...PREFACE This major project examines the indispensable desiderata of Transcendentalism in comparison to the Dark Romantics background and how these technicalities prepare this work of art as an influential synthesis of human imagination incorporated with mystic facts. Transcendentalism and Dark Romanticism were two literary movements that occurred in America during roughly the same time period (1840—1860). Although the two had surface similarities, such as their reverence for Nature, their founding beliefs were quite different, enough to make one seem almost the antithesis of each other. Moreover one’s genesis is ventured out from other; i.e. Dark Romanticism from the roots of Transcendentalism or precisely the lacunae are best determined for raising up the term called Dark Romanticism. Contents S. No. Page no. Chapter 1.........................................................................................................4-14 Chapter 2.........................................................................................................15-23. Chapter 3..........................................................................................................24-27 Resolution.........................................................................................................28-29 Work Cited................................................................
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...Natural Connections Heather Conway ENG/106 January 20, 2014 Nikki Moorman Natural Connections Early works of literature show many concepts of emotion from anger and wrath, to love and devotion. In these works, it is sometimes not easy to find what the author is tying say or convey when it comes to his or her work. As a reader, it can be difficult to comb through what the author is trying to establish in their work, whether it be love, hate, envy, or a personal struggle for the intended characters. In some of the more modern works, it is apparent that romantic emotion is a constant and can easily be discerned from each individual piece. In John Keats’ “Ode to a Nightingale”, it is automatically assumed that the narrator is speaking of something that is loved. In this case, it appears as if the narrator is speaking of a bird, but it can also be said that he is speaking about a love, or lover, that he had once and then lost. In the first stanza, the first line, it suggests that he is missing a piece of himself, and his ‘heart aches’. He later describes this ache as the complete opposite of what it is to be in the ‘singest of summer in full-throated ease.’ (pg. 2160, 10) As the poem continues, Keats continues to use descriptions of nature and other things, showing a true connection there between the way the narrator feels and how it compares to certain aspects of nature and natural things. In the second stanza, the narrator continues to describe his heart break, and the...
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...Essays Essays Part II. 2, 2.] Part II. 2, 2.] Essays The Project Gutenberg EBook of Essays, by Ralph Waldo Emerson This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: Essays Author: Ralph Waldo Emerson Editor: Edna H. L. Turpin Release Date: September 4, 2005 [EBook #16643] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ESSAYS *** 1 Essays Produced by Curtis A. Weyant , Sankar Viswanathan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net ESSAYS BY RALPH WALDO EMERSON Merrill's English Texts SELECTED AND EDITED, WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES, BY EDNA H.L. TURPIN, AUTHOR OF "STORIES FROM AMERICAN HISTORY," "CLASSIC FABLES," "FAMOUS PAINTERS," ETC. NEW YORK CHARLES E. MERRILL CO. 1907 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION LIFE OF EMERSON CRITICAL OPINIONS CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF PRINCIPAL WORKS THE AMERICAN SCHOLAR COMPENSATION SELF RELIANCE FRIENDSHIP HEROISM MANNERS GIFTS NATURE SHAKESPEARE; OR, THE POET PRUDENCE CIRCLES NOTES PUBLISHERS' NOTE Merrill's English Texts 2 Essays 3 This series of books will include in complete editions those masterpieces of English Literature that are best adapted for the use of schools and colleges. The editors of the several volumes will...
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...independence. We followed what we believed was right and started a revolution with it. Romantic writing was started when there was this shift from faith in reason to faith in feelings, senses, and imagination. It was about being free and trusting your instinct. Like in Moulin Rouge, the main character wanted to be a writer so he followed his gut, moved to France, and believed in love to inspire his righting. Evidence of Romantic writing characteristics in the quote would be that you follow your gut and do what you have faith in as right. The law was reason. Following what you believed as right instead was the shift. Transcendental writing was belief in nature, less need for objects, more focus on the inner self, and self-reliance. Transcendentalism was the belief that knowledge could be derived not just trust through the senses, but through intuition and contemplation of the internal spirit. Transcendentalists professed skepticism of all established religions, believing that Divinity resided in the individual. The evidence of Transcendental writing in the quote would be that is was relying on your own knowledge of right and wrong to guide you instead of the law. You were also not relying on your religion to tell you what is right and wrong. In modern times, Christians...
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...Jonathan Veldhuyzen Professor Matthew Towles English 201-002 11/21/2014 Ralph Waldo Emerson: His own God and Transcendentalist Worldview “The foregoing generations beheld God and nature face to face; we, though their own eyes. Why should not we also enjoy an original relation to the universe? Why should not we have a poetry and philosophy of insights and not of tradition, and a religion by revelation to us,” (940, 941) were the words written by Emerson in the introduction of his renown work “Nature” as he espoused that men should not necessarily believe in a God through ideals seen in the Bible and evidenced in nature, but rather use their own logic through poetry and philosophy to determine their own God. His writings espoused beliefs that do not reflect a Christian worldview, but rather bases man’s salvation on his own intuition. Emerson was a rebel in his time, he had independent views that did not align to any system of values. According to “Anthology of American Literature,” Bronson Alcott declares that “Emerson’s church consists of one member-himself.” These words signify that Emerson’s ideas and values were so radical for the time that very few people shared his beliefs. Yet, he was not alone in espousing thinking that seemed somewhat pantheistic and contradictory to what he had preached many years earlier. During the 1830’s Ralph Waldo Emerson joined with some other literary authors of the day in supporting a set of values that looked beyond a Supreme Being for...
