David Henry Hwang

Ayn Rand’s perspective in his book ‘Anthem’ regards humans as beings who have an inviolable right to independence and freedom for themselves, as it is derived from their very nature, but shows how when you take it all away it detriments the society’s progression as a whole along with personal satisfaction and joy. Her claim in the book is “that a man has rights which neither god nor king nor other men can take away from him, no matter what their number, for his is the right of man, and there is…

Henry David Thoreau’s Walden consists of eighteen chapters in which he describes his two-year stay in Walden Pond. His purpose is clearly stated in chapter two titled “Where I Lived and What I Lived For”, where he states, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” Thoreau’s Walden is to be read with the knowledge that it…

in the process of reaching the aspirations. Both texts explain certain motivations, but more specifically the ambitions caused by a materialistic society and the negative effects of those ambitions. In Cannery Row by John Steinbeck and Walden by Henry David Thoreau, ambitions can be used to improve the community but when it is used in a materialistic society the individual can lose their values by exchanging morals for riches and desires. This idea is expressed through the use of figurative…

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 and guide to finding what the person believed in and the path they wished to follow in their life. The…

In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s works Nature and Henry David Thoreau’s works Walden, both of the authors agreed they do not own nature. Emerson and Thoreau both believed they would be closer to God if they were in the nature. Thoreau did better at emphasizing the importance of nature compared to Emerson.…

Relying on yourself was a major understanding in the minds of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry Thoreau, who were both part of the transcendentalist movement. Transcendentalism evolved in the middle of the 19th Century with the help of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry Thoreau. Transcendentalists believed the only way to learn the truth about God, the universe, the self, and everything else, one must transcend everyday human experience to a higher being existence in nature. Ralph Waldo Emerson is “The…

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. Emerson’s short story, “Nature” connects very much with Schwartz’s ideas of “Colors of the Wind,” as it affixes deeply with both the details and imagery. As well as “Nature,” Thoreau’s article, “Walden,” also…

Henry David Thoreau would have been a fine choice for graduation speaker at Loyola University Chicago. While Thoreau held somewhat-conflicting views on civil disobedience, his life philosophy would have certainly spoken to the young Millennials graduating this spring. Thoreau would have spoken about freedom, individuality, and the importance of doing the right thing. Thoreau would have been a perfect fit for a commencement speech, as they were the target audience of his book. He stated, “Perhaps…

Emerson is considered to be a transcendentalist writer. It is evident from his work he is very intellectual and he put much thought into each of his works. In his work, “from 'Self Reliance,” we are going to discuss the main four principles of this essay. Emerson encourages his readers to “trust thyself---accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events.” (pg.200) I believe individualism to be the first principle. In this…

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…