Examples Of Transcendentalism

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Recommended: Literary criticism of ralph waldo emerson

Josh Jovevski, Tyler Sidwell
Mrs. Kelly
English 11 Honors
8 May 2014
American Renaissance Transcendentalist poet Ralph Waldo Emerson once said: “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” After the American Romantic Era, there was a common drive amongst the population to improve themselves as individuals. This movement towards self-improvement signaled the beginning of a new literary era in the United States: The American Renaissance. As a substitute to the traditional intellect, people in this time period chose to fall back on a religious view of the world, Transcendentalism. In this view, every physical item reflected the Divine Soul and these items served as a pathway to the spiritual world. …show more content…

Thoreau was a transcendentalist writer that believed in finding oneself through experiences in the nature and beyond the physical realm. According to the poetry foundation, Thoreau's writing utilized description of the physical realm in addition to Transcendentalist interpretations of nature. Also, Thoreau tended to suggest how people should live their lives through his writings (Thoreau). Like many other writer during this time period, Thoreau influenced society through his writings about nature and self-realization. His writing about nature usually consisted of finding oneself and using nature to influence how one should live. Thoreau's ability to connect self-destiny into his writing influenced the people in society to find themselves, to be able to pursue in their dreams as individuals. "(As Emerson’s protégé Henry David Thoreau once observed, “Every man looks on his woodpile with a kind of affection.”)” (Cullen 71). Thoreau was a Transcendentalist writer that looked for the deeper meaning in the simplest of things. His open-mindedness and creativity in his writing influenced the American Population to use transcendentalism in their lives to find the true meaning. As people began to find the meaning in their life, individuals began to strive for the American Dream of upward mobility through individualism and self-determination, instead of as a whole society. The use of nature references to discover how to live is seen in many of Henry David Thoreau's literary

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