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...Chapters 11 & 13 Guided Reading Tentative Due date: 11/17/2015 Big Picture Questions (must be answered to receive full credit): To what extent did individualism, new religious sects, abolitionism, and women’s rights change American culture during the antebellum period (1820-1860)? Chapter 11: Religion and Reform 1800-1860 Individualism: The Ethic of the Middle Class Discuss the differing opinions on the lack of rigid class structures in America: Alexis de Tocqueville: Ralph Waldo Emerson: Transcendentalism: How did Second Great Awakening preachers like Finney adopt portion of Emerson’s philosophies regarding man? How did the main teachings of Transcendentalism differ from the teachings of most Protestant faiths of the time? Emerson’s Literary Influence (For each author describe their main literary focus and delineate between fiction or nonfiction) Henry David Thoreau: Margaret Fuller: Walt Whitman: Nathaniel Hawthorne: Herman Melville: Rural Communalism and Urban Popular Culture Utopias: Communalists: Shakers: marriage? Socialism: property ownership? Humphrey Noyes and Oneida: perfectionism: marriage? Joseph Smith: Mormonism: What was summary of Book of Mormon? How were Mormons accepted by those outside of their faith and what did this lead them to do? Brigham Young: Abolitionism -Skip (We will cover this in class) The Women’s Rights Movement Women became...
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...Dead Poets Society's Transcendentalism Transcendentalism is apparent in many forms of literature dating back to the 1800s. The film Dead Poets Society connects the idea of transcendentalism to the modern age. The idea of transcendentalism focuses on freethinking and nonconformity, With multiple examples being found in the film. The film also shares a strong connection with classic literature from the past two centuries. The movie Dead Poets Society is transcendental because of its Thoreauian setting, the teachings of Mr. Keating, and the actions and reactions of the four main characters. Henry David Thoreau's classic story "Walden" is a prime example of a connection between the movie Dead Poets Society and classic literature. Thoreau states in the story that he "went to the woods to live deliberately." In the film, They take multiple different journeys to the woods for different reasons. Even the club they take part in, the dead poets Society, takes place in a cave in the woods. It is a place where they can think freely and not worry about the judgments of their teachers at school. Though this is not the only example of transcendentalism in the movie. John Keating as a character is a key factor in the transcendentalism in this film. Famous historical writers, such as John Locke and Ralph Waldo Emerson, preach the ideas of nonconformity and freethinking. Mr. Keating transfers these thoughts into a modern perspective, teaching the boys to...
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...Soma pervades in our universe as water in earth, sky and as the sap of plants, as vital fluids in all living beings. As a psychological principle it exists within us expressing our love, feelings, our creativity and etc. It is symbolized as a spiritual principle, an aspect of the infinite and key to immortality. The Soma was an ancient brew or drink prepared by sages and yogis that was said to bestow health, strength, insight, spiritual visionary experience, and communion with divinity. This sacred drink, also called “Amrita” or “nectar of the gods,” opened the mind, heart, and inner landscape while purifying and healing the body In the ŚvetaśvataraUpanishad (II.6.8) the cosmic energies Agni, Vayu and Soma are related to Fire, Air and Moon (Water) and these infer to will, Prāṇā and mind an indicative of the practice of yoga. Agni/ Fire represent the Kundalini power, Vayu/Air represents Prāṇāyāmāand Soma/Moon represents meditation/Bliss /Samādhi state. The Practice of Yoga establishes a consciousness way of living. The eight limbs of Yoga promote a higher life style, higher development in senses, mind and awareness. The meaning of yoga is to unite, coordinate, harmonize and transform. The Classical form of Yoga helps in developing our inner Soma which purifies, detoxifies and rejuvenates our body and mind and Promotes longevity, (Frawley,2012) In the Kaivalya pāda(verse 1) of Patañjalī Yoga sūtrās states that supernatural powers (siddhis) arise from birth, drugs, mantras, austerity...
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...about the mysterious depths of Walden Pond. One of the aspects of Walden Pond that he strives to impress on the reader is the sheer depth of the water. Throughout the chapter, and in later chapters as well, he describes a seemingly bottomless lake that is nearly mystical in its appearance. Later in the book, Thoreau reveals how deep the lake actually is, according to his calculations, but in Chapter 9, he does not go into the reality. Instead, he paints a picture of a magical place that has no beginning and no end. This is effective because it reminds the reader of the greatness of the earth compared to the feebleness of man. This comparison furthers illustrates Thoreau’s belief in the divinity of nature, a cornerstone of the transcendentalism movement. In another part of “Walden,” Thoreau describes the color of Walden Pond: “It is a vitreous greenish blue.” He then compares this color to that of a large piece of glass: “It is well known that a large plate of glass will have a green...
