Ralph Waldo Emrson

Rosalinda Crystal Arellano
12/21/12
1st Period
Ralph Waldo Emerson

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[pic]“What lies behind you and what lies in front of you pales in comparison to what lies inside of you” (knowledge 1). This quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson states that the past and the choices you will make are not as important as what you do in the future. Ralph Emerson looked into the future, not to the past. Emerson thought the mistakes you did in the past should not effect the future. Emerson had an awful childhood because his father died when he was eight years old. Without having his father by he’s side Emerson became a successful writer in America. Emerson is recognize for he’s new ideas that he brought to literature. Ralph Waldo Emerson, the father of Transcendentalism, had great influence on the American Romantic movement in literature. His creative writing style, inspiration to other writers, and forward thinking in transcendentalism holds him as one of the greatest minds of the 19th century. Ralph Waldo Emerson was the father of Transcendentalism. “Transcendentalism was a movement in nineteenth-century American literature and thought, that called on people to view the objects in the world as small versions of the whole universe and to trust their individual intuitions”(dictionary). Emerson believed in individualism and in Divine Soul, which also inspires all men. He believed that spiritual life was most important than material. “ For Emerson, the universe was sustained by something deeper, more fundamental than the material laws of chemical, biological and physical reaction” ( Geldard 4). Emerson’s first book, Nature was the best expression of his transcendentalism.” That something deeper was Nature, the text of Nature was widely viewed as a defining text of the Transcendentalism, praised and satirized for the same qualities”(encyclopedida). Nature was an example of individualism and viewing the world a different way. The book Nature was a rallying cry for the Transcendentalists and it viewed Nature as the diving teacher of man (American national). He wrote that mankind is losing experience to nature. Emerson was the father of Transcendentalism because he’s writing showed that mankind should experience the universe. Emerson had creative and characteristic writing style. He was positioned as the father of American literature. As a poet, philosopher, and essayist he had a unique and creative style for each section of literature. Harsh and didactic, that was how the public describe Emerson was how the public describe Emerson’s poetry (poet,org). In his poems he mostly talked as liberating god or truth-speaker. Fate was one of many poems that he wrote. Fate describes how a person’s life is shape by how much fate they have. Fate is the master of each and everything. Emerson here truly explains the importance of fate in our lives. That the fate is by our actions and that fate should be everything in a human’s life. As philosopher he started he’s career with a short story name Nature (enceyclepedia). Nature is a book that makes him think again about his lifetime.“ Nature, as America’s “Intellectual Declaration of Independence” and it is very true that the uniqueness and vitality of Emerson thought motivated much of the development of American intellectual life which means places emphasis on optimism and individuality” ( American philosopher). In this book he talked about how mankind should experience time with nature. That man should see the beauty of nature once for a while. He created reading as well as creative writing because he want to bring something unique that America will enjoy reading. As an essayist, Emerson brought out his Essays First Series, which was his single and most influential work “Self-Reliance”(Internet encyclopedia).
Self-Reliance talked how we should trust ourselves, and we should not pay attention what the society says and thinks about us.” Self-Reliance is, in his view, the belief that since all people contain a spark of divinity within them, the nurturing of this divinity by ignoring the conformist demands of society would result not only in self-reliance but god-reliance as well”(national biography). Each person has a voice and opinions, but when society is front of us we prefer not to say our opinions because we do not know how society is going to react. He talks about how life is short and we should live every moment to the fullest. That mankind should be able to explore many talents and skills. Self-reliance is he’s most famous essay and most widely known. These are some examples of Emerson’s unique work. Emerson influence many other writers by his literature. He was adirme by many because he was the father of Transcendentalism and his work was from he’s personality. He influence writers like Walt Whitman, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Emily Dickinson, and Henry David Thoreau. “In his own writings he managed to combine religion with philosophy, as well as ancient classical ideas with super-naturalism and mysticism” (the last one). That is why many writers were influence by him and he was respect.. “Emerson also exerted a major influence over Henry David Thoreau, who was a young Harvard graduate and schoolteacher when Emerson met him in Concord. Emerson sometimes employed Thoreau as a handyman and gardener, and encouraged his young friend to write” (

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