Ralph Fiennes

An analysis of Merwin’s tone in his literary works compared to Whitman’s tone in his works was brought forth by L. Edwin Folsom, a professor of english at the University of Rochester, Massachusetts with a Ph.D in the subject. He specializes on the literary works of Walt Whitman and analyzes the different tones, but same purpose found in the literature of Merwin and Walt Whitman. Folsom begins with a quote from Merwin saying that he identifies himself as being an American poet, but not in any way…

Of the two individuals that we studied on this week, I feel that Walt Whitman spoke more to the 21st century. The poem explores the themes of the self, the all-surrounding "I," sexuality, social equality, the human body, and what it means to live in the contemporary world. Whitman speaks to a general idea of self, a shared aim between his individual character—the Walt Whitman he often portrays as the good guy in his poems—and the Democratic self, which is the communal personality that most…

1.) Thoreau’s journals, within “American Earth” by Al Gore, consolidates numerous themes and materials revolving around environmental writings. Sequentially he starts out contemplating that even after one dies they will live on through nature. He then continues to elaborate on the beauty of nature and how humans take it for granted. This is evident when he’s describing men that have grown ignorant to sounds of nature, “silence audible,” as he calls it. Why? The modernization of society, causing…

Reading about this magical place, however, could never compare with being there. By actually seeing the incredibly unique animals, birds and plants that can be found only on these islands, I discovered a new perspective on the world and its inhabitants. Ralph Waldo Emerson describes similar feelings in his essay entitled Nature. Emerson states “The lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted to each other, who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the…

The time period of transcendentalism changed the views of many people as well as bringing the five tenets of transcendentalist. These tenants were discussed by Walden explaining confidence, self-reliance, free thought, nonconformity, and importance of nature. Many pieces of literature contain some or all of these tenets, the ones i’m going to discuss and analyze today are Still I Rise by Maya Angelou that focuses on self-reliance and stanza 1 and 52 from Song of Myself by Walt Whitman which…

Journey of the Resolute Walking is a common thing for us. Walking, jogging, strolling, running, sprinting, shopping are but a few examples of walking commonly seen in current society. However in other parts of the world, there’s a type of walking only done by the devout. It’s a long, laborious, spiritually transformative walk known as pilgrimages. Rebecca Solnit, a writer, joined one of the pilgrims on her journey and wrote about her experience in her work, ‘The Uphill Road to Grace: Some…

The weather is perfect, the sky is baby blue, and the sun is shining over the trees creating a beautiful hue; on a day like this would you be outside or inside? Someone like Chris McCandles would spend every moment of this day outside. In the book Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer; the reader is first presented how Chris McCandless is reckless by walking into the wild ill prepared. Though Krakauer attempts to persuade the read that Chris is and was a Transcendentalist hero. I believe that Chris is…

We all have certain aspects to our lives that can be seen as unusual to others in society. Nonconformists do not accept the rules that society has given them to follow. On the other hand, conformists are concerned with the opinions of others, they have realistic expectations, and they follow society’s rules. Emerson’s quote: “Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist,” is saying that to be a true person is to be bold, individualistic, and have strong convictions of their own self-awareness.…

Jonathan Edwards was revivalist preacher, philosopher and theologian during the 18th century. He had an important role in the religious revival known as “The Great Awakening” that remodel the protestant religion across Europe and British American during the mid-18th century. Edwards was born in 1703 in East Windsor and he was the only son of 11 to William Edwards. At a young age he was interested in scientific, intellectual and spiritual concepts, so he was set aside for ministry. Both his…

Ralph Waldo Emerson and James Fenimore Cooper are both well-known writers from the 1800 's. Emerson was a Transcendentalist poet, he would go around giving lectures and those lectures turned into his essays which then became his well know poem Nature. One the other hand, James Fenimore Cooper was a novelist known for his series of five novels which included The Last of the Mochicans. During these times, the work of these men were very popular and impacting, the following will depict some…