All the names; the sun, the moon, the stars, the rivers, the mountains, the trees, the flowers, the scholars and the time on Earth are all ranked under nature by Emerson. (Nature, 1836) and scholars look for answers from nature because of which nature and men are interconnected but in contrast to this Thoreau points out that nature and man are not interlinked and that Men and Nature are two different entities and this is why both Ralph Waldo Emerson in ‘The American Scholar’ and Henry David Thoreau in ‘Walden; or, Life in The Woods’ talks about man and nature. Emerson was born on the 25th of May in 1803 and died after 79 years in April 27th, 1882 (Ralph Waldo Emerson, Wikipedia). Emerson led the movement of the Transcendentalist which happened in the mid-19th century and this movement was a protest against the spirituality (Transcendentalism, Wikipedia). Thoreau was well known for his outspoken nature against slavery in the United States and for this he was influenced by his wife Cynthia, who was a member of the Concord Women’s Anti-Slavery Society (A brief biography). Thoreau was born on 12th July, 1817 and died on 6th May, 1862. According to Emerson in “The American Scholar’ man is a mere puppet in the midst of people although he is a man thinking when alone but whatever his state of mind is, it is man that derives ideas from nature and most importantly nature has the answer to all the questions of men. In Thoreau’s ‘Walden; or, Life in The Woods’ what he thinks is that men are confused about the creation of nature and man because if both men and nature were creations of God then how can both good and evil be together. Thoreau tries to show the greed of man and the inadequate resource of nature and at what pace man is consumin...
... middle of paper ...
...he will of God (American Scholar).
In conclusion both Emerson and Thoreau agree that even though man is an individual yet all men have to depend on one another and that nature is the ultimate answer to all the questions.
Works Cited
Henry David Thoreau. (2014, March 19). Retrieved on 20th March, 2014 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_David_Thoreau Ralph Waldo Emerson. (2014, March 19). Retrieved on 20th March, 2014 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Waldo_Emerson
Emerson, R. W. (1836). Nature. Retrieved on 17th April, 2014 from
http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/texts/emerson/nature-contents.html
Thoreau, H. D. (1854). Walden; or, life in the woods. Retrieved from
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/205/205-h/205-h.htm
Transcendentalism. (2014, March 12). Retrieved on 20th March, 2014 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcendentalism
In Emerson’s “Nature” nature is referred to as “plantations of god” meaning that nature is sacred. Also mentioned, is that “In the woods is perpetual youth”(#) conveying that nature keeps people young. Therefore, these excerpts show that nature is greatly valued by these transcendentalists. Transcendentalists would likely care significantly about the environment. In contrast, nowadays nature is often and afterthought. Natures’ resources are being depleted for human use, and the beauty of nature is also not as appreciated by modern people as it was by transcendentalists. The threat to nature in modern times contrasts to the great appreciation of nature held by authors like Emerson and
In Thoreau’s excerpt of “Walden”, he writes about moving to the forest to live in a cabin. He gets away from the busy world around him and secludes himself to nature. While living out in the forest, Thoreau would take the time to enjoy the beauty of nature and come back to the cabin and write about it. In Emerson’s excerpt of “Nature”, he writes about the relationship of humans and nature.
How people see one another vary in numerous ways, whether it be from actions or what is gathered through spoken conversations. When an intellectual meets someone for the first time, they tend to judge by appearance before they judge by how the person express their thoughts or ideas. In Thoreau’s excerpt, he emphasizes the importance of his philosophy, especially by making sure the reader is aware of his own feelings about it. He puts literary devices such as metaphors, personification, and imagery to construct his explanation for his philosophy as well as provide several attitudes to let the reader identify how he feels towards people and the value of their ideas.
When it comes to civil rights, there are two pieces of literature commonly discussed. One of these pieces is Henry David Thoreau’s persuasive lecture On the Duty of Civil Disobedience. In this work, Thoreau discusses how one must combat the government with disobedience of unjust laws and positive friction to create change. The second piece is the commonly known article Letter From a Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr. This letter covers the ways in which peaceful protest and standing up against injustice can lead to positive results. Both pieces conveyed a similar message of standing up for what is right. The strongest rhetorical methods which Thoreau uses are allusions, logos, ethos and rhetorical questions. However, King’s use of
know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my
An American Author, Transcendentalist and tax resister, Henry David Thoreau was born in Concord Massachusetts, and lived there most of his life. He was opposed to many of the things that went on in our society and debated many issues in his life. Two of these major issues are , the Mexican American War and the implement of Slavery in our society. This was the reason for many of his writings include “Slavery in Massachusetts” and “Civil Disobedience” where he wrote about his principles and views against the U.S government and their involvement in the Mexican American War and the evil of Slavery. Thoreau opposed to these because they promote unjust government practices which he was strongly against.
Let’s look at some passages and analyze their styles of writing and content. Emerson wrote in “Self Reliance”, “Man is his own star; and the soul that can render an honest and perfect man” (Norton). Thoreau wrote in “Walden Pond”, “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” (Norton). Emerson was more philosophical and presented his writings as more of a lecture. Thoreau's writings were more intimate and personal in style. He was the central character of his stories. Thoreau lived on Walden Pond and actually lived what he wrote about. Hawthorne was completely opposite of Emerson and Thoreau. He was an “Anti-transcendentalist” which believed, “man is born with the strain of original sin, man is the most destructive force in nature, one can only find good through good works and life experiences” (Brozeck). Hawthorne was more dark in his writing as is evident in a passage from the “Scarlett Letter”. “The founders of the new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognized it among their earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetery, and another portion as the site of a prison” (Hawthorne). From this passage, it is
Henry Thoreau uses specific rhetorical strategies in Walden to emanate his attitude towards life. With the use of many strategies Thoreau shows that life should be centered around Nature. People live their lives not ever taking a second glance of what Nature does and has done for humanity and Thoreau is trying to prove his point. Humanity owes Nature everything for without it humans would be nothing.
