Outstanding Sample Essays on Transcendentalism

The 19th century was a time of vast change for the entire world, from the birth of electronics to the publishing of On the Origin of Species to the rapid expansion of the world powers. It is, perhaps, no wonder that it is also at this time of great, and sometimes terrible, human feats that a movement began that defied human imperialism over other humans and over nature itself, thus was the birth of Transcendentalism. This was a movement started in on the east coast of the United States, primarily in Massachusetts, that sought to uplift the individual and ...

The influx of new cultures during the onslaught of the Industrial Revolution in the middle phase of the 18th century brought radical changes that challenged the rigid social hierarchy, philosophy, and the views of one’s self against the world. According to Macionis et al., one of the most notable impacts created by the Industrial Revolution was the invention of the steam engine. In 1765, the British inventor James Watt pioneered the technology through the use of coal power which resulted to more production compared to the manual labor. Factories spurred and gave way to large scale human employment ...

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Introduction The philosophy of transcendentalism is based on the belief that there exists a higher form of knowledge or reality that could not be fathomed by human reason, which humans can achieve. As defined by scholars, transcendentalism is the idea that people “have knowledge about themselves and the world around them that ‘transcends’ or goes beyond what they can see, hear, taste, touch or feel”. Transcendentalism is not a new concept. Historically, the idea of transcendentalism can be traced to the works of the Greek philosopher, Plato and the doctrines of major religions such as the ancient ...

The antebellum years in the American history are known as the years of rapid changes in various spheres of social life. The drive for reforms was defined by the economic, technological and social progress that deemed the existing social structure unacceptable for all member of the American society. Several factors were involved in this process. Among those were the Industrial Revolution, the religious movement that is known as the Second Great Awakening, the utopian communities, the transcendentalism intellectual movements and others. “They [the reformers] hoped to change American life by creating ‘heavens on earth’” (Foner, 2014, p.434). Prior to ...

The transcendental movement began in America after the Revolutionary war. Many believe it is a response to the newly found independence and freedom of the American people. They now had the opportunity and responsibility to reclaim their identities and begin forming their American culture. Transcendentalism is the idea that thoughts, reasoning, and beliefs greatly outweighed material items. Perhaps this was due to the fact that many Americans were struggling early on. Many had endured a great deal of hardship and families had to abandon almost everything to earn their independence. These people now valued their lives, opinions, values, and ...

When people think about the Transcendentalist movement in the United States, two names that usually come up are Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Both men wrote about the concept of Transcendentalism extensively and shared many of the same views. This paper offers a quick look at some of the basic ideas of these two American writers. Transcendentalists believe that individuals have the innate ability to determine what is right or wrong without depending upon the ideas of others and that they can understand the world around them beyond what they can see, touch, hear, smell, and feel ( ...

"Walden or Life in the Woods" by Henry David Thoreau belongs to the vivid and memorable American works of classical literature. The personality of the author and the pages of his famous book highlight anti-capitalist, romantic, and utopian ideas that received considerable spread in the United States in the 30-40-ies of the last century and these ideas were a kind of protest against the brutality of the bourgeois industrial progress and its accompanying social ills.   The ideological pioneers of the anti-capitalist and romantic-utopian protests were called transcendentalists. It is a circle of prominent representatives of the American democratic intelligentsia, ...

After the American Civil War, the South lay prostrate before the specter of the Lost Cause. There was a general poverty, both economic and personal. The war had had such a devastating effect that the intellectual capacity of a whole region shuddered, moaned. There could not be a more devastating occurrence to Southern pride than the ignoble defeat of the entire culture. The extent to which the South declined is documented in its literature. An examination of Southern literature during and after the Civil War provides a perspective on how far down the South had been driven before it ...

As a citizen of Athens, Socrates was charged with not believing in the required gods and of going so far as to conceive of unofficial gods. It was a case of him asserting his own independent moral and religious ideas over that of the state. In Plato's Apology, Socrates defended himself against his accusers by explaining to the court that the oracle at Delphi inspired him. The oracle was known to be very wise, and Socrates admits to the court that he himself is not so wise. Thus, his ideas and actions were inspired by the oracle and because ...

