Concord

Transcendentalism, if That’s What We Want Transcendentalism was a philosophical movement that was all about individualism. It urged people to break free from the norm and to just follow their own passions and aspirations. The movement began in the early 19th century, and one of the first leaders was Ralph Waldo Emerson. Under his wing, another key player: Henry David Thoreau. They felt the individual should be just that, an individual, and that nature was a great teacher and a magnificent tool…

Nature in the Wind Aspects of nature can be found just about everywhere on our planet, and because of this, many different opinions from billions of writers from across the globe conclude different theories about how nature affects the Earth and the people who live within it. From the successful Disney film, “Pocahontas,” the naturistic song, “Colors of the Wind,” composed by Stephen Schwartz, connects deeply with the transcendental values of two writings by Henry Thoreau and Ralph Emerson.…

Throughout the semester we have been taught nothing more than Transcendentalism and about how Chris McCandless survived months on end until he ate the wrong thing one day. To me Transcendentalism means letting go of everything, such as technology, to go back into the nature or roots that our founding fathers had to endure. Chris McCandless before this semester meant nothing to me because I had never heard of him or even knew that someone had done something like this. I think that this…

Time and time again, society is influenced the many works of transcendentalist philosophers. Transcendentalism is the philosophical and literary movement that highlights themes of nature and spirituality while going against society and materialism. Christopher McCandless was in intelligent young man who believed in prospering through nature and the breach from the norms of society. He spent two years traipsing around the country before he ultimately starved to death in Alaska. McCandless…

In Ian Frazier’s essay “In Praise of Margins,” he sees marginal places and activates valuable. The very word marginal to Ian Frazier has a simple meaning of a “negative tinge” (Frazier) where it is defined as actions and decisions that are non-goal oriented, or without purpose. In Frazier’s Own life, a marginal activity and a place for him and his friends were out in the woods as it was there “part-time address, destination, purpose, and excuse” (Frazier). However, growing up Frazier and his…

As a result of the fast changing world, people are losing sight of the simplicity of life. People in modern society concern themselves too much with gaining wealth and spending free time on technology. This could be a threat to a person’s ability to fully appreciate nature and to see their self worth. Henry David Thoreau, poet and writer, lived in the wilderness away from distractions to experience self discovery. Through this time, he discovered the importance of not allowing a modern society…

Chris Mccandless was a traveler who hitchhiked his way to alaska hoping to simply live off the land. Chris’ death was supposedly due to starvation after 4 months his body was found decomposed. Chris Mccandless is an adventurous young man who travels north america seeking the wonders of nature, to many Chris could be considered a Transcedendalist. Ralph Emerson is an american transcendentalist who wrote the book self reliance. In the story Into The Wild Chris Mccandless values the idea of…

Six Degrees of Separation by John Guare is mainly about the search for true identity. Paul believes that people should do whatever they want to do in life, disregarding if what people claim is true or false. Paul wants them to forget their past and have new experiences. Which is why Paul goes to many people in order to help them reveal their true identity. For example, Paul wants to help Flan find his true identity but he just ignores him. Causing Flan to stay the same. Paul causes Rick to…

Thoreau’s book Walden was first published the decade before the Civil War. The Economy is the first chapter of the book wherein Thoreau attempts to rationalize why he chose to spend two years and two months living in a cabin, away from the hustle and bustle of modern society. All throughout the chapter readers can see that the writer is not able to rectify his own ideals from that of society’s. Rather than just being a commentary on his objections to that modern society, could Thoreau’s text…

The premise of this chapter is as follows: science has played a major role in transforming our Western worldviews, specifically the Western perception of nature/wilderness. In this text, Oeschlaeger discusses the evolution of the term nature, and how it is perceived throughout history (beginning at the Middle Ages) by society. Oeschlaeger states that nature is seen as mythless and infinitely plastic in today’s society. The author compares medieval and Christian perspectives on nature. The…