Whitman Emerson Comparison

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Compare/Contrast of Emerson and Whitman After reading Emerson’s passage “The American Scholar”, by Emerson, it really made it apparent that Whitman was heavily influenced by Emerson in his writing of “I Celebrate Myself”. Whitman tried to share his happiness that he was experiencing by making descriptions of how perfect nature is, so immediately I saw a relation with the Emerson excerpts. Whitman, like Emerson wants you to become one with nature, not only by being in nature, but by taking notice and really becoming a part of it, “Have you reckoned a thousand acres much? Have you reckoned the earth much? Have you practiced so long to learn to read?” I feel as if Whitman is saying that everybody has seen a thousand acres, everybody is constantly exposed to the Earth, but do you really experience it? Do you really read it and understand it? Both authors made a very clear theme in their writings that nature is an amazing human-like spirit. Emerson and Whitman both have this idea that you need to experience things on your own to really understand them. Yes, somebody can tell you something, or you can read a fact, but until you really feel it or until you find the truth yourself, you will never fully understand. “A Child said, what is the Grass? Fetching it to me with full hands; How could I answer the child?... I do not know what it is any more than he.” When you experience things on your own, it puts the world in a whole new

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