I decided to focus my posting on Ralph Waldo Emerson. I will explore Ralph Waldo Emerson’s life and the theoretical underpinnings of his work. Emerson was the most remarkable essayist in the nineteenth-century. Emerson was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His father was an Unitarian minister. Emerson graduated from the prestigious Harvard. He went back to Harvard for their Divinity School, and learned the liberal Christianity of Unitarianism. An interesting fact about Emerson is in 1829, he became the Unitarian minister of the Second Church of Boston. Emerson was a very well-known and successful preacher. However, three years later, he began to question the acts and beliefs of Christianity and Unitarianism like the iconic Lord’s Supper. Emerson
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His writings did not contain traditions like most of other writings did. Emerson’s writing rejected traditions, and this caused a social change to occur in America due to Emerson’s ideas and writings. Thus, Emerson was a poet, essayist, and lecturer that advocated and led the Transcendentalist movement. I will evaluate some theoretical underpinnings of Emerson’s work, “Nature.” One theme is why solitude is important because it is important to appreciate nature and to establish a close, personal relationship with nature instead of focusing on society and oneself. Emerson states, “To go into solitude, a man needs to retire as much from his chamber as from society” (McMichael 941). Moreover, going into solitude also requires a man to escape from his life, society, and thinking. Emerson wanted to convey to his readers that it is important to escape and become one with nature. Emerson has four chapters (Commodity, Beauty, Language, and Discipline) that discuss how man uses nature. These are four major themes because he is explaining how man uses nature to see and perceive the universe. For example, men use commodity for their needs like water, food, weapons, and shelter. A quote
His writings did not contain traditions like most of other writings did. Emerson’s writing rejected traditions, and this caused a social change to occur in America due to Emerson’s ideas and writings. Thus, Emerson was a poet, essayist, and lecturer that advocated and led the Transcendentalist movement. I will evaluate some theoretical underpinnings of Emerson’s work, “Nature.” One theme is why solitude is important because it is important to appreciate nature and to establish a close, personal relationship with nature instead of focusing on society and oneself. Emerson states, “To go into solitude, a man needs to retire as much from his chamber as from society” (McMichael 941). Moreover, going into solitude also requires a man to escape from his life, society, and thinking. Emerson wanted to convey to his readers that it is important to escape and become one with nature. Emerson has four chapters (Commodity, Beauty, Language, and Discipline) that discuss how man uses nature. These are four major themes because he is explaining how man uses nature to see and perceive the universe. For example, men use commodity for their needs like water, food, weapons, and shelter. A quote