Henry David Thoreau
The Transcendental period of the American literary movement was one of the most acknowledged periods of diversity in American literature. The Transcendental period began in 1836 with the transcendental club in Boston. The Belief in itself was the belief that man is connected to god through nature and that nature is the closest thing to god. Transcendentalist opposed the strict ritualism and dogmatic theology of established religious institutions. The transcendentalists were influenced primarily by the romantic movement of earlier American literature. (Houser worksheet handout) One of the best known writers of the period was Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau with his views against the government policies was to an extent everything that the transcendentalist stood for. His essay resistance to civil government or simple civil disobedience stated just how Thoreau felt about the government situation of his time. Thoreau also held the belief that man's connection to god was directly through nature. He believed this ideal so much that he lived in the woods on his own for an extended period of time. In this essay I will strive to show the relation of Thoreau's ideals and actions are examples of the beliefs of transcendentalist's ideals a
Few chapters in the history of American thought and writing have been discussed more thoroughly that the transcendentalist movement, but its diversity and lack of structure have often baffled its most serious students. (Pg.1 the transcendentalist) Transcentalism reached its peak in the late 1820 and over the next two decades then gradually declined after the civil war. (pg.1) nd also how Thoreau lived his life in exact coordination to the beliefs he held within a transcendental lifestyle. The writings of Henry David Thoreau consist of twenty volumes, fourteen which are manuscripts of Thoreau's journals. "Thoreau's response to nature was both poetic and scientific. Critics have described whether he sustained a lifelong transcendental view of whether he stumbled over a mass of dead facts that yielded no spiritual meaning to him (271). What is known of Thoreau is how he studied and viewed nature first hand, with the use of his journal and writings of Walden, or my life in the woods. Thoreau lived there for two years and two months and wrote most everything that he did or saw down in his journals. Transcendentalists believed in living close to nature, they taught the dignity of manual labor, felt strongly for the need of intellectual companionship, and placed great importance on spiritual living.( Houser Handout). The rest of Walden was pretty much what Thoreau did and how he lived. He talked about what he did, the sounds he heard, how he felt isolated from society. All these points are exactly views of transcendentalist views. Everything that Thoreau did was exactly transcendental behavior. "Walden was not only an experiment in economic living but also a pastoral alternati
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Approximate Word count = 1142
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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