Wednesday, October 13, 2010

On October 13, we discussed Transcendentalism and began talking about self reliance and going beyond the range of human experience or belief of powers. We learned a lot about Transcendentalism and the major writers during that time including Emerson and Thoreau. We went into depth with the differences between these writers. We discussed how Emerson was interested in Nature and was a thinker, whereas, Thoreau was interested in Walden, about simple things of life, and was a Doer. These two writers differed, however they both surpassed the human experience. I think that the handout called Transcendentalism, which explains Transcendentalism and the dissimilarities between Thoreau and Walden, is very helpful because it went into depth about each individual and the topic.

My thoughts during class were that Transcendentalism is a very interesting topic and that it is fascinating to learn about such an extraordinary subject. Before today, we had studied the Brook Farm which gave us a broader view on the topic and gave me a great introduction to what Transcendentalism really is. Transcendentalism focuses on living close to nature as this handout mentions that, "They strongly felt the need of intellectual companionship and interests (Brook Farm) and placed great emphasis on the importance of spiritual living." I think that this quote portrays the main thoughts and interests of a Transcendentalist, even though the whole subject goes into greater depth. In class, I tried to imagine being a Transcendentalist and really being one with nature. This brought the class and I to really think about how we never really see how great nature is, even though it is such a significant part of life and the whole environment, we never take the time to really appreciate it. I had never been introduced to Transcendentalism before this class and I think it is a remarkable topic that helped my learning process.