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Similarities between henry david thoreau and ralph waldo emerson
Similarities between henry david thoreau and ralph waldo emerson
Thesis statement on transcendentalism
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Henry David Thoreau was born on July 12, 1817 in Concord, Massachusetts. Thoreau grew up in poverty; his dad was unsuccessful and had trouble maintaining a steady job. Thoreau followed in his father’s footsteps, ultimately bouncing from job to job, scorned by society for his unconventional way of living and lack of income (Henry David Thoreau, Discovering Biography). Thoreau began to write with the guidance of Ralph Waldo Emerson who became one of the most important influences in his life. Living with Emerson gave Thoreau insight and inspiration on how to write, and eventually led him to write Walden (Henry David Thoreau, Discovering Biography). Walden was also inspired by Transcendentalism, a literary movement that challenged the use and need for material objects and religious evidence. Transcendentalism provided Thoreau with a different view on humanity and religion. Thoreau wrote Walden to document his years spent living at Walden Pond and to express his ideas on the simplicity and individual nature of humanity.
Walden is a series of loosely strung together essays that chronicle Thoreau’s experience of living on Walden Pond in Concord. Thoreau condenses his work into one year, capturing all four seasons on the pond. Thoreau wrote Walden with the intent to use his experience of living on Walden Pond as a way to convey his ideas on humanity. He believed that in order for humanity to be truly satisfied with life, expectations must be lowered from what people want to what people actually need (Swirski). To prove this point, Thoreau wrote about how he established his home by building a cabin for himself and farming to generate income. Frequently, Thoreau refers to the unimportance of material things. He believed that he had a certai...
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...t I had not lived” (‘Thoreau, Henry David”). Walden was a journey for Thoreau to discover what life really was and to become unified with nature and God.
Works Cited
Robinson, David M. "Transcendentalism." American History Through Literature 1820-1870. Eds. Janet Gabler-Hover and Robert Sattelmeyer. Vol. 3. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2006. 1171-1180. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
Swirski, Peter. "Walden Two." Masterplots, Fourth Edition (2010): 1-3. Literary Reference Center. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
"Thoreau, Henry David (1817-1862)." Discovering Biography. Online ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Discovering Collection. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.
"Thoreau, Henry David." International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Ed. William A. Darity, Jr. 2nd ed. Vol. 8. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. 357. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 15 Nov. 2013.
In this passage from the famous text Walden, the author Henry David Thoreau, a naturalist and transcendentalist, gives an account of his experience while living in isolation at Walden pond for two years of his life. While in isolation, he sought to enjoy life away from the hustle and bustle of society and live more simplistically without concern of the small things in life.
Thoreau, Henry David. "Walden." The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998. 2107-2141.
Both books explore remarkable journeys of self discovery. Thoreau accounts two years of leaving society and moving to a small cabin on Walden’s Pond with very little material possessions and a plan to subsidise his diet with supplies from a nearby town.
Henry David Thoreau was bon on July 12, 1817 in Concord, Massachusetts, on his grandmother’s farm. Thoreau was of French-Huguenot and Scottish-Quaker decent. Thoreau was interested in writing at an early age. At the age of ten he wrote his first essay “The seasons”. He attended Concord Academy until 1833 when he was accepted to Harvard University but with his pending financial situation he was forced to attend Cambridge in August of 1833. In September of 1833 with the help of his family he was able to attend Harvard University. He graduated college in August of 1837.
David Henry Thoreau was born on July 12, 1817 and lived nearly all of his life in Concord, Massachusetts, a small town about twenty miles west of Boston. He was the third child with his older siblings John and Helen and younger sister Sophia. His father John was a shopkeeper. John moved his family to Chelmsford and Boston, following business opportunities. In 1823 the family moved back to Concord where John established a pencil-making concern that eventually brought financial stability to the family. Thoreau’s mother, Cynthia Dunbar, took in boarders from rented out sections of the house to help keep ends meet. Thoreau’s older siblings, Helen and John, Jr were both schoolteachers; when it was decided that their brother should further
Have you ever woke up in the morning and asked yourself, “Why am I living this life?” Throughout the book of Walden, Henry David Thoreau questions the lifestyles that people choose; he makes his readers wonder if they have chosen the kind of lifestyle that give them the greatest amount of happiness. Thoreau stated, “Most men, even in this comparatively free country, through mere ignorance and mistake, are so occupied with the factitious cares and superfluously coarse labors of life that its finer fruits cannot be plucked by them().” This quote is important because most of society these days are so caught up in work and trying to make ends meet that they lose the values in life. Thoreau was forced to change his life when he found himself unhappy after a purchase for a farm fell through. On Thoreau’s journey he moves to Walden and builds a house and life from nothing but hard work, symbolizes many different objects.
