Transcendentalism

Transcendentalism embodies the concept that people have a deeper and more profound understanding of the world around them than simply by what they can glimpse with their senses. In this collection of essays and poems, the works of three transcendentalist authors are shared, each with their own impressions and opinions supporting the movement. The first, Henry David Thoreau, reflects on the idea of simple living yet living deliberately in Walden. He expresses the importance of embarking on a journey of identifying what type of life to live. In Civil Disobedience, Thoreau declares his opinions on government and its inefficiency and uselessness, instead arguing that the people have a right and duty to rebel. Walking, Thoreau’s final publication before his death, is a collection of writings of his thoughts on nature. Written with a visionary tone, the author expresses to the listener the importance of remaining alert to nature. Ralph Waldo Emerson, a 19th-century transcendentalist philosop