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Analyses of Whitman's Song of Myself
Analyses of Whitman's Song of Myself
Analyses of Whitman's Song of Myself
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Transcendentalism is a major romantic movement during the 19th century. It was a period of romance where people learned to love themselves. The poem Self-Reliance, is by Ralph Waldo Emerson. In this excerpt, he emphasizes the traits of being a transcendentalist. The selection Tia Chucha, is by Luis Rodriguez.
Transcendentalism is a highly competitive world of the market revolution which strongly encouraged the identification of American freedom without any restraints on people who were seeking financial improvement and personal development. It was a world in which regional developments along with the market revolution crushed traditional and social borders. For example moving from one place to another was a common characteristic of the American life. Transcendentalism believed in individual judgment over existing social traditions and institutions.
According to Grodzins’ work in the Dictionary of American History, the first American Transcendentalists
He discourages conforming and adhering to “dead institutions” (551) such as religion, academic colleges, and social organization. Emerson makes the following bold statements in his essay:
After the American Revolution people were inspired to create their own identity separate from England, some people wanted something different from the traditional Age of Reason. Transcendentalism is a branch of Romanticism that began in Germany, it’s beliefs are separated into three topics nature, individualism, and optimism. They believed nature is where one could reach the highest level of spirituality. Individualism is where they believed in nonconforming and rejecting society’s beliefs. Lastly optimism where beliefs that people are naturally good and they were convinced of the essential goodness of life.
Emerson had a view that man should stand out and not to be like everyone else. He also believed that no one should be a follower, everyone
Transcendentalist Era In the 1830’s, a group called the transcendentalist arose. It lasted from 1836 to just about 1861. Some people were upset about how the Unitarian church was running things so instead people turned to nature. Basically they believed that any individual was more powerful than any institution.
Transcendentalism in the 21st Century Now Ralph Waldo Emerson created this philosophy that he called transcendentalism over 150 years ago. There are many ways people can represent these ideals of transcendentalism such as being a nonconformist, rebelling against things that contradict one’s opinion, living a simple life, appreciating nature, accepting the circumstances in life, searching for the meaning of life independently, and standing up for personal beliefs. Now with technology sweeping nations all over, some people might argue that these ideals are not valued anymore while others disagree. In small ways, all over the world, people are doing simple things that pertain to the transcendentalism philosophy.
Ralph Waldo Emerson uses multiple rhetorical devices such as metaphors, analogies, and allusions to argue his main point. The idea that one must rely on themselves and achieve greatness alone is told within these devices. The use of allusions in Emerson’s essay creates deeper understanding whilst supporting his point. These allusions cause the thought that if these historic people could achieve greatness despite nobody believing in them at first, you may be able to do the same. There are also analogies in this essay, mainly speaking about society’s disapproval about individuality and acceptance of conformity.
People consider Emerson the “father of Transcendentalism”. He believed that man would thrive if he trusted himself. Man was inherently good and could do no wrong. In Emerson’s “Nature”, a work about Emerson’s view on nature, he writes: “We must trust the perfection of the creation so far, as to believe that whatever curiosity the order of things has awakened in our minds, the order of things can satisfy” (Emerson Par 2). Man did not need to rely on society, or entangle himself in the patterns of the world; man’s intuition would be enough for his success.
Transcendentalism is the belief that man is inherently good, is an independent thinker, and goes out into nature to get in touch with himself. Generally, man has good intentions and intends no harm unto others. In addition, man does not need society to give him and develop his thoughts, as he already has them within. To help bring out these already installed beliefs, man has the desire to go out into nature to get in touch with himself and find deeper notions within. In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s writings “Self Reliance” and “American Scholar”, he writes about how being a true individual means that one must have his own beliefs, and not copy someone else’s ideas.
Emerson believes self is spiritual and that your identity is found in your soul. He does not highlight the physical aspects of self, he instead just focuses on what is on the inside. Emerson states, “the soul raised over passion beholds identity and eternal causation, perceives the self-existence of Truth and Right, and calms itself with knowing that all things go well” (Emerson 29). Emerson is illustrating that the soul contains your identity, and therefore, your sense of self. Emerson is also explaining that the soul sees the truth, which Emerson believes is the key to living true to yourself as everyone is better off if they follow their own truths.
Both of Walt Whitman articles are transcendentalism; Mr. Whitman shows individualism and nature in “Song to Myself” which are qualities of transcendentalism. In “Song to myself” he mostly uses individualism as you can tell just by the title he is describing himself in a song. Mr.Whitman uses repetition in his poem “I celebrate myself”(Whitman 1). Throughout the poem he uses the word “I” to describe himself which shows individualism which is a romantic quality. Mr.Whitman also uses imagery in his “Song to Myself”.
Things can be seen different in many perspectives. It can be interpreted in ways others can’t see. But in order to regulate and adjust our lives, to show the meaning of what we see, we need the solitude to consolidate our thoughts and see things that were hidden in the first place. In “Nature,” Ralph Waldo Emerson applies rhetorical strategies for instance the imagery of unity and the allusion of God to experience the nature in solitude. Emerson starts off his piece with imagery of the unity between man and nature.
Transcendentalism is a movement in which ideas were grounded in the claim that divine truth could be known intuitively. Religious renewal, literary innovation, and social transformation is what transcendentalists stood for. Transcendentalism developed in the United States during the first half of the nineteenth century. It became a major movement in our world’s history. Transcendentalism is an idealistic, philosophical, and social movement that upheld various organizations and periodicals that gave the movement shape and turned out to have radical impact.
