw something realistic. When I am in front of my paper, I just

Throughout history, people encounter a stage in their lives where they feel the necessity to assert their independence and challenge their abilities and self-worth. In the book, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, the author shares his understanding and kinship with the main character, Chris McCandless, a young man who thrusts himself into a life of solitude and a harsh environment during his search for meaning to his life. Krakauer depicts himself and McCandless as modern day transcendentalists with an abundance of competency, resourcefulness and skills as naturalists. Although McCandless chose to experience a life of solitude and face the hazards that nature presents, his lack of preparedness prevented him from completing his endeavor successfully.

American Transcendentalism was an important philosophical and literary movement which placed an emphasis on staying true to one’s beliefs and expressing oneself no matter the situation or consequence. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau fully embraced these beliefs as their influence has allowed these

Transcendentalism was an age of revolution. Not only did this age bring about changes in literature, but it brought about reform in ideals, religion, and people. Movements were all the rage---with abolitionism, feminism, sectarianism, communitarianism, and temperance beginning to flourish. With shifting ideals, literature evolved. Perhaps one of the best known authors of the transcendentalism period would be Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson acted as a mentor to many individuals, with his infamous Divinity School Address. However, one author in particular Emerson guided by introducing her to Goethe and encouraging her to borrow books, and that author would be Louisa May Alcott. Being from the same literary time period, Louisa May Alcott and Ralph Waldo Emerson have similar affinities displaying Transcendentalist ideals in their professional works.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be." Transcendentalist believed in being independent and self-reliant as well as appreciating nature. Transcendentalism occurred in the 1800s in the United States. Transcendentalist believed that one should not rely on others and should rely solely on themselves. They also believe that nature was important in the world and should not be taken for granted. Artist from 2000 up to now share these common beliefs with transcendentalist. One of these artist is Trisha Yearwood who had the song Real Live Woman. Another artist who has a song that follows their beliefs is Lee Ann Womack. Lee Ann Womack has the song I Hope You Dance which also follows along with the beliefs of transcendentalist. Some of the beliefs that transcendentalist had was believing in independence and they also believed in appreciating nature and everything in it for example Lee Ann Womack sings about nature and what happens in it and Trisha Yearwood in one of her songs sings about the importance of being self-reliant and independent she also talks about social reforms and not doing things that is set up by society.

Mansions and cars can never make a person truly happy, even if he believes it himself.

Transcendentalism was a huge cultural movement in the nineteenth century; however, the ideas of the movement still continue to influence our society in the twenty-first century. These ideas of Transcendentalism have continued to exist throughout many years because the ideas remain relevant to society. In fact, the problems that many Transcendentalist writers encountered still happen today in new forms. These similar problems include conformity, the role of government in society, and the importance of nature. In general, people still feel that society needs to better itself for the benefit of all individuals, which is at the heart of Transcendentalism. Some of the ideas that Transcendentalists constantly defended included individualism,

Transcendentalism is a movement that started in the 19th century that pushed back on organized religion and made a lasting impact on the world of literature. This impact would trigger many different authors to write different literature about transcendentalism. Some of these works include Song of Myself by Whitman and Nature by Emerson, both of these works suggest on how a person can transcend, but in different ways. Emerson suggests that it is possible to transcend by shedding your physical body while Whitman suggests the human race can transcend while keeping their physical body.

Transcendentalism was an early philosophical, intellectual, and literary movement that thrived in New England in the nineteenth century. Transcendentalism was a collection of new ideas about literature, religion, and philosophy. It began as a squabble in the Unitarian church when intellectuals began questioning and reacting against many of the church’s orthodoxy ways regarding all of the aforementioned subjects: religion, culture, literature, social reform, and philosophy. They in turn developed their own faith focusing on the divinity of humanity and the innate world. Many of the Transcendentalists ideas were expressed heavily by Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his essays such as “Nature”, “Self Reliance”, and also in his poems such as “The

One of the major themes of transcendentalism is One of the major themes of transcendentalism is to “ trust in yourself” as it is stated in self-reliance. One of the philosophical beliefs of the transcendental movement is that “you can trust yourself” means that you should be able to trust in yourself. Transcendentalism is about knowing who you are no matter what happens. In the transcendentalists movement a few people set out to determine what it meant to be a transcendentalist . When Emerson said “nature always wears the color of the spirit” made me think about what we would be like if we wore the colors of God.

     Many people have theories and philosophies about life in general. There have been hundreds of thousands of books published by many different people on the ideas of people in the past and the present. Transcendentalism falls in amongst all of these ideas. There have been articles, essays, poems, and even books written about this subject. Transcendentalism has effected many people since the philosophy was first introduced. The idea was complex and hard to grasp for many commoners and therefore it was understood by few people, and some would think that the idea was not understood at all and that was part of the idea. Henry David Thoreau once stated about himself, “I should have told them at

“If a person wished to know what transcendentalism was he should empty his mind of everything coming from tradition and the rest would be transcendentalism” (Boller 34). This literary period has dramatically shaped literature and religion, in America. Many writers like Henry David Thoreau and Emily Dickinson have been influence by transcendental ideas. It is astonishing how an inspiring literature movement can change so much of the world’s view and still is around today.

Ralph Waldo Emerson essay “Self-Reliance” is transcendentalism because it consists of being true to oneself. Emerson essay contains the most thorough statement of one of his recurrent themes, the need for an individual to avoid conformity and false consistency, and to follow their own instincts and ideas. Emerson was focused on the importance of self-sufficient; to not look outside yourself, but to look within. Which is why Emerson’s essay exemplifies transcendentalism the strongest. Emerson essay mainly dealt of self trust, “trust thyself: every heart to that iron string.”

Often regarded as the leader of the Transcendentalist literary movement, Ralph Waldo Emerson believed that the individual must look inward to find truth and knowledge. He emphatically stressed that one must practice self-reliance: the ability to trust one’s intuition and not conform to societal standards. Through the use of strict form, powerful imagery, and a wise tone, Emerson’s poem “Intellect” urges us to stay true to ourselves by refusing the practice of blind obedience.