The Transcendentalist Movement Shaped America - 1603 Words

The transcendentalist movement shaped America in the 1860s by inspiring citizens to be free thinkers and hardworking individuals who would lead their lives to the fullest. The movement was led by three revolutionary writers named Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Walt Whitman, three icons who challenged Americans to be individuals. Through his works â€Å"Self Reliance† and â€Å"Nature†, Ralph Waldo Emerson preached of nonconformity and creating a personal destiny. Henry David Thoreau emphasized simplicity and making the most of life by seizing every opportunity presented, in his work â€Å"Walden†. Walt Whitman encourages real life experience and the value of hard work throughout his various poems. The principles preached by the†¦show more content†¦Keating due to his unorthodox teaching styles and the fact that Mr Keating is trying to get Todd to be more outgoing by â€Å"forcing† him to write and read poems for the class. As Mr Keating makes Todd create an impromptu poem for the class, Todd realizes that he has a creative side and is actually a fabulous poet- causing his confidence to grow sky high as the class claps for him and him to be proud of himself. After this event, Todd becomes more and more outgoing, leading to the solidification that Mr Keating effectively taught him Emerson s principles of being his own person and not being afraid to say what s on his mind ADD QUOTE HERE. â€Å"For the first time in my whole life, I know what I wanna do! And for the first time, I m gonna do it! Whether my father wants me to or not!† This is a quote from Neil as he decides to pursue his dreams of doing what he truly wants- to become an actor. This shows that Mr. Keating effectively taught Neil the principles of Emerson because he is finally being his own person and not conforming to the rigorous structure of a person that his father wants him to be. Throughout the entire movie, Charlie dalton refuses to conform. He takes every single lesson that Mr Keating teaches to heart about nonconformity, and while he acts as though he doesn t appreciate it, he definitley emulates all of mr keatings lessons. For example, towards the end of the movie, Charlie Dalton writes in the school paper about letting girls into