Compare and Contrast the Way in which Emerson and Thoreau...

In the year of 1600’s, the United States of America was being colonized by European countries especially by England. However, on 4th of July 1776 America became independent after having drafted the â€Å"Declaration of Independence† initiated by Thomas Jefferson [History of the United States, Wikipedia]. The difference between these two time periods shows that Britain had colonized America for about 176 years which ultimately led to prosper European cultures. Although America became an independent nation, European culture was still playing its role. Therefore, American writers namely Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau presented an idea about American Identity. Emerson in The American Scholar and Thoreau in Walden represents the idea†¦show more content†¦Similar to Emerson, he also mentions about a person’s thinking capability not to be limited but to be expanding further. He too makes a judgment on a person’s thought. In Walden, there is a paragraph whereby he talks about Walden Pond which men believed it to be bottomless. People came up with various stories regarding the pond being bottomless but no one tried to figure the truth. So, he, Thoreau went to discover the truth and he found out that the pond was not bottomless instead it had depth of â€Å"One hundred and seven† [Thoreau,1854]. Through this a person is able to understand that a man is not supposed to believe in stories created by other men because each man is an individual and have the right to know answers. Thoreau is trying to convince men to diverse their thoughts beyond the information given by the Europeans which in turn will help shape an Ame rican identity. Again in Walden, Thoreau wrote, â€Å"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately† [1854]. It is quite strange that Thoreau had chosen to live in woods purposely. Perhaps one reason can be that he is a transcendentalist but one must not forget that he had discovered about the Walden Pond when he was deliberately living in the woods. However, another possible explanation can be that woods are not dominated or are controlled by anyone, nature lives freely in world. Therefore, a reader canShow MoreRelated Emerson and Thoreau Represent American Identity1511 Words   |  7 PagesCompare and contrast the way in which Emerson and Thoreau represent American Identity. â€Å"Identity means who a person is, or the qualities of a person or group which make them different from others,† (Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Third Edition). Every individual, group and country has their own identity which makes them different from others and it shows uniqueness of oneself. Reaction against the existing philosophy takes place when there is conflict in interest amongst the philosophersRead MoreHow Fa Has the Use of English Language Enriched or Disrupted Life and Culture in Mauritius15928 Words   |  64 Pagesads not by this site [pic] [pic] ENGL 103A: American Literature 1789-1900 (Archived) Dept of English, UC Santa Barbara (Summer 2011) †¢ ABOUT †¢ ASSIGNMENTS †¢ SYLLABUS †¢ DISCUSSION †¢ CLOSE READINGS CLOSE READINGS Post your close reading posts here. Share this: †¢ Twitter †¢ Facebook †¢ Like this: Like Loading... [pic] 26 Comments on â€Å"CLOSE READINGS† 1. [pic]John Cooper says: July 13, 2011 at 3:36 pm Emily Dickenson’s poem â€Å"Because