Exploring Transcendentalism Through Four Authors

Transcendentalism has been a very vital topic in the stories we have read this year. I've learned that transcendentalism sort of means to stand up for what you believe in. We've read many pieces from the authors: Emerson, Thoreau, Krakauer, and Donovan. These four transcendentalists all have similar qualities expressed in their pieces.
Michael Donovan, a transcendentalist, wrote a poem titled "It's all on me." This poem gives a mediocre piece of mind on what transcendentalism really is. In the poem he states, "Rise up" this quote shows to stand up for you believe in, in other words, rise up. This idea is also shared by Henry David Thoreau in his piece titled, "Civil Disobedience." In this piece written by Thoreau, he states, "Let every man

make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it..." Both of these pieces influence people to stand up for what they believe in, to speak out, to rise up. These two pieces are just a share of what transcendentalists believe.
Like Thoreau and Donovan, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Jon Krakauer are both transcendentalists. Although these two authors share their beliefs in a different way, using nature. In Emerson's piece titled "Self Reliance" he talks about relying on yourself, proving what you can do. He states, "The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried." This quote tells us we can find out what we're capable of in nature, that nature makes us more powerful. Like Emerson, Krakauer expresses transcendentalism using nature as well. In his novel titled "Into the Wild" he talks about how a man goes into the wild trying to prove he can survive. He uses nature to try and prove what he is capable of doing. Both of these authors relate by expressing transcendentalism a similar way.
In conclusion transcendentalism is a popular topic expressed by many authors. Many authors use this to show their power, or authority. Although it can be expressed in many different ways it still shows the same message, to stand up for what you believe in.