Transcendentalism Reflection

In fact, in one of his pieces "Self Reliance," Emerson indicates, "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 bards and sages." This quote demonstrates that man should learn to go after their instinct and not ignore their thoughts. By appreciating Emerson's knowledge, students will learn to trust their instincts. Students who doubt their instincts should trust that "If [they] advance confidently in the direction of [their] dreams, and endeavors to live the life which [they have] imagined, [they] will meet with a success unexpected in common hour," and believe, that if they follow their dreams and instinct they will be successful (Thoreau). Students should fight for what they believe in order to accomplish their dreams. By utilizing Thoreau and Emerson's intelligence in life, people will start to believe more in their own intuition.

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

A1: People wanted to be able to express their knowledge of the world around them, that goes farther than what you can see, hear, taste, or touch. And that is how transcendentalism was born.

To have simplicity in life, which is advocated by Transcendentalism, is getting more important in this complex and busy society because it helps people to focus on pursuing their own goals. Thoreau states, “In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe

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.

Topic/prompt: Based on what you’ve read, argue whether the ideas generated from the Transcendentalist movement are still relevant to today’s world (and if so, how, and if not, why not). You may choose to focus on one of the three thematic categories we’ve discussed (Importance of Self-Reliance, Value of Simplicity, or Illusion of Progress) or you may create your own thematic category but I recommend you narrow your focus.

In the mid-1830s, Ralph Waldo Emerson created a belief called Transcendentalism. He wrote the essay, “Self Reliance” and Henry David Thoreau, another Transcendentalist wrote an essay called, “Walden.” Both works of literature focus on the Transcendentalism belief. In “The Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hawthorne reveals both Transcendentalism and Anti-Transcendentalism through the attitudes of the characters. Therefore, “The Minister’s Black Veil” can be compared and contrasted with both “Self Reliance” and “Walden.”

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.

Krakauer himself agrees with such claim. Before he even begins to tell the tale of Chris McCandless, Krakauer speaks directly of McCandless transcendance. In the authors note Krakauer writes that McCandless “invented a new life for himself...wandering across North America in search of raw, transcendent experience” (Krakauer Author’s Note). To deny such a direct assessment from someone who shares so many sympathies with McCandless, is ludicrous. Krakauer also compares Mccandless to transcendentalist monks on several occasions. From the description of Chris’s “monkish room furnished with little more than a thin mattress on the floor, milk crates, and a table”( Krakauer 22), to stating that he is “as chaste as a monk” (65). Krakauer even goes

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

I think that we are going to have to think about our downfall if we don’t start thinking in a posthumous way, we don’t take anything into account; our surrounding environment we are bound to fail as a human race because then we wouldn’t be able to live on this earth. To think about a world without mass production is becoming rarer and rarer

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 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

     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

For the future changing point, Wilson uses an example about life in the present and in the past, and how complex life and learning has gotten in modern society. Woodrow Wilson also, gave an example of a scholar with his door closed, and his window open. Wilson states “The present need is that we should examine ourselves...to make a radical change, in the things we have attempted” (3). Wilson also, talks about how modern people don’t know what to teach their pupils because they don’t know what they are going to be when they are older.