Questions revolve around ethical standards that allow graphic imagery of war and mutilation, and the terror of the seen and the imagined to be a standard social input. On the surface, it would appear that such images encourage violent behavior. However, truths in imagery are what drive humanity to truth. Only through the observance of the consequence of war and conflict will we ever learn the truth of the horror within ourselves. Only through studying the results of such imagery on our civilizations can we hope to ascertain the true bleakness of our existence. There once was a time ...

Emily Dickinson is an original poet as she used her pen to challenge the existing conventions of poetry. Throughout her poems, Emily clearly experimented with a style of expression that moved away from the traditional styles of poetry and took on a unique style that made her speakers sharp-sighted observers who face the challenges of no escape from their societies. Additionally, Dickenson used her poems as a sword that would serve to liberate the speakers from the inescapable boundaries of the society. Clearly, Dickenson wrote poems that broke away from the traditional rules of poetry which challenged the narrow-minded ...

Philosophy

Benedetto Croce was a very popular figure in the initial years of the 20th century with respect to aesthetics, philosophy as well as literary criticism. Most of Croce’s general philosophy was akin to that of the earlier century. A relentless theme in the philosophy of Croce is that he pursued a path that lied between ‘transcendentalism’ by Scylla and ‘sensationalism’ of the Charybdis, which for a wide number of reasons may be regarded as co-extensive encompassing both rationalism as well as empiricism. In the view of Croce, these lie at the bottom of the similar error of abstracting from usual experience ...

Transcendentalism was a philosophical belief, which thought that nature held the key to the greater truths of mankind. Jon Krakauer in his book “Into the Wild” may not have been a transcendentalist himself, but it is apparent that the subject he writes about in the book, Chris McCandless, shared the same ideas as the transcendentalists which lead him on the journey that it did, across the United States, into Mexico, and into Alaska, where eating poison potato seeds led to his death. But though he died, during the last years of his life while he was freely moving across the ...

Throughout the history, there have been noteworthy literacy movements, many of which have been over and done. Two of the most important literacy movements throughout the time have been transcendentalism and romanticism.

Transcendentalism was a literacy form in the 19th century. Under this literacy form, many writers have contributed in its movement. Among the major pioneers in this literacy form include Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Bronson Alcott Theodore Parker. Based on the works of these great transcendentalists I will elucidate the differences that exist between Romanticism and Transcendentalism.

Romanticism draws outs strong feelings and demonstrates significant actions. It is about a ...

In the early 1800s, Neoclassical writing was par for the course; works were typically very restrained, conservative, and focused on structure more than anything else. However, as the 19th century rolled along, more and more authors (including Washington Irving and

James Fenimore Cooper) found themselves writing stories of passion, full of experimentation and discovery. In these works, notions of established language and literary structure were challenged, as the Romantics ceased believing in the established systems of literature and created wholly new works that were free from restraint. While the works of Smith demonstrate the observational, dry and formal writing ...

Initially, the women's movement arose in North America during the war for Independence (1775-1783). Of course, the question of on the unequal position of the “weaker sex” arose earlier. In the seventeenth century, the first works that proved that the woman was fully human appeared. These works had the idea that a woman is born with the same ability to be free, complete personality as a man. The war for independence and the political crisis in America did not only politicize consciousness of women, but also the content of their private life. Women who were not previously interested in politics, ...

Transcendentalism has been regarded as an American philosophy and idea that states that both women and men have knowledge about their existence and are conscious of the world around them, in a manner that transcends their senses. According to Brodrick (2010), the knowledge of self and the environment is realized through either imagination or intuition and not through the senses or logic. Reuben (2011) regards transcendentalism as a spirituality and state of mind that prompts the person to go outside his/her senses, shun corruption, and materialism, and gets united with nature. This ideology started in the 19th century. Some of ...

