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  • Essay / Transcendentalism in the Autobiography of Henry David Thoreau

    The autobiography Walden, written by Henry David Thoreau, shows the impact of transcendentalism on Thoreau's view of life. In the book Walden, Thoreau uses long informal sentences, many rhetorical strategies throughout his writing and partially expresses his feelings on transcendentalism and the three main key aspects of imagery, nature and emotion. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay On Independence Day, July 4, 1845, Thoreau moved into a simple small cabin that was not yet fully completed , but he was grateful to still have a cabin that protected him from the rain and leaks. Thoreau emphasizes his importance for nature, which is partly noticeable. In the chapter “Where I Lived and Why I Lived,” Thoreau quotes: “I went into the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to present only the essential facts of nature. life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach me, and not, when I died, discover that I had not lived. The central idea was that all transcendentalists believed that personal experience was how one learned. Literally, people learned everything the hard way. Thoreau demonstrated this clearly in his own experience living in the woods for two years. Notice he didn't even hesitate to ask someone who had tried it but hadn't yet learned it on their own. Thoreau's view was that there was no other place to discover one's true identity than to live and devote oneself to nature and transcendentalism. Second, an important theme of the Transcendentalists shown in Walden was emotion toward the simplification and individuality of the self. In the chapter “Solitude,” Thoreau establishes his argument using the rhetorical appeal of Pathos. He expresses his emotions by quoting: “I have found that no amount of extraction of the legs can bring two minds much closer together. » Thoreau says that even in physical company, one can still feel lonely if they do not feel true companionship with one another. You see, Thoreau is able to be alone physically without feeling alone mentally, it refers to more communion with oneself. Furthermore, he quotes: “However, your life is about meeting it and living it. We look poorer when we are richest.” This relates to the key aspect of transcendentalism of emotion, as Thoreau says, even though our life may seem bad, we should be grateful for the nature around us and for the gift of life. Money does not bring happiness nor is it a necessity for the soul. Instead of living life materialistically, we should live it individually and with conformity. Finally, Thoreau's use of imagery through figurative language is able to create a mental image that illustrates what he is actually experiencing in the story. For example, he cites "as the sun rose, I saw it (the pond) shed its nocturnal garment of mist, and here and there, little by little, its gentle ripples or smooth reflecting surface were revealed, while than the mists, like ghosts. , retreated furtively in all directions into the woods, as if at the dissolution of some nocturnal conventicle.” In this sentence, Thoreau uses imagery to describe the fog slowly rising from the surface of the pond. Likewise he cites “each winter, the liquid and trembling surface of the pond, so sensitive to each breath and which reflected each light and each shadow, solidifies to the depth of a foot or a foot and..