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I Hear America Singing An Example Of Transcendentalism

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The Transcendentalist movement in the United States in the 19th century was a call to action for people to stop conforming to conventional wisdom and start listening to their intuition and values. As a whole, this movement shunned worldly possessions in favor of cultivating one's integrity and soul. The Transcendentalists, who included Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Walt Whitman, wrote and thought about the underlying truths of nature and the human condition to foster independence and personal growth in their readers. This article analyzes how Thoreau's Walden, Emerson's Civil Disobedience, and Walt Whitman's "I Hear America Singing" represent transcendental thought. Walden, Civil Disobedience, and "I Hear America Singing" are …show more content…

Thoreau explains why he traveled to the woods in Walden: "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," (Thoreau 1-3). In this statement, Thoreau emphasizes his conviction that getting away from civilization and spending time in nature is the best way to gain perspective on one's place in the world and the essential realities of life. The belief that one may expand their horizons and learn more about the world by spending time in nature is fundamental to Transcendentalist philosophy. Another excellent example of Transcendentalist thinking from Walden: "I had some guests from those not technically acknowledged by me" (Thoreau 60). Thoreau talks about his interactions with wild creatures in this passage. As expressed by Thoreau in this remark, understanding the world and oneself requires going beyond the "nominally accepted" and into …show more content…

According to Emerson's Civil Disobedience, "Unjust Laws Exist: Shall We Be Content to Obey Them, Shall We Attempt to Amend Them, and Shall We Obey Them Until We Have Successful, or Shall We Transgress Them Immediately?" (Emerson 12). This quotation exemplifies Emerson's view that people should not just comply with unjust laws without trying to get them changed or even breaking them if doing so would violate their moral principles. Transcendentalists believed that an individual should be free to defy immoral or unfair laws. "But let us contemplate the distinction between the criminal and the martyr" is another quotation from Civil Disobedience that shows the Transcendentalist ideology (Emerson 16). Emerson contrasts people who comply with unjust laws with those who are prepared to stand up to them. Emerson's opinion, as expressed in this quotation, is that everyone should listen to their conscience and act

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After reading Krakauer’s Into the Wild and Henry David Thoreau’s exerts from Walden, we can see a deep connection between Christopher McCandless and Thoreau’s transcendental beliefs. Both Chris McCandless and Thoreau show transcendentalism in their actions of self-wisdom, differences, and liberation. Chris McCandless life choices in Into the wild reflect the transcendental beliefs of Thoreau’s Walden. The first transcendental belief of McCandless is that he marches to the beat of a different drummer.

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Jon Krakauer, Chris McCandless, and Henry David Thoreau reveal the philosophy of Transcendentalism. After reading Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer and Henry David Thoreau’s excerpts from Walden, readers see that Transcendentalism plays an important role in Chris McCandless’s and Henry Thoreau’s lives. Chris McCandless and Henry Thoreau have similar beliefs in Transcendentalism. Both men adopt deliberation, individualism, and self-wisdom. Chris McCandless adopts deliberation as a way of life.

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By law of Congress September 1850 it is a high crime..to resist the reenslaving a man on the coast of America… What kind of Constitution which covers it?” Emerson believes that if you follow the Constitutions immoral laws, it is suicidal. The law is getting tangled up within itself, which ultimately leads to its destruction. This document is trustworthy because it is from Emerson’s own address. Knowing Emerson as a transcendentalist, these ideas fit with his views.

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The transcendental movement, which reached the height of its popularity in the 1830’s and 1840’s, inspired many people to live essentially, without unnecessary material possessions, and to practice civil disobedience by breaking laws that one feels are unjust. Chris McCandless, Alexander Supertramp, is one of the most well known people in recent history inspired by transcendentalism because he, just like Henry David Thoreau, took the ideas of Ralph Waldo Emerson and put them into action. When Chris fully applies the principles of transcendentalism, he enhances his life by giving him the opportunity to stop pretending to be someone that he is not and pursue a more authentic Chris McCandless. Chris McCandless grew up in a wealthy family and received

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“Unjust laws exist: Shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them” (Thoreau 945, par.16). Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had written about resisting an unjust government in his piece, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. In his essay “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience,” Henry David Thoreau also discusses the right and responsibility to resist an unjust government. Since King and Thoreau both use current events in their time as examples of injustice, use historical and biblical references, how they can’t wait any longer to make a change, both provide strong arguments on how important it is to stand up against the injustice put upon American people by the government; however, King and Thoreau were inspired to write by different causes

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In the process of comparing the two, GPT’s writing style undermines many grammatical rules. Chat GPT logically compares Chris Mccandless and two of the most well known transcendentalists, Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, in a way that allows both of their philosophies to be analyzed. Specifically, GPT introduces Thoreau and Emerson’s most famous works, "Civil Disobedience" and "Nature.” By citing these transcendentalist pieces, GPT does well at comparing many of their philosophies with Chris’ similar moral code. While comparing the two, GPT talks about how Thoreau believes men differ from one another “perhaps it is because [they] hear a different drummer” (Thoreau Civil Disobedience).

