Wallace-+Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau  The Transcendentalists Tandem Writing Style, Influence, and Famous Works
 * Thoreau was a poet, an author, an essayists, and a philosopher
 * He was born in Concord, Massachusetts, in 1817
 * His parents were John and Cynthia Thoreau and his family was of the lower middle class
 * Although he was not of the upper-class, Thoreau was admitted to Harvard University in 1933 based off of his achievements in high school
 * After graduating in 1937 from Harvard, Thoreau returned to Concord where he worked as a teacher for only two weeks
 * Following his short stint as a teacher, Thoreau worked as a pencil maker for his father and soon after opened a school with his brother, John. Both ventures failed within three years
 * Greatly influenced by the natural beauty of Concord and due to many ventures into the forests, Thoreau finally settled on his ideal profession- a "poet of nature"
 * In 1935, Ralph Waldo Emerson (pictured to the right) moved to Concord as well, drawn by its amazing natural beauty
 * Upon Thoreau's return from Harvard to Concord, the two quickly became friends- Emerson saw in Thoreau a true disciple and prodigy of Transcendentalism while Thoreau gained a mentor and even a father-like figure in Emerson
 * It was at Emerson's request that Thoreau began to keep a diary, which eventually spanned thousands of pages and contained more than two million words. This led to Thoreau contributing regularly to the //Dial // , the Transcendentalist Newspaper
 * <span style="color: #9d0c0c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">After a brief stint in the city, Thoreau returned to Concord and decided to build a cabin on Walden Pond. This land, owned by Emerson, was one of Thoreau's greatest inspirations and led to his most famous work, "Walden." He lived on the land for over two years and it is still preserved today as Thoreau's inspirational retreat
 * All of Thoreau's works included Transcendentalist aspects
 * Transcendentalism was a literary movement, mainly based in New England, that believed in the essentially unity of all creation and focussed on the power and goodness of the individual (such as to trust a person's insight rather than logic)
 * Thoreau (as well as Emerson) believed that the path to a greater understanding of life was through understanding how nature was connected to every human
 * An example of his strong belief is through Thoreau's quote, <span style="color: #9d0c0c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">"I suppose that what in other men is religion is in me love of nature."
 * <span style="color: #9d0c0c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Because of this deep seeded love for nature, nearly all of his works focus on the harmony that mankind can find in a connection with nature
 * <span style="color: #9d0c0c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Also, due to his belief in harmony through nature, Thoreau also wrote on major social issues of the time. An example of this is his essay "Civil Disobedience" in which he comments on the function of government and equality of mankind
 * <span style="color: #9d0c0c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">These beliefs of his had great influence over several famous social critics and activists, including Mohandas Gandhi, Leo Tolstoy, and Martin Luther King, Jr.
 * <span style="color: #9d0c0c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">A list of Thoreau's most famous works are:
 * <span style="color: #9d0c0c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">"A Week on the Concord and Merrimack River" (1849)
 * <span style="color: #9d0c0c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Walden" (1854)
 * <span style="color: #9d0c0c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">"A Yankee in Canada" (contained "Civil Disobedience") (1866)
 * <span style="color: #9d0c0c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">"The writings of Henry Thoreau" (published his journal and other personal, unpublished works) (1904)

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">Works Cited <span style="color: #9d0c0c; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;"> "Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862): A Guide to Resources on Henry David Thoreau and Transcendentalism." <span style="color: #9d0c0c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">__The Transcendentalists__  <span style="color: #9d0c0c; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">. 29 Apr. 2010 <http://www.transcendentalists.com/1thorea.html>.

"Henry David Thoreau (American writer) -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia." __Encyclopedia - Britannica Online Encyclopedia__. 29 Apr. 2010 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/593225/Henry-David-Thoreau>.

"Emerson & Thoreau." __American Writers__. 29 Apr. 2010 <http://www.americanwriters.org/writers/emerson.asp>.

"About Thoreau: Thoreau as a Writer | Walden Woods." __Home | Walden Woods__. 29 Apr. 2010 <http://www.walden.org/Library/About_Thoreau's_Life_and_Writings:_The_Research_Collections/Thoreau_as_a_Writer>