Transcendentalism

I was inspired to research transcendentalism because of its central theme of rebellion! There are many transcendentalist writers, such as, Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson (Which we have studied). All of these writers, were rebelling against the general state of culture and society. Ralph Waldo Emerson expressed the thoughts of Transcendentalism in the essay 'Nature.' Emerson broke away from the beliefs of his predecessors by stating, 'He sees the world as it really is. He looks on the temporal in the light of the Eternal. "So he comes to look on the world with new eyes." So he learns the high truths which nature teaches.' The 'he' Emerson talks about, refers to society as a people, and he is pushing society to be open-minded and subtle. Ralph Waldo Emerson also advocated transcendentalism by capturing crowds with his captivating speeches, such as 'The American Scholar.' In this speech he compares the relationship between an 'American Scholar,' and 'Nature.' Emerson heavily stresses 'man thinking,' not thinking man. Man thinking is the belief that man should see the world clearly for himself, rather than be biased from another man or group's thinking. Man must come to an understanding of the world through fresh eyes, and make decisions based upon these views. The movement of transcendentalism fills me with enthsiasm, I feel that further researching this topic will be a life lesson for me, as well as a great opportunity to better understand American Literature.