This past summer I followed my heart all the way to Fiji, for the sole purpose of diving one of the most recognized shark reefs in the world. Not many people would pay a hefty sum of money to dive one hundred feet into the ocean with bait hoping to find numerous sharks, especially when those sharks happen to be considered one of the more dangerous species to man: the Bull shark. Everyday for three weeks, ten other shark loving teenagers and I sought adventure deep in the ocean with sharks up to twelve feet long and 500 pounds. When my English teacher introduced transcendental essays in class written by Ralph Waldo Emerson, a 18th century philosopher, I immediately thought of my shark diving experiences. My shark diving experiences embody …show more content…
Emerson was born in Boston in the early 1800s. After studying at Harvard, Emerson joined the ministry. He spent much time reading about eastern philosophies like Hinduism and Buddhism which began to alter his originally Christian views. In 1832, Emerson resigned from the ministry just after his wife, Ellen, died of Tuberculosis. He spent some time traveling then returned to Massachusetts where he began to write and publish essays and poems about his philosophies, which had shifted from protestant to more eastern views. These philosophies were known as transcendentalism or, transcending into nature and ourselves to find meaning. Emerson wrote his first transcendental piece, “Nature”, in 1836. Nature focused on the idea that one could find peace and understanding through connection with the natural world. One of his next famous works was “Self- Reliance” which he wrote in 1841, “Self-Reliance”. The essay’s focal point was trusting and following your own mind and thoughts. Emerson continued to spread transcendental ideas until his death in …show more content…
Ever since the release of the movie Jaws, sharks have had an extremely violent reputation. Although statistics prove unprovoked shark attacks on humans are extremely rare, people continue to believe the negative consortiums of sharks, that they are man- eating predators. This became very apparent to me when I told people my summer plans of shark diving in Fiji. The responses varied but all of them had the same message: that if I were to want to dive in the ocean with big sharks, I must be crazy. My friends and family would constantly ask me if I was sure that I wanted to go. Even if I just mention that sharks are my favorite animal people would ask if I was joking or how I could possibly like sharks. I had known that diving with sharks was not the most popular activity, but I realized how negativity people really felt about sharks and diving with them. I ultimately stuck with my gut and pursued my passion because like Emerson says, “What I must do is all that concerns me, not what people think.” I would have to ignore people’s negative comments and not let them “sink like darts” into my ears and “put me in fear”, like Emerson suggests in “Self- Reliance”. I went against what others told me, and I dove with sharks which although was misunderstood, was the greatest
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.
According to the New York Times, teenagers listen to an average of 2.5 hours of music in a singular day. The messages coming through in each song may vary between drug/alcohol reference or transcendentalism. No matter where there is music, there is a lesson to be learned through ideas that Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau created. Though transcendentalism is a relatively foreign word to most, it can be defined by using five i's: individualism, inspiration, intuition, idealism and imagination which are displayed on all platforms of music today. The different music genres may vary between music from the late 1990's and children's movies today.
ABSTRACT: The purpose of this address is to argue for the following theses: (1) the concept of transcendentality can be associated not only with idealism but also with materialism; (2) such a connection was made possible by Karl Marx's theory; and (3) in the development of Marxism up to now, theory has been tied to a political movement, which is an error of principle, for what survives of it is a kind of social ethics which should more appropriately be called Marxism. Transcendence and immanence are notions of relationship. Values exist sensually above the senses: e.g., the aesthetic value of a painting is not identical with the material of the canvas and the oils on it, although it
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.”
The time period of transcendentalism changed the views of many people through setting different principles otherwise known as tenets. These tenets I am going to focus on is: confidence, self-reliance, free thought, nonconformity, and the importance of nature. Transcendentalism was a philosophical movement in the 1800’s where people responded to the strict rules back then. They declared that they didn’t have to follow all of the rules and decided to go off of independent tenets. Many pieces of literature contain some or all of these tenets, the ones I’m going to discuss and analyze today are Still I Rise by Maya Angelou that focuses on self-reliance and stanza 1 and 52 from Song of Myself by Walt Whitman which focuses on all tenets of transcendentalism. All of the 5 tenets are very important, but the one that overcomes all the others in my life is confidence. Many pieces of literature contain at least all tenets, but reference them in different ways.
Ever since the entertainment industry began to capture animals for the enjoyment of others, activists who believe animals can only subsist in the wild have been protesting against this monstrous act, using powerful propaganda to entice others to join their cause. The critically acclaimed film Blackfish, which highlights SeaWorld’s treatment of killer whales, apparently reveals shocking and appalling insight on accidental deaths caused by captive killer whales. One of the highest grossing documentaries of all time, as stated on director Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s website, Blackfish has captivated millions of viewers, causing them to reevaluate their values and advocating against SeaWorld. Although Cowperthwaite has stated in an interview that the “film is not at all advocating for anything,” and that she attempted to take a “journalistic approach” to documenting these phenomena, it is clear that the events depicted in the film reflect opposition to SeaWorld and its captivity of whales. Although Blackfish extensively applies human emotion and concepts to the animal kingdom to solicit sympathy from the viewers and provides misleading information to add to the sense of credibility, further research contradicts the points made in the film, rendering the conveyance of the film’s admonition against the captivity of killer whales ineffective.