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.
Fender, Stephen. Introduction. Walden. By Henry David Thoreau. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1997. Print.
In chapter two of Henry David Thoreau's Walden, entitled "Where I Lived, and What I Lived for", there are two themes that run throughout the narrative. The key theme that emerges continually is that of simplicity with the additional theme being that of freedom. Thoreau finds himself surrounded by a world that has no true freedom or simplified ways, with people committed to the world that surrounds them rather than being committed to their own true self within nature.
To trace the origin of the Transcendental movement one needs to go back to the city of Concord, Massachusetts. There during the early 19th century many well-known and world-renowned authors were following the practices of one man, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson, who was considered America's first philosopher, had earlier traveled to Europe and became fascinated by the concepts of one German philosopher known as Kant. According to Emerson's understanding of Kant, there were two pure objects in the world in which are the bases of everything, nature and soul. He took this philosophy and brought it back to America where it later, with the help of Henry David Thoreau, revolutionized American literature.
Walden; Or, Life In The Woods is a self-experiment that provides an ideal opportunity to evaluate the author’s philosophy. The book is an account of Henry David Thoreau’s journey of self-discovery as he attempts to live a life of simplicity and self-reliance in the woods of Massachusetts. His exploration of his two years and two months living in a cabin near Walden Pond is considered a seminal work of early American transcendentalism. Thoreau never explicitly reveals the spiritual truth at the end of his journey. Still, a discerning Christian reader can note the main transcendental themes and ideals that Thoreau demonstrates, separating that which should be applauded from that which should be rejected.
Born in 1817, in Concord, Henry David Thoreau became one of the greatest writers among the American Renaissance. Thoreau based his whole philosophy on the fact that man needed to get rid of material things in order to be an individual. An exquisitely educated man, Thoreau went to Harvard, which placed heavy emphasis on the classics. Thoreau studied a curriculum that included grammar and composition, mathematics, English, history, and various philosophies. He also spoke fluently in Italian, French, German, and Spanish.
Henry David Thoreau wanted to express his thoughts to the world. He did so by writing Walden a book that gives insights on the world from Thoreau’s point of view. “Walden” gives valuable advice in all types of fields. It shows aspects of Thoreau’s personality and how he views the world. To the best of my knowledge, Henry has many characteristics that he expressed in this book. Most of what he wrote was impressive. Honestly, I was extremely enthusiastic about reading this. Initially, I thought it would be a book like Great Expectations. But my expectations were wrong. I did not think I would actually learn things. Surprisingly, it sparked motivation in me. I wanted to be more in touch with nature. It seemed like Henry David Thoreau had everything figured out. He was calm and thoughtful and he seemed to look at life in a different way. Being in solitude in nature must really get you in touch with your inner self. It allows you to look at your flaws and look at your talents. I was greatly intrigued by every page of Walden.
“Transcendentalism, An American Philosophy.” U.S. History Online Textbook. Independence Hall Association, n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2014.
Henry David Thoreau’s Walden encompasses a variety of themes and elements which cultivate an astounding work of American literature. “Spring” is focused on the changing of the season from winter to spring, and Thoreau’s analysis of Walden Pond and the area surrounding the pond. Thoreau looks at the pond from a spiritual aspect, describing the relationships between life and nature with an abysmal passion. Without Thoreau’s incorporation of precise literary elements, and integration of the themes of solitude, newness of life, and transcendentalism to clearly outline the spiritual revelations he obtained from his retirement at Walden Pond, the readers of his work would not be able to completely grasp the concepts Thoreau presents.