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Transcendentalists Characteristics

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Transcendentalists were writers from the American Romantic Era that held unique beliefs about life and how to live it. They wrote many essays that provided guidelines on how to live a successful life. Most of what they articulated was very out of the ordinary for their time, especially their characteristics. Transcendentalists demonstrated a multitude of characteristics throughout their writing, but the three most obvious were lawlessness, individualism and simplicity. One main characteristic of Transcendentalists was lawlessness. Transcendentalists believed that the law held no power over them. In Civil Disobedience, Thoreau stated that if one feels a law is unjust, it is their duty to break it(Thoreau 393) Breaking a law, however unjust it may seem, is obviously a show of lawlessness. Another example that shows a sense of lawlessness in the writings of Transcendentalists is in Civil Disobedience when Thoreau made it known that he hadn’t payed a poll-tax in six years(Thoreau 395). Even if there was a valid reason for …show more content…

The Transcendentalists believed that everyone was their own person and that conforming to others ruined what it meant to be human. In “Self-Reliance”, Ralph Waldo Emerson stated that “Whoso be a man, must be a nonconformist”(Emerson 370). This quote means that the Transcendentalists believed so much in individualism, that they went so far as to say that one is not a man if they conform to society. Another example of individualism is in “Self-Reliance” when Emerson said that to be great one must not follow the societal norms, but instead go their own way. Someone may be misunderstood in life but in the future they could be looked upon as a hero(Emerson 372). The Transcendentalists believed that greatness was not achieved through following others, but that a person must be an individual to “transcend” everyone else. To sum up, Transcendentalists believed in not conforming to

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During the 1830s, an intellectual movement took place called Transcendentalism. Transcendentalism is the idea that an individual is the center of the universe and is more powerful than any institution. This way of thinking was very new to the people during that time. Even though the movement took place well over one hundred years ago, traits of Transcendentalism are still abundant in society today. For example, the movie Wall-E contains many traits of Transcendentalism.

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Transcendentalism is a major romantic movement during the 19th century. It was a period of romance where people learned to love themselves. The poem Self-Reliance, is by Ralph Waldo Emerson. In this excerpt, he emphasizes the traits of being a transcendentalist. The selection Tia Chucha, is by Luis Rodriguez.

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Transcendentalism is a highly competitive world of the market revolution which strongly encouraged the identification of American freedom without any restraints on people who were seeking financial improvement and personal development. It was a world in which regional developments along with the market revolution crushed traditional and social borders. For example moving from one place to another was a common characteristic of the American life. Transcendentalism believed in individual judgment over existing social traditions and institutions.

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Transcendentalism is the idea of striving to live a life of independence, simplicity, and coherence with nature. An element of transcendentalism is having the euphoria of one life over society. A modern example of a song that supports transcendentalism is “Try” by Colbie Caillat. Transcendentalism is when someone does not meet society’s expectations and they are their own individuals. This song relates to transcendentalism because the singer, Colbie Caillat is singing about how women do not have to change so much to meet society standards of beauty.

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Is Transcendentalism a good or bad thing? Everyday in life people come across traits of transcendentalism and don 't even realize it, it can be as easy as looking at the trees or doing something else than what everyone else is doing. These are all examples of transcendentalism and people don 't even realize it. For example my family and I went to San Francisco and went to the Redwoods where respect for nature was so strong because I was amazed at how cool the trees were and how long they have been there.

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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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The Transcendentalists' dissatisfaction with their society was focused on policies and actions of the United States government. The Transcendentalists opposed the treatment of Native Americans, the war with Mexico, and the continuing and expanding practice of slavery. Transcendentalists urged that each person find, in Emerson's words, “an original relation to the universe” Transcendentalists the best way to experience “intuitive insights” was to return to God’s direct creation: nature. They also believed in independent thought, civil disobedience, and

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Transcendentalism is commonly seen everywhere. It can be seen in pieces of literature, in plays like The Night Thoreau Spent In Jail, and even in speeches from famous leaders like “ A Time for Choosing” by Ronald Reagan. Transcendentalism is a different way of thinking in which you focus on yourself rather than society. As a transcendentalist, you focus on simplifying your life, being confident in yourself, and not conforming or listening to society. You focus on the importance of nature and believe in a higher power.

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Everyone has their own set of views of the world. However, sometimes these are not individual views; instead, they are imposed upon people who are forced to accept them. Opinions like these are against the transcendental point of view. Transcendentalist finds the importance of finding one's own truth or judgments despite it possibly being in the minority. There have been many famous transcendentalist writers, such as Henry David Thoreau, and Ralph Waldo Emerson, who have written many essays, and books about their views and opinions.

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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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Sharks: The Evolution For roughly 420 million years, the greatest predator of the ocean has been swimming freely around in the water (450 Million Years of Sharks). Fish scurry away escape the rows of teeth in the jaws of a shark. With over 400 species of shark, how did they all get here? (A Timeline of Shark Evolution). Most importantly, how did they get such unique features that help them become the rulers of the ocean?

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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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The transcendentalism time period is described as a time that stressed equality, social responsibility, and the power of the individual. Although this time period had many influential authors, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau were two of the most influential writers of this era. Throughout both Self Reliance, written by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Civil Disobedience, written by Henry David Thoreau, the lesson of non-conformity to society and the idea that it is each person’s social responsibility to stand up for themselves is discussed. One of Emerson’s main goal of Self Reliance was wanting to explain an important idea of individuality and that humans should not conform to the societal views that were being forced upon them and that

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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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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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