Comparing Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, And Henry David Thoreau

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There were many great writers in the early 1800s, such as Edgar Allen Poe, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau, but each had many special qualities. These special qualities were sometimes similar throughout all of the writers, and some were very different. The main differences were split with writers such as Poe and Hawthorne, in the “Prophets of Darknessâ€? and others were mostly “Prophets of Promise.â€? The main similarity between all transcendental writers in the early 1800s, is they preached the power of the individual As obviously seen just from the name, the Prophets of Darkness were often more on a negative or sad subject. Some Prophets of Darkness were raised and brought their own selves into the chosen…show more content…
Both Thoreau and Emerson had slightly different ideas of life, but the main reason was because only Thoreau would actually act on it. “Do not take notes because I am doing it.�(Thoreau, The Play) He truly believed he had to show the world it is okay to be individual. Thoreau went into solitude so he could spend time, in nature BEING an individual. For two years he would just write, and exist only coming into town and associating with non-individuals as little as possible. Thoreau truly took it to the next level. In conclusion, both the prophets of promise and the prophets of darkness had ideas about the power of the individual, though, the Prophets of Promise believed in the individual being one of the most important things of everything. Their ideas shared thoughts of change and evils that needed fixing, but they differed in the end results. Also, generally, Prophets of Promise were more positive and had a more effective solution than the prophets of darkness. It seems to be that the Prophets of Promise are the Strongest believers in the individual. Finally, all of the Transcendentalists of the 1800s were true genius

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