Transcendentalism was an enlightening research topic for me. The lives and works of great thinkers such as Emerson and Thoreau, encouraged me to expand my mental outlook on nineteenth century America. During this time period, the majority of Americans were bound to organized religion, which transcendentalists are basically against. As I was introduced to transcendentalism earlier in the year in class, I always pondered on the question, 'what central thought makes a transcendentalist?' I was pleased to come up with the answer, transcendentalists acknowledge and are humble towards a divine figure, but do not know who this figure is, and this divine mystery is what guided the transcendentalists.
I think I spent far too much time researching the topic, and waited too long to begin the writing process. This late start is what I believe lead to simple mistakes and stress. Developing a thesis was most definitely the most tedious part of the writing process for me, and absorbed the most time. In the future, I believe I should ask for assistance early in the writing process, or attack the thesis first.
My research definitely helped me better understand transcendentalism, and the people that participated in it. Studying transcendentalism also helped to better understand the necessary isms, such as individualism and realism. Seeing that we studied transcendentalism in class and it will probably be on the final, I certainly see this research experience as a plus.
I have to admit to a bit of surprise with your paper -- given the research that I thought you were doing. I understand the difficulty of formulating a thesis; it is the hardest task in the series of tasks for creating a research paper. I am happy to hear that you learned some interesting information as you did the research; that wish is always among the top ones that I hold for the students in my classes. I will be reading through your paper for the purpose of making comments in the next day or two. I will notify you by email when I have done that, and then we will talk about what improvements you might be able to make.
ReplyDelete