Book of Concord

Uprooting the Truth “The universe is composed of Nature and the soul,” said renowned Transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson in his piece title Nature (qtd. in Perkins 591). The vitality of nature’s power is one of the fundamental pillars of Transcendentalism. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter mirrors this concept, nature playing a vital role in the novel from beginning to end. The influence of nature is a common theme throughout the novel. Specifically, the forest, flowers, and sunlight…

Existentialism in a broad sense, might be seen as a philosophy that is predominantly concerned with the analysis of existence, and the meaning of life through free will. However, the existentialism could be perceived as much more than philosophical movement, since much of its popularity in the 1950s, and 1960s, was achieved through the literary fictional works of Sartre’s, such as Nausea and No Exit. Among the major philosophers identified as existentialists were Karl Jaspers, Martin Heidegger,…

CONTEXT- All-India Congress had just ratified the Quit India resolution, India was at a tipping point in terms of freedom from British imperialism, the time was optimal for mobilizing public opinion in favor of freedom. AUDIENCE-Gandhi’s speech, “Quit India”, given on August 1942 in Bombay was geared towards an Indian population, oppressed by British rule (Manas). Gandhi spoke to all social groups in India in this speech, however he selectively addressed the Muslims and Hindus. In fact, a…

Dead Poets Society and “Self-Reliance” are two incredibly comparable pieces that express the transcendentalist ideas which begin during the 1830-40s. They both contain a plethora of common beliefs, most notably, non-conformity, carpe diem, and self-exploration. Each of the pieces, “Self-Reliance” and Dead Poets Society, obtain multiple meaningful messages that allow the reader to learn important life lessons. Peter Weir, the director of Dead Poets Society, enforces the idea of individuality,…

When Charles Darwin proposed his theory of evolution, he noted that a species’ traits changed when they inhabited different environments. Similar to Darwin’s ideas, American values varied in accordance to one’s circumstances. In the early 1630s, a religious group known as the Puritans fled from England to escape persecution. Their leader, John Winthrop, delivered a sermon known as “A Model of Christian Charity” upon the arrival of their new home, America. It listed out future actions the…

was one of the few people who believed and led transcendentalism. Henry David Thoreau an author, poet , philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, and historian. Also led transcendentalism. Thoreau was best known for his book “Walden”, and his essay “ Civil Disobedience”. Thoreau was yet another one of few people who believed and led transcendentalism. Although transcendentalism is and was a great movement and idea I do believe that it is not a practical idea due…

My mother flew into a raging fury. She threw books and knocked items off the desk in my room while screaming til her face turned red; meat cleaver in her right hand, left hand in a fist. “Nǐ xiǎng sǐ ma?” Do you want to die? My brother was in his bedroom, located one floor down. My father was in his bedroom, located a few doors down. What was Hell for me was silence for others. For them this was the usual occurance that played over day by day. I remember this memory like it was yesterday,…

Thoreau”). Henry David Thoreau was one of the most influential Transcendentalist thinkers because he wrote a prescription of sorts to a world of people sick of conformity. On July 12th, 1817, the Transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau was born in Concord Massachusetts. He was the third child of John Thoreau and Cynthia Dunbar Thoreau.…

Walk in Nature Thoreau once said,“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately.” In my case, however, it was brief walk. I began by jumping off a deck, a metaphor for leaving society behind. Much like Thoreau did in his Walden Pond experiment. I then took a quick walk by the lake until I reached a fallen tree. I crossed it to get to the other side of the lake, and continued on. By the time I was done, I had sticks in my hair and dirt on my knees. There were not any other people,…

Self-reliance is the only road to true freedom, and being one 's own person is the ultimate goal. Transcendentalism is the idea that in order to learn about God and the universe, one must go beyond everyday experience to a higher standing. The five core beliefs of transcendentalists are non-conformity, self-reliance, free thought, confidence and importance of nature. The essays Self-reliance and Walden are examples of self-reliance. Self-reliance was written by Ralph Waldo Emerson and he urges…