Throughout Emerson’s essay titled “Nature,” he responds to current events, the most prominent being the Second Great Awakening. In the chapter titled “Idealism” Emerson discusses the effects of ideas and beliefs upon nature and humans. These ideas are meant to represent religion and the partnership of God and Nature. This is shown in the quote “Nature is made to conspire with spirit to emancipate us.” This quote speaks to the connection between God and Nature. Emerson discusses the idea that nature could be an illusion and exists as an imaginative connection to reach God through. Connecting to Nature thus leads to connecting to God. “Nature” discusses the properties of nature and how the human mind reacts to natural events. In the “Idealism”
In his essay, "Nature", Ralph Waldo Emerson describes man's relationship to nature and to God. Early on, he describes himself as a "transparent eyeball." In this passage, he expresses his view that nature is purity. Emerson believes being in pure nature brings mankind closer to the way God intended life to be. Through nature man and God are brought together.
Throughout the other chapters, Emerson explores the idea of nature as instructor to man and how man can learn from nature. He repeatedly says that nature is a divine creation of God and through it man can learn to be closer to god. However, despite the reverence, awe, and prerequisite mental status, he also presents the concept of nature being 'below' and man on a 'Scala Natura ' of sorts. Although man seen as connected to and part of nature, for he questions if we can "separate the man from the living picture" of nature (26), he finds that nature is nothing without human interpretation because "All facts in natural history taken by themselves have not value . . .. but marry it to human history, and it is full of life," (33). However, there appears to be some more complicated interactions between nature and humans because human language, arguably one of the most important inventions/discoveries in our history is immediately dependent on nature (35). In a chapter titled Discipline, Emerson states that 'nature is thoroughly mediate. It is made to serve," (45). Emerson believes that the human form is superior to all other organizations which appear to be degradations of it (50).
In many works of literature, authors often have a point they are trying to convey. This may be something about religion or politics, for example. In From Walden by Henry David Thoreau and Against Nature by Joyce Carol Oates, both authors are trying to make different claims regarding the topic of nature. Thoreau’s piece speaks more positively of nature whereas Oates’ piece contradicts the romantic views some writers have about nature. In making their claims, both authors utilize different structures to convey clear messages to the reader.
Emerson placed an emphasis on three primary aspects of life that illustrate the most crucial elements of humanity; nature, education and action. According to his theology, nature is the chief facet and because of its universal features, it arguably encompasses the remaining two tenets. Nature supports progress and action by providing physical accommodations in the form of material assets while simultaneously feeding the emotional hunger of man with inspirational beauty. His entire philosophy is embedded in the belief that an external presence shapes and influences the spiritual, intellectual, and physical elements of the individual. In fact, virtually every aspect of man can be traced back to the perfect order of nature.
Ralph Waldo Emerson was born on May 25th, 1803 and died on April 1882. He was a poet, lecturer and essay writer. Slowly he started to disbelieve in his religion and social believes and started to study philosophy like Plato (Transcendental, nature). Keeping in mind his philosophy studies he gave a speech on “The American scholar” in 1837. Only during 1932 “The American Scholar” became the most popular magazine, where a speech was declared by Emerson to the people of America and his speech became one of the best sellers and had won many awards. Thoreau began writing during 1840s with the help of Emerson as his teacher and friend as well. He was known for his opinions about Transcendentalism during those days. Both of them wrote many poems about Nature. Emerson and Thoreau consider that nature is what forces them not to depend on others idea but to develop their own. Which inspired themselves and encouraged others to write on their own? The relationship between Emerson and Thoreau on man and nature has implemented their own ideas but have similar ideas at some extended and both of them learned from each other.
Ralph Waldo Emerson(1803-1882), the leader of the Transcendentalism in New England, is the first American who wrote prose and poem on nature and the relationship between nature and man Emerson's philosophy of Transcendentalism concerning nature is that nature is only another side of God "the gigantic shadow of God cast our senses." Every law in nature has a counterpart in the intellect. There is a perfect parallel between the laws of nature and the laws of thought. Material elements simply represent an inferior plane: wherever you enumerate a physical law, I hear in it a moral rule. His poem The Rhodora is a typical instance to illustrate his above-mentioned ideas on nature. At the very beginning of the poem, the poet found the fresh rhodora in the woods, spreading its leafless blooms in a deep rock, to please the desert and the sluggish brook, while sea-winds pieced their solitudes in May. It is right because of the rhodora that the desert and the sluggish brook are no longer solitudes. Then the poem goes to develop by comparison between the plumes of the redbird and the rhodora . Although the bird is elegant and brilliant, the flower is much more beautiful than the bird. So the sages can not helping asking why this charm is wasted on the earth and sky. The poet answers beauty is its own cause for being just as eyes are made for seeing. There is no other reason but beauty itsel...