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The essay “Civil Disobedience” is about the individuals facing the society they live in, as well as the fight against injustice. Thoreau says in his essay, “I think we should be men first, and subjects afterwards” (392). Thoreau says that they should act as citizens of a community before they act as subjects of the government as well as society. Thoreau also states that, “The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to so at any time what I think is right” (392). This means that at any point in time, as long as the individual does what he believes is right, society’s (as well as government, in this case) standards do not apply.

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"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.”- Henry David Thoreau. Transcendentalism is an American philosophy that revolves around self-reliance and independence, commonly in nature, a Transcendentalist wants to find the true meaning in life. I believe that Chris McCandless was a Transcendentalist because he was able to leave his whole life behind and take on a minimalist lifestyle while having a strong relationship with god. However, I believe that I am not a Transcendentalist, but simply an adventurer.

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Henry David Thoreau: Biography and Rhetorical Analysis of His Works Henry David Thoreau and the transcendentalist movement can’t be summarized merely in a single sentence or even essay, though this quote comes close, “Most of the luxuries and many of the so-called comforts of life are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind.” Transcendentalism is the belief that material things, the “comforts” and “luxuries” of which Thoreau speaks, are inferior to knowledge and spirituality. Thoreau was a major leader in this movement. Thoreau’s works, “Walden” “Main Woods”, and various poems of his helped to lay the foundations for Transcendentalism. Some 140 years after his death Thoreau is still being published, and written about.

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Transcendentalists are the people who believe that there is so much more to the mind than any man knows, and that mankind needs to see what’s been hidden within them in order to become more self aware. In Henry David Thoreau’s manuscript “ Walden,” he wrote, we must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not forsake us in our soundest sleep.” ( Thoreau Walden pg. 748). In this it is evident that Thoreau believed mankind should be driven to find what their minds have subconsciously hidden from them in order to achieve a healthier enlightened mind. Thoreau also believed that not everyone was capable of reaching this state of awareness when he wrote, ‘ the millions are awake enough for physical labor; but only one in a million is awake enough for effective intellectual exertion.”

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Transcendentalist writers were focused on the belief of the divinity of the individual soul, the inner voice, (Crawford, Kern & Needleman, 1961) to overcome social stereotypes and to avoid conformity. It is highlighted the importance to return to nature to enhance the quality of humans beings by living simply since being apart of common social rules is the only way to be in communion with nature’s wisdom. Those transcendental characteristics could be seen in Emerson’s ¨self-reliance¨ or Thoreau’s ¨Walden ¨ bearing in mind that although, Emerson’s ¨Self-reliance¨ adheres more descriptive examples to illustrate metaphors and Thoreau’s ¨Where I lived and what I lived for¨ introduces metaphors creating much more imagery, both make a critique of the modern individual using

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Ever since its creation, the United States of America has given people the opportunity to speak and practice their own philosophies and religion. As a prime example, transcendentalism is a philosophical and literary movement that gained followers during 1836-1860 that encouraged social reform, self-transformation, and people to rise above their immediate experiences. Developed by Ralph Waldo Emerson and lived by Henry David Thoreau, the essence of transcendentalism was to live life with simplicity and to elevate intuition and imagination over logical reasoning. However in today’s society, true transcendentalism is irrelevant and cannot be practiced.

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Henry David Thoreau is one of the primary promoters of the transcendentalist movement and has been inspiring people to take on the transcendentalist lifestyle ever since the mid 1800’s. Mccandless was an admirer of Henry’s philosophy but he wasn’t as fully immersed in his work and ideals as Thoreau was to his own. His intentions were not as closely aligned to the movement as Thoreau’s and the difference between these icons are clearly visible. Self reliance is one of the most significant components of the transcendentalism movement that Henry David Thoreau contributed to in his literary career. “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.” - (taken from Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden”).

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In Walden, written by Henry David Thoreau, the author expresses the immense longing that we, as human beings, need to give up our connection to our ever-growing materialism in order to revert back to self-sufficient happiness. In Walden, the reader is able to infer that Thoreau feels as if we are becoming enslaved by our material possessions, as well as believes that the study of nature should replace and oppose our enslavement, and that we are to “open new channels of thought” by turning our eyes inward and studying ourselves. Thoreau feels that we are becoming enslaved by our material possessions. As stated in the chapter “In the Where I Lived, and What I Lived For”, Thoreau states that “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.” (972).

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Transcendentalism, a philosophical and social movement, demonstrated how divinity spreads through all nature and humanity. One of the main ideals of transcendentalism, living simply and independently, define as the principle. In matters of financial and interpersonal relations, independence projects as more valuable than neediness. Henry david Thoreau elaborates on these transcendentalist ideals when he travels into the woods and writes an essay.

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