Louisa May Alcott and Ralph Waldo Emerson were similar in many ways. They both grew up in poor households during the eighteenth century and were widely published and well-known writers as well as transcendentalists. However, Emerson never had to use a pen name like Alcott’s “A. M. Barnard” in order to be respected, and he was able to attend Harvard College to further his education. His writing would always be regarded more highly than that of Alcott, simply because at that time women were meant to stay at home and supposedly had no need for extended knowledge, advanced thinking, or personal opinions. Alcott defied this widely popular view, however, and followed more closely in her father’s footsteps than in those of her mother’s regarding political and religious views, along with sharing his writing gene. Although Alcott and Emerson shared similar ideas and this talent for writing, they did not share the same gender and because of this lone fact they were not both able to express all of their ideas in the same way or through the same facets. Therefore, the rhetoric that each of these writers employed in their writing was slightly different.
Alcott grew up in a poor family with three sisters. Early on in her life, she was forced to work as a teacher, nanny, seamstress, and at other odd jobs in order to help support her family. Her education came mainly from her father, Bronson Alcott, who was a teacher, philosopher, and vegan. From him Alcott obtained her transcendentalist beliefs and gained many of her ideas, techniques, and most likely her power of rhetoric. She possessed an independent spirit and was sometimes rebellious against the standards of society and the restrictions that they put on her as a woman.
Alcott is sometime...
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...e useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” Alcott -- “Happy is the son whose faith in his mother remains unchallenged.”
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Chris McCandless: a man so infatuated with nature, he practically committed suicide to bring himself nearer to it. This extreme liking for nature, along with other ideals, makes up the core tenets of the transcendentalist philosophy. McCandless demonstrates other tenets of transcendentalism as well, most notably the supremacy of the individual, by detaching himself from the mammon of this world. Another way he shows the supremacy of the individual, by the belief that one should not conform to the usual policies of life, causes him great trouble in some cases. As well as the belief that the individual supersedes all else, McCandless received much of his inspiration from nature. Finally, always following what he believes correct, McCandless follows his own intuition to the point of death. Chris McCandless not only shows his transcendentalist beliefs by the way he acts and thinks, but also by how these actions and thoughts emulate those of the fathers of transcendentalism, Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson.
There are times throughout the history of the United States when its citizens have felt the need to revolt against the government. There were such cases during the time of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Henry David Thoreau, when there was unfair discrimination against the Afro-American community and Americans refusing to pay poll taxes to support the Mexican War. They used civil disobedience to eventually get legislation to stop the injustice brought against them and their nation. Civil disobedience is defined as refusal to obey civil laws or decrees, which usually takes the form of passive resistance. People practicing civil disobedience break a law because they consider the law unjust, and want to call attention to its injustice, hoping to bring about its withdrawal.
Alice Walker, through her essay "In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens", and Paule Marshall, in "Poets In The Kitchen", both write about the African-American women of the past and how these women have had an impact on their writing. Walker and Marshall write about an identity they have found with these women because of their exposure to the African culture. These women were searching for independence and freedom. Walker expresses independence as found in the creative spirit, and Marshall finds it through the spoken word. Walker and Marshall celebrate these women's lives and they see them as inspirations to become black women writers.
Mark Twain and Huckleberry Finn In 1884, Mark Twain wrote one of the most controversial and remembered novels in the world of literature, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Mark Twain was the pseudonym of Samuel Langhorne Clemens. He was born in Florida, Missouri, Nov. 30, 1835. Twain was one of six children.
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Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) was a prominent American author who wrote over 30 books in her lifetime. She is greatly remembered for her book Hospital Sketches, which she wrote to home while serving as an army nurse during the Civil War. Growing up, her home was a stop on the Underground Railroad and this helped her realize the effects of slavery on these slaves. She wanted to help in any way she could. In December 1862, Alcott left for the Union hospital in Georgetown, outside of Washington, DC, to become a nurse. She had no formal training as a nurse and no formal training was required. The only requirements were to be sober minded, mature, and plain-looking.
Benjamin Franklin and Ralph Waldo Emerson want people to realize and develop potential within them. Even though both Franklin and Emerson advocate the notion of self-realization, they come up with different ideas about success, and have various attitudes toward people who are not successful in their perspectives.
