The two essays assigned, Civil disobedience and Self-Reliance were very similar in their ideals. Both Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau wrote about their disagreement with conforming to the government. Although these two are similar they are very different from Walt Whitman who wrote in many verses in what seems to be riddles to express his displeasure with society. Although both have a similar message it is conveyed differently. While reading Self Reliance I can understand how it could have been taken out of context when written. To be told we can fully rely on ourselves for all things or learn what we thought was true from someone else. “In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts: they come back to us with a