Summary and Annotation of Literature: Thoreau’s Synthesizing Metaphor

“Thoreau’s Synthesizing Metaphor,” the author James A. Hamby explains the interpretation of metaphor that used in Henry David Thoreau literatures. Through out his works, Thoreau never halted to emphasize on the importance and the essence of life in connecting human beings to our nature, which is referred as “man-and-the-land relationships”. In one of his literature Walden, he united two antithetic terms “natural” and “pertinent” in demonstrating that his life is logical, reasonable yet natural and free, which the author thinks the way of adopting these two words showed Thoreau’s sweeping scope of concerns. In the chapter “Economy”, ...

Introduction

Marilynne Robinson brings us a story of women in her novel, Housekeeping. Most of the characters on the novel are women. Men are not featured in this novel. Robinson sets the novel so that only women are left alone. We are told of the tedious tasks that these women had. We are introduced of Ruth and Lucille, her younger sister. They were brought up by many caretakers. Many questions sprout regarding the mystery of the many caretakers of these girls. Could it be their behavior that made them move from one caretaker to another? All these questions abound, there comes ...

Classic English literature: Nathaniel Hawthorne

Introduction There has been a lot of growth and development in the American literature docket over centuries, and it is necessary to note the fact that each phase has had various impacts, not only on the scholars in the American literary field and abroad, but also on the American people, themselves. Literature is one of the tools that have been used over the years to intrigue people’s way of thinking, and most essentially, their approach and opinion towards various aspects that affect their day to day activities and surroundings. This is one of the reasons why literature, as a ...

The Black Veil

The Minister’s Black Veil, by Hawthornes is a short story about a minister who, all of a sudden, starts putting on a black veil. This sudden behavior turns away the people of the town. It has been argued that the minister wanted to show the origin of sin. At the end of the short story, the reader discovers that the veil was used to symbolize the obstacles that we face in the life on earth and eternity. Reverend Hooper wears a veil one Sunday morning. The parishioners and the congregation to ask themselves what Rev. Hooper intended in this new gesture. No one ...

Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American poet, a prolific essayist, pre-eminent lecturer and philosopher, belonged to the current of Transcendentalism. According to the transcendentalist thought, the center of reality is the self and everything that happens externally is radiated from the inner self only. His main work was his essay about Transcendentalism, called ‘Nature’ published in 1836 and is one of the finest works in English Literature. His other notable contributions are essays like “Self-Reliance” and “The American Scholar”, and poems such as Alphonso of Castile, Celestial Love, Concord Hymn, Beauty, etc. The main themes and principles of Emerson’s writings ...

The Age of Enlightenment was the time in the eighteenth century where the emergence of intellectuals reformed the society and brought in advanced knowledge in both America and Europe. This time was characterized by rapid Intellectual and scientific inventions through diffusion of ideas and knowledge. In my writing I will focus on Henry David Thoreau and Benjamin Franklin, some key influential figures during this period. Critically examine their personal thoughts and views towards the freedom and independence of other individuals.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

The 84 year old American is a vital image in the American history and always been referred to as the ...

American Transcendentalist Literature

The Transcendentalist movement consisted of a group of people that were skeptical of the status quo in religion, science and politics. They studied philosophy and wrote great literature. In fact they even influenced the writing of the Declaration of Independence. Ralph Waldo Emerson is the American who is most often thought of when transcendentalism is mentioned. During the height of the popularity of the movement he was at the center. On December 9, 1841 Emerson gave a speech titled “Transcendentalism” at Boston’s Masonic Temple. In it he strongly stood up for less rigid attitudes towards nature for example he ...

Transcendentalism is a philosophy that espoused the strength and value of the individual, grounding thoughts and religion around the idea of individual power and idealism (Koster, 1975). According to transcendentalism, reality is centered around the idea of the self; man relies on itself in order to continue existing and thriving, and there is a kind of spirituality that comes from being able to sustain oneself and succeed on their own. Henry David Thoreau, in his works Walden and “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience,” showcases his transcendentalist ideas in a number of ways. In his novel Walden, Thoreau details the two ...