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...Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson were both influential writers of the transcendentalist movement in the early to mid-nineteenth century. Before moving into solitude, Thoreau had experienced two tragic deaths of close ones: his brother John in 1842, and two weeks later, Emerson’s son, Waldo, who Thoreau had deeply cared about. After not writing for two months following these deaths, Thoreau finally wrote a letter to Emerson in which he attempts to comfort Emerson by connecting himself to Emerson through their similar transcendental beliefs that emotional and spiritual rebirth is a significant function of nature’s glory, that nature is all-powerful so humans should base their lives off of it, and that having life does not mean one is truly living. Thoreau effectively reiterates these shared ideas through his use of rhetorical questions and allusions to other great writers in order to offer comfort. Henry David Thoreau uses rhetorical questions throughout his letter to remind Emerson of the simplistic and accepting ways of nature. For example, Thoreau asks “And after all what portion of this so serene and living nature can be said to be alive?” and “Dead trees - sere leaves - dried grass and herbs - are not these a good part of our life?” In asking these questions, Thoreau is able to get Emerson to begin to question his idea of life and death. Because nature is constantly decaying and blooming with the seasons, is any part of it truly alive? If not, what do truly living...
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...Throughout the history of the United States, people’s views on government have changed. During the colonial times, puritans were a strictly ran society that used the bible as the rule book. Puritan writers wrote nonfiction pieces about God. When the Declaration of Independence was being drafted, deism took over with their rational and logical approach to government. Like the puritans, they wrote literary works composed of nonfiction and free will. Lastly, the transcendentalist believed that there should not be any government. There literature consisted of nature and individualism. The canonical literature created by some of the celebrated writers in the United States shows a decline of government intrusion in people's lives. First of all, puritans were strict with their government by running it side by side with the commandments. The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, aimed to depict puritan beliefs and had many characters show fear of the strict government. The law was “based upon the Bible, and the Bible, writ by Almighty God” was strict and would charge “death as the penalty” for false accusations such as witchcraft (Miller 1145). The puritans were heavily religious and truly believed that the Ten Commandments were the rules of life. Since they ran their government hand in hand with the Commandments, they would often be religiously biased while running their government. Puritans were so bound to the law that they would, “hang ten thousand that dared to rise against the...
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...Transcendentalism, a philosophy that follows in the idea that knowledge comes from analyzing our own individual thoughts, rather than what science has proven, has been practiced for over 200 years. Some of the most reknown transcendentalists include Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. I share a personal connection to the ideal of integrity in that as I grow older, it's crucial to my future self that I establish myself as an individual with personal morals, regardless of the status quo. The concept of integrity being the path to internal success is expressed in both Emerson’s, Self Reliance, and Thoreau’s, Civil Disobedience, although perceived in different forms, the notion of individual thought is evidently the common theme. In...
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...Emerson's maxim "Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind," means that nothing in life will have a meaning if the person's thoughts and foundation of intelligence is unstable, incomplete, or even has the slightest hint of corruption. This idea projected when reading "The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail," a play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee retelling the life of Henry David Thoreau. In a flashback where Thoreau is working as a school teacher, the Chairman of the School Board Committee, Deacon Ball, is scolding Thoreau for teaching ideas not proscribed by the textbook. Ball and Thoreau get into an argument in which Ball states "All they need to know is clearly spelled out in approved school texts," to which Thoreau later responds sarcastically by saying "We shall stick to the approved books. Your eyes must not wander from the page-to look at a leaf or an unauthorized butterfly. You must not listen to a cricket or smell a flower that has not been approved by the School Committee." Although a gesture of sarcasm and retaliation, Thoreau is expressing that his students cannot be limited to learning only the knowledge provided by textbooks. Tracing back to Emerson's maxim, this relates to the idea that nothing in life will have meaning if a person's thoughts or foundation of intelligence is incomplete. Towards the end of the play, Thoreau has a nightmare in which he (along with other various characters from the play) are drafted into the Mexican War. The President...
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...After reading and dissecting each one of the Transcendentalism tenets, these are how I feel on some of them. First off, the interesting ones really caught my eye as they made me realize and think hard about the many readings and experiences I’ve had on this sort of topic/issue. One of them were that transcendentalists said how “power is to be obtained by defying fate or predestination”, or simply choosing your fate. I always thought that either a god/or some religious figure would choose our fate, which is what the Puritans thought too as they were always working hard to predestinate to heaven. What I got out of all of this, was that transcendentalists are “often not religious, but spiritual.” Another tenet I thought was interesting, was that “transcendentalism is a very optimistic philosophy in that it assumes that all people and things want to exist in their ideal state.” So I thought this kind of related to a friend I know, who always...
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...the importance of self-reliance is stressed, stating that “Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step forward to obtaining it.” Thoreau, in this quote from his story, calls for self-reliance, not self-reliance for one man, self-reliance as a nation. He believes that if the people will do right, rely on themselves rather than the government, then the overbearing government would not have to be as powerful. Thoreau believed in the motto, “The government is best which governs least.” He trusted the people to be reliable enough to run a government which did not have to govern much. This trust he puts into the people of the newfounded United States is an example of early transcendentalism....
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