Preview

Thoreau And Emerson Comparison

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
597 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Thoreau And Emerson Comparison
Comparing Ideals from Thoreau and Emerson

Emerson and Thoreau both use imagery sunrise to describe their ideas of what finding the self should be like. Emerson uses imagery to argue the fact that the current generation constantly spends its time trying to replicate what older generations did and have done. Thoreau on the other hand uses imagery to describe and argue the fact that we live our lives indifferent; not really noticing and appreciating our daily lives.
Emerson uses the imagery in the phrase, “The sun shines to-day also” to suggest that every-day is an opportunity to start anew (177; par. 1). Emerson skillfully places the imagery of the sunrise towards the end of the paragraph to offer as solution as well as strengthen his argument
…show more content…
I believe Thoreau uses this imagery to claim that an individual should be conscious enough of nature and his surroundings to not need mechanical means to wake up every morning. Thoreau also expresses his appreciation for the human ability to change our outlook on life by living in a more conscious manner (257). He states his belief that man’s purpose is to make their life worthy even in the most insignificant hours (257). Thoreau then moves on to explain the purpose to live temporarily at Walden Pond. Thoreau explains that he does not want to live his life in vain by stating, “I did not wish to live life what was not life,”(257; par 2). Thoreau in this paragraph puts his imagery of the sunrise into practice. Thoreau’s purpose of living on Walden Pond was to live life purposely; he expresses concern over living an unsatisfied life (257). Thoreau in the end uses the imagery of the sunrise to create the argument of living life in the moment, as it is offered to us (257). Both Emerson and Thoreau use the imagery of the sunrise to create and support the argument of living life purposeful, but in different processes. Emerson is afraid with the fact that society is too concerned with the past and not creating individuality. Thoreau, on the other hand, is concerned with appreciating every moment as it happens, and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Written during the 19th century, while the movement of transcendentalism was developed and active, Thoreau considered himself a transcendentalist, influencing him to write this literary piece, and his thoughts and perspective of life within it. Targeting an attentive, intellectual, and mature audience, he describes his attitude toward life through composition of rhetorical methods, such as alliteration and metaphors.…

    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    03 03 Task2

    • 375 Words
    • 2 Pages

    7. In the last paragraph, what metaphor does Thoreau use in his comparison of time?…

    • 375 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Two Views of a River” by Mark Twain portrays a man with his job as the pilot of a steamboat and how he views the river while Walden by Thoreau depicts a man who believes that people are wasting their lives on unimportant matters and goes into nature to discover the meaning of life. Throughout “Two Views of a River”, Twain recognizes the beauty of the river because he had never seen a sight like it back home and through Walden, Thoreau describes nature as he goes on an endeavor to discover what life means to him. Over the course of both passages, both authors come to the realization that nature is not always how they perceive it to be. The passages “Two Views of a River” and Walden portray how nature changes a person’s perspective about how the natural world is naively viewed and how nature is dangerous.…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ralph Waldo Emerson was a very important author whose ideas were adopted and adapted almost immediately after his works came to light. First, in Emerson’s piece, Nature, he introduces the audience to an idea of a transparent eyeball. He states, “Standing on the bare ground, my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eyeball. I am nothing. I see all. The currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God.” (1112). The most influential line in this quote is “all mean egotism vanishes.” This exemplifies the idea that it is not a personal experience in which he is undergoing; it is, in fact, a spiritual involvement with the natural world. By using the impression of an eyeball, it shows that he sees all and is part of nature as a whole. “The ruin or the blank … is in our own eye. The axis of vision is not coincident with the axis of things, and so they appear not transparent but opaque. The reason why the world lacks unity is because man is disunited with himself.” (1133). While things in Nature should be seen as transparent, we view them as impervious, which affects our perception within. Emerson also states, “There is a property in the horizon which no man has but he…

    • 890 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Boethius: a man of of the Great Loving God, a positive friend, a benevolent senator, and a realistic soul. Thoreau: a man of minimalism, a rebel against corrupt establishments, a guru of nature, a non-violent protester, and a simple thinker. Both these men are common in goal but the way they went about that goal was different. They both sought to bring peace to others through philosophy, the study of realistic living. Both felt the vengeful wrath of powerfully corrupt and were punished for it. Both never gave into the demands of their governments despite the tortures that would’ve broken most people. It was philosophy that won their battles and shaped countless minds throughout man’s history.…

    • 918 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When Thoreau used a rhetorical question in paragraph three, it made the reader stop and think what they are doing in their lives and are they living for today or tomorrow? By doing this, he lets people into his way of life and even if his way of life is odd to people now since everything is about the future with all the new smartphones with the technology of the future, it makes people stop and think why we go through life so fast, what is the rush. “People are starved even before being hungry,” what he means…