The Remnants of Transcendentalism To be Transcendental one must go beyond the ordinary (transcendental). Transcendentalists have been influencing people’s lives since the 1820s and remnants of Transcendental ideas still exist today (Frederick). There are many Transcendental tenets that still influence society. A few tenets are free thought, importance of nature, and nonconformity.
People around the world and throughout time have always had an idea of spirituality. The spirit has been thought of as an essential part of human nature. The evidence is in the common culture of religions in the world. The soul is the essence of humanity and spirituality is the condition of one’s soul. Spirituality is the condition of a consciousness. One answer to creating this essential growth in spirituality is Transcendentalism. Transcendentalism is the rebellion of one’s soul against the societal laws that humanity upholds. It is the integrity of a being and the healing of a scarred mind through nature. Ralph Waldo Emerson was a major figure in transcendentalist literature and wrote two separate essays, one being named
Our attitude toward Sharks has changed over the decades, but not as much as it needs to. Shark attacks still rattle people to the core. The recent spate of them in North Carolina, involving eight victims over 24 days, was particularly disturbing because there were so many of them, in such shallow water, in a short time. Then there was the widely covered episode in July in South Africa, when champion surfer Mick Fanning fended off a Shark that seemed determined to on bite him. Throw in the 40th anniversary this summer of the release of “Jaws” and the release of Syfy’s “Sharknado 3,” and it’s easy to see why some people might collapse into a fetal position at the mere mention of “Shark.”But people seem to be realizing, if slowly, that there’s
The emergence of the Transcendentalists as an identifiable movement took place during the late 1820s and 1830s, but the roots of their religious philosophy extended much farther back into American religious history. Transcendentalism and evangelical Protestantism followed separate evolutionary branches from American Puritanism, taking as their common ancestor the Calvinism of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In exploring their respective departures from Calvinism we can begin to map out the common ground the two movements
This picture represents self reliance, one of the themes of transcendentalism. In today's pop culture, we lay on hammocks and read book, look at magazines, etc. Laying on a hammock is not something that a person in the 1830’s would of done, but this picture captures the essence of one of the many beliefs the transcendentalists have. They believe individuals perform at their best when they are independent and rely only on themselves; self reliance. Today in pop culture, it depends on the person, their are independent people and their are dependent people, and the boy in the picture, is an example of independent. A tree usually holds up the ends of the hammock, as it does on the left side of the cartoon. The right side of the cartoon, the boy
Transcendentalism in the nineteenth century brought in a wave of outstanding writers, poets, and philosophers in the literary world which then brought light to a whole new perspective of the American society by regularly challenging common societal traditions and beliefs. Ralph Waldo Emerson was one of many famous transcendentalists, and can be considered the leader of the transcendental movement. In Emerson’s essay, “Self-Reliance”, he focuses on the idea that a person should follow their own true nature disregarding what others say, and from this ideology, it reveals that people too often base their life decisions on what society considers to be right or wrong when people should be basing it off their own beliefs, because that is what will lead them to a happier and successful life.
Transcendentalism: This concept was largely thanks to Ralph Waldo Emerson, whose Transcendental Club contained many followers –including his main two disciples Margaret Fuller and David Thoreau. This philosophy believed that reality is built up of spirit/soul and nature—that was influenced by several religious/philosophical influences from around the world.
Following the influx of the puritanical style of writing in America during the 17th Century by the Founding Fathers, it could be said that what we now know as the collective `American writing' was once created almost as an effort to distance its own style from that of other European styles.
Ralph Waldo Emerson was born on May 25, 1803 in Boston, Massachusetts to Ruth and clergyman William Emerson. In 1812, Emerson attended Boston Latin School. In 1817, at the young age of 14 he started attending Harvard College and graduated in 1821.(A&E Networks Television) He taught for a short time before going to Harvard Divinity school. Soon after Emerson entered the ministry and became an unwilling preacher at the Old Second Church. He had already started to falter from his Christian faith before his young wife, Ellen Tucker, died from tuberculosis in 1831 causing Emerson to resign from his position as pastor.(Academy of American Poets) The year following his wife’s death he traveled to Europe where he met Thomas Carlyle, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and William Wordsworth, famous literary figures that inspired who he would become.(A&E Networks Television) After his return from Europe he settled in Concord, Massachusetts in 1834 and started writing “Nature” which he published anonymously two years later in 1836. He married his second wife, Lydia Jackson, in 1835. Emerson and his wife had four children, two sons and two daughters. (Encyclopædia Britannica) On August 31, 1837 he gave his famous speech, The American Scholar. He became a spokesman for Transcendentalism, a philosophical movement that was created in order to protest the common intellect and spirituality of that time period . One of his most well known works “Essays-First Series” is a series of essays about