An influential literary movement in the nineteenth century, transcendentalism placed an emphasis on the wonder of nature and its deep connection to the divine. As the two most prominent figures in the transcendentalist movement, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau whole-heartedly embraced these principles. In their essays “Self-Reliance” and “Civil Disobedience”, Emerson and Thoreau, respectively, argue for individuality and personal expression in different manners. In “Self-Reliance”, Emerson calls for individuals to speak their minds and resist societal conformity, while in “Civil Disobedience” Thoreau urged Americans to publicly state their opinions in order to improve their own government.
Throughout America in the 1830's, the religious and literary philosophy of Transcendentalism flourished. This period of time is difficult to describe in a simple definition, but the general ideas are expressed through poetry, essays and books of these three talented Transcendental authors; Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, and Henry Thoreau. From Emerson's dramatic expressions of thinking for one’s self and not conforming, to Whitman's belief of living stress free and experiencing life, to Thoreau's explanation of the purpose of sucking the marrow out of life and constant reminder of simplicity; the writing of these free thinking authors with these ideas show the overall meaning of Transcendentalism. The lessons of the Transcendental era are expressed in the modern day movie Dead Poet's Society directed by Peter Wier. As a literature professor at Welton Academy, a preparatory school for boys, Mr. Keating has rather unorthodox methods of teaching which include interactive lessons to inspire his students to learn. Rather than a normal class of reading from books and writing essays, Mr. Keating taught life lessons which are different from your average lecture. The storyline of the film focuses on one class composed of boys who are on their 4th and final year of education at this academy. Mr. Keating is successful in teaching all the boys the ideas of Emerson, Whitman and Thoreau during his period of time as their literature teacher. This teachers class changed the boys perspective on life forever, which is more than what most high school students can say from their ed...
Two well regarded and recognized poets, Maya Angelou and Alice Walker, wrote lots of different renowned poetry that is appreciated for its beauty and its truth. Both poets are African American woman, although in different times, many of their words rang true to one other. Their work can be compared and contrasted by understanding the poems as two separate pieces of work, and then looking at how each are similar and different in their own respects.
The Contrast of Virginia Woolf and Alice Walker After reading the four essays assigned to this sequence, it becomes interesting to contrast two author's points of view on the same subject. Reading one professional writer's rewriting of a portion of another professional writer's essay brings out many of each of their characteristics and views. Also, the difference in writing styles could be drastic, or slight. Nevertheless, the writers display how versatile the English language can be.
There are two women from the near and distant past that have become strong female role models in recent years: Queen Elizabeth I and Virginia Woolf. These women were not without problems while growing up, though. Elizabeth’s mother was beheaded after being charged with treason when she was only three; she grew up viewing women as indispensable after her father had six wives; her family kept dying (mother, step mother, father, half brother, sister), and she was locked away by her sister Queen Mary in the Tower of London for a number of years. Virginia Woolf on the other hand battled with depression and mental disease her whole life, was denied a typical education because she was female, had many mental breakdowns after death of mother, and was institutionalized after father’s death. Both Elizabeth Tudor and Virginia Stephen-Woolf shared many of the same family problems in their lives, but their life paths and careers were drastically different from one another.
Walt Whitman is Jay Leno and Ralph Emerson is Ed Hall. Walt takes the instructions announced by Emerson and runs gallantly with them making beautiful and insightful poetry. Walt Whitman and Ralph Emerson spoke out in an age where society was not ready for such dramatic writers. Whitman uses several of Emerson's topics and styles to be that good poet. Whitman elaborates on the characteristics of a poet, freedom, children, and animals.
Feminism today remains prominent because even while women’s rights are very strong, women are still fighting for equality every day. In the time of Anne Bradstreet, women had few rights and they were seen as inferior to men. Anne lived among the puritans whom ruled her everyday life. Although it was against the puritan code for women to receive an education, Bradstreet’s father, Thomas Dudley, loved his daughter dearly and made sure that she was well educated which shows in her works. Anne Bradstreet’s literature became well known only because her family published her works under a male name. This was done because writing poetry was a serious offense to the puritans since poetry was considered creative and the only creating that was done was by God. In the works of Anne Bradstreet, she conveys a feminist attitude, and could very well be one of the first American Feminists.
During the Transcendental period in American Literature, individualism was the basis of writing in this time. There were many authors who wrote about individualism and they include Ralf Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. A write of our time, Garrison Keillor, also writes about the importance of being an individual.