    • 645 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    he wrote in such text that covered all aspects of life. He united man and nature as one. He wrote about the beauty of everything. I believe that everything was meant to be on this earth for a reason and there is always beauty in everything you just need to look harder. Nature its meaning and value comprises one of the most pervasive themes in Thoreau's writings, expressed through both painstaking detail and broad generalization. Like Emerson, Thoreau saw an intimate and specific familiarity with the reality of nature as vital to understanding higher truth. Thoreau's transcendental quest toward the universal drew him to immerse himself in nature at Walden Pond from 1845 to 1847. It led him to observe the natural world closely in order ultimately…

    • 133 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Thoreau also uses imagery in order for his argument to make sense to the reader. He states, "...they would deserve to be classed and punished with those mischievous persons who put…

    • 167 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the Transcendentalism movement there were hundreds fighting for different aspects of individuality, self worth, and self prosperity as well as many other things. Two main figures during this era of self righteousness were Thoreau and Emerson, their thoughts were filled with radicalistic viewpoints and idealistic assumptions. Their viewpoints were built on good morals and ideologies but in practice were taken too far and resulted in amalgamations of radicalists fighting over what they thought was right. So in precisely Thoreau and Emerson's ideas were built on good principles, followed a lifestyle of making your own choices and living off grid, but were taken too far and developed into radical ideologies that led to tyranny and wane.…

    • 887 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Summer Reading Journal

    • 893 Words
    • 4 Pages

    E. “Time is but a stream I go a-fishing in...” Thoreau means that his time on earth is limited, resembling the shallowness of the stream. However, the stream is ever-flowing, marking the eternity of his life after death.…

    • 893 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Compare and Contrast Essay

    • 1119 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Thoreau believes that a lot of the details of our daily lives are meaningless and that if people lived simpler that their lives would be happier. This means that everyone needs to enjoy even the smallest of things they come by. When people take the things they own into consideration they tend to be happier. Something a person might care about is another person, or a valuable they have had with them their entire life. Thoreau is saying to just be happy, enjoy life, and take breaks. Thoreau's opinion of change is continuous and never ending. Thoreau thinks that this is how we should live our lives. He thinks we should live our lives this way because there isn't many things people come by that they enjoy. In order to enjoy life, look at your past and see how it built you up to the present. Look back at all the things you were given and appreciate those valuables no matter how small. Belongings play a big role in someones life, in others its another person, or even an animal. What that means is that anything can brighten up a persons mood or just make them smile, even for a few minutes. Life is short, whether you think it or not, life can fly by. Why let it? Enjoy life to it’s fullest and use your full potential, you can bring joy and happiness to anyone if you put your mind to it.…

    • 1119 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Thoreau Economy

    • 1672 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Thoreau was a writer like no other. In March 1865 he decided to build a log cabbing by walden pond. He built this cabin in Massachusetts in a town called Concord. He builds this cabin to as a personal experiment. He was using this cabin as a tool to transcend from the society. He had his mind made up and put into detailed focus that he would find out everything there is to discover about humans. The reason why he built the log cabin away from everyone is because he thought that the only way for him to focus was to get away from everyone. He didn't want to have anything on his mind bothering him. He didn't want any daily errand or concerns taking away his focus. Thoreau didn't want to be swayed by any of the materialism. He no longer wanted to be caught in the trending narrow mined society we lived in.…

    • 1672 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Frost takes dawn to be the peak of the day reason being that dawn takes place moments before the day. In addition to that, Frost assumes that the ultimate point of the year is the spring since it seems to be a short period in a year. Frost emphasizes his argument that change is inevitable and that nothing lasts forever through the last line of the poem where he says that “Nothing Gold Can Stay”. This emphasizes the fact that the plants or leaves do not remain green forever, a human does not remain young forever and therefore change must occur to all the living livings at a certain time in life. Therefore the various examples provided in the poem builds the theme of the poem that change is…

    • 1212 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Thoreau Transcendentalism

    • 443 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the chapter Solitude Thoreau writes, “I have a deal of company in my house; especially in the morning, when nobody calls” (112). This quote is significant because Thoreau shows that you don't need to be indulged in people to be happy; in fact you need no one. The only person you need is yourself, of course that’s easier said than done. Thoreau seemed to not fancy people in general so for him to be happy with himself was much easier than say, a person who is very sociable.…

    • 443 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Henry David Thoreau decided to remove himself from his ordinary life in society, and relocated himself to an area outside the town Concord. His once typical life now became that of a forest dweller. He built himself a quaint little home near Walden Pond. He chose to approach a life of simplicity by building his own home, living in the forest gathering his own food and fending for himself in essentially all aspects of his life. Ezra Pond makes a claim that Thoreau is demonstrating his indifference to humans and traditional societies, but that is not the case. Thoreau was merely trying to demonstrate just how unnecessary most societal desires were to live a fulfilled life.…

    • 470 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays