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Transcendentalism In Emerson's Self-Reliance

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This excerpt highlights the second influence on the mind, learning from the past, and more importantly the influence of books. He says that books contain ideals and memories of the past, and these books change the basis of truth. The truth is biased and tainted by society, and this represents one of the basic tenets of Transcendentalism, that man and nature are inherently good while society corrupts the purity of an individual. The purity being individualized truths. Emerson’s respect for individual thought and truth is inspiring. It is nearly impossible for society to move forward and develop our individualized truths if we rely on the brilliance of those before us. Emerson criticizes Americans for being followers rather than leaders throughout …show more content…

The reader can assume that Anastas is becoming increasingly concerned by the occurrence of these attitudes in modern American society and the pride of place given to “Self-Reliance” in American literature. One of the most important things in this text is the book Anastas used in high school, he vividly illustrates the book, and this description lays the groundwork for the purpose of criticism on “Self-Reliance.” The passage sticks in the mind of the reader because it describes the book so well and gives it pride of place in the essay. It is also where Anastas found “Self-Reliance”, the piece that his essay is centered around. In Walden, Thoreau uses first person, which I feel, is extremely effective in describing his personal experiences over the years. Thoreau has an advantage using this narrative technique, as readers, we are able to understand what Thoreau is feeling, seeing, touching, tasting, and hearing directly. Everything is communicated, and there is nothing he doesn’t attempt to communicate. Thoreau’s description and imagery used to describe the environment he was in while building his house, appeals to nature. He discusses the “spring sun”, “hazy atmosphere,” and “slight flurries” all contribute to his experience in the transition between winter and spring. Without the imagery and description provided by first person point of view, Walden wouldn’t be as nearly as impactful on the

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Having described the main characteristics of both, Emerson and Thoreau, at this point is significant to contextualize the texts “Self-reliance” (1841) and the second chapter of “Walden” (1854) to analyze the figurative language the authors

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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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People consider Emerson the “father of Transcendentalism”. He believed that man would thrive if he trusted himself. Man was inherently good and could do no wrong. In Emerson’s “Nature”, a work about Emerson’s view on nature, he writes: “We must trust the perfection of the creation so far, as to believe that whatever curiosity the order of things has awakened in our minds, the order of things can satisfy” (Emerson Par 2). Man did not need to rely on society, or entangle himself in the patterns of the world; man’s intuition would be enough for his success.

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Transcendentalism is the belief that man is inherently good, is an independent thinker, and goes out into nature to get in touch with himself. Generally, man has good intentions and intends no harm unto others. In addition, man does not need society to give him and develop his thoughts, as he already has them within. To help bring out these already installed beliefs, man has the desire to go out into nature to get in touch with himself and find deeper notions within. In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s writings “Self Reliance” and “American Scholar”, he writes about how being a true individual means that one must have his own beliefs, and not copy someone else’s ideas.

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By that, he believed in the individual over the institution, which was a very dominant Transcendentalist trait. In 1837, Emerson was invited to deliver the address ‘The American Scholar’ at Harvard, which was one of the most influential American speeches made at his time. It consists of 45 paragraphs you can divide into five different sections. In the first seven paragraphs, he introduces his intention, which is to explore the scholar as one function of the

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