Ralph Waldo Emerson

Personal Statement:

My name is Ralph Waldo Emerson and I was born in Boston on May 25, 1803. When I was in my boyhood I was a serious child that was withdrawn from the world of play. I found entertainment in reading books and the society of my family. My education started before I was three, especially due to the contribution of my dear Aunt Mary. She was a great writer who I always admired. When I was older I attended Harvard college where I started writing my journals. Soon after, I became an essayist, lecturer, and poet. I am highly individualistic and like to criticize the controversial issues of society in my lectures and essays. But most importantly I lead the Transcendentalist movement. My essays, like Nature, remain being the source of American thinking, which have influenced many other thinkers and writers.

Issues:

I am involved in many issues of society such as intellectualism, religion, slavery, and human nature. I believe that society and its institutions corrupt the purity of an individual, who are best when independent. My motives are religious and philosophical because I believe that God is connected to everything, therefore all things are divine.

Solutions:

I advocate individual moral reform. I believe Transcendentalism is a highly important movement where writers are encouraged to use their own style. A individual can can move to a deeper spiritual experience through free will and intuition. People can understand God and themselves by looking into their own souls and feeling their connection to nature. The movement did work since it influenced writers and thinkers to change their styles and views.

Relationship with Others:

 I definitely believe that education is important, since I have a lot of years of it, but authors should not have to follow their predecessors. I am also against slavery, so I started giving many lectures to advocate the abolition of slavery.