Transcendentalism

Nature: Ralph Waldo Emerson

I thought about this story being more of an outside story. The story really described different parts of nature that men discovered. Also in this story natures not what we people today think of nature being. Nature In the story seems like a real sweet part of life. It explains the beautiful personality of nature. It also talks about the lover of nature. "Yet it is certain that the power to produce this delight, does not reside in nature, but in man, or in harmony of both." This is saying that not all of nature’s plants are delivered by natures own. It is said that some are delivered by man.

Self-Reliance: Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thinking of this story to be about men. It’s talking about how men tend to have their own belief that they can do anything. "There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance: that imitation is suicide." It’s really telling me that all men believe in anything that others can’t do then he most likely can do it. Also men tend to think that there is nothing they can fell in doing. "Self-reliance is its dislike. It loves not realities and creators, but names and customs." This to me is explaining the difference of men to women. Most men think that women can’t do as much as they are able to do.

From Resistance to Civil Government: Henry David Thoreau

This story I didn’t really understand. The part that really caught my attention was how the jail were set up. "walls of solid stones, two or three feet thick, the door of wood and iron a foot thick." In our jails today I don’t think they have wood and iron doors attached together. This story basically talks about things that happened in the past maybe eighty years ago. Great and interesting story of the late history. The person telling the story was once arrested for not paying any poll tax for six years. This caused him to stay in jail one night.

Chris, a college senior, has just been accepted to the best law school in the county. His parents, Sheila, his wife, and his brothers and sisters are very excited for Chris since he has wanted to become a lawyer for his entire life. Chris isn’t so excited though. He has realized that he would rather be a high school teacher than be a lawyer. Chris would have to go back to school to get his teaching certificate. Chris’ wife is not exactly thrilled with this idea since she has been looking forward to the salary Chris would make as a lawyer. With Chris’ new plan, she would have to pay for Chris’ additional schooling.

My opinion:

I really understand where Chris’ wife is coming from. She has a point. Chris should have thought about what career he really was interested in to the most before he went to college. Chris waited until his senior year in college, and when he got a scholarship to one of the best law school. I understand that it’s his life and he has to live it. But he has to think about it this is her money that he is throwing away. She has to pay for him to go back to college and start over just because he wants to be a teacher. This is not acceptable. The reason I say this is because he already have a career planned ahead of him and he wants to turn it around just to start a new one.

This is an example of transcendentalist, because all men want everything to go their way. This show that the belief of men thinking that they can do anything. When something does not satisfy them, then they want a change.