Emerson vs.Thoreau

A detailed Summary of Emerson vs.Thoreau

In Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay "Self Reliance" and Henry David Thoreau's essay "Resistance to Civil Government ("Civil Disobedience"), both transcendentalist thinkers speak about being individual and what reforms and changes need to be made in our society. However, the two essays differ in their idea of what reforms must be made. Emerson takes a much more general approach to what changes a person should make where as Thoreau's essay gets into much more detail as to what the individual needs to do to change society. Despite some differences between the two essays, both seem to stress the point of breaking free of conformity and displaying individuality.

Emerson, who published the essay "Self Reliance" in 1841, addresses one of the central characteristics of the American sensibility, individualism. Emerson says that to be a conformist in this world will get

Although both essays stress the importance of being individual, Thoreau's speaks in greater detail on what a person should do with his or her power where as Emerson speaks more about self-fulfillment. "Self reliance" is more personal that "Civil Disobedience", which is more about social change. Both Thoreau and Emerson's essays, however, do stress the one important idea of breaking free of conformity.

Thoreau, a firm believer that enlightenment comes from solitude, wrote "Civil Disobedience" in 1846 after he spent a night in jail for refusing to pay his taxes to the state as a way of protesting against the state's support of slavery. In his essay, Thoreau stresses the importance of the individual, similar to Emerson. However, Thoreau speaks more specifically about how to make reforms in the government by using one's individualism. Thoreau feels that "Go

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Approximate Word count = 580
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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