Anthology of American Literature - Personal Statement Example

World Literature, Personal ment Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Enigma of the New World 3 Conclusion 4 Work Cited 5 Introduction Transcendentalism gained its ground as a philosophical movement during the early quarters of the 1830s and 1840s. The movement specifically concentrated in the Eastern regions of United States and was launched as a protest movement against the intelligentsia operating at the contemporary Harvard University and general movements pertaining to the cultural and intellectual sphere in the society.

Nature eventually played a pivotal role in the coming of the Transcendental Movement. The vision or the philosophy associated with the establishment of the “New World” saw the role of the nature and its intrinsic relationship with mankind at a greater prism undoubtedly. An inherent and staunch belief in the individuals and the virtues present in an individual man and nature was seen under a bright light through this movement. Enigma of the New World Consequently, a firm belief against all sorts of institutions, religion and organized political parties started to generate as the transcendentalists began to believe that these organized institutions are instrumental in corrupting individuals and henceforth generating corruption within the society.

William Bartram started showing his immense interest on nature right from his youth and his extensive description on natural flora develops a remarkable visual account of widespread and huge resource of flora and fauna in America. On the contrary, Philip Freneau is known as a political poet and a hard-core democrat but his inclination towards nature and its intriguing relationship with mankind found extensive expression in his verses and narratives. Transcendentalists envisioned a new world where the factual world of common sense and pragmatism would be exchanged temporarily with the world of ideas and fancy (McMicheal, Leonard, Fishkin, Bradley and Nelson 10-30).

Transcendentalists believed that the exchange of conflicts with pragmatism and imagination is for the purpose of making life more beautiful and worth living. The New World would take the soul of man beyond the petty conflicts of the mundane world which burden the soul, unleashing the mind into a realm which would enable the unification of almighty and man. This unification the transcendentalists believed through the manifestation of nature-man relationship. According to them, god is present at every manifold in nature and unification of man and nature helped them to see the unification of man and god.

Philosophers and pioneers of nineteenth century American Transcendentalism Thoreau and Emerson viewed that once the man’s soul is unchained from the narrow shackles of institution and religion, it can actually reach god and establish unification of the soul with the almighty. Transcendentalism cannot be directly related with the concept of pantheism. It does not suggest nature-worship directly. On the contrary, the virtue of nature is related with the virtue of an individual soul and both are heightened together on a single platform.

Conclusion There were many other aspects of New World and transcendentalism as well which fascinated writers, painters and philosophers. Importance to woman, nature and virtues of an individual is to name few among many. Yet, the pivotal role of nature in man’s life and the inception of the natural flora and fauna surrounding mankind intrigued and inspired many early American poets and writers to develop a natural panorama through their literature. Work Cited McMicheal, George. L., James S.

Leonard, Shelley Fisher Fishkin, David Bradley and Dana D. Nelson. Anthology of American Literature, Volume 1. United Kingdom: Longman, 2010. Print.