No one has a better claim than Ralph Waldo Emerson to being the central figure in the whole history of American literature. All artists distill influences from the past to become, themselves, influences on the future, but in Emerson's case the...

Ralph Waldo Emerson was not a practicing literary critic in the sense that Edgar Allan Poe and William Dean Howells were, and he was not a theorist as Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling or Friedrich Ernst Schleiermacher were. Yet he...

Ralph Waldo Emerson is perhaps the single most influential figure in American literary history More than any other author of his day, he was responsible for shaping the literary style and vision of the American romantic period, the era when the United...

That changed in the eighteenth century as part of a broader cultural movement characterized by the ENLIGHTENMENT. The old theological worldview shared by all Christians was challenged by the rise of natural science. Causation seemed to be mechanical,...

EMERSON, RALPH WALDO (1803–1882), American essayist, poet, and lecturer, was a leading figure among the New England Transcendentalists. Born in Boston, Emerson was descended from a long line of Christian ministers. The son of a distinguished...

Emerson, Ralph Waldo(1803 s Epistemology: The Argument of the Essays. New York: Cambridge University Press,...

Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882) was an American essayist, poet, and leader of the Transcendentalist movement in the early 19th century. Emerson gradually moved away from the religious and social beliefs of his contemporaries,...

Monarch Notes 01-01-1963 Introduction A Biographical Sketch: Ralph Waldo Emerson was born in 1803 in Boston, to a family of ministers and merchants. He attended Boston Latin School (1812-1817) and Harvard College (1817-1821), during which periods he kept journals and won some prizes for...

Monarch Notes 01-01-1963 The Poet: Emerson's main notions about poetry are to be found in his essay "The Poet," which contains many valuable flashes of wisdom about poetry. First of these is his assertion that there is complete naturalness in being a poet: "In...

A new book about Mammoth Cave tells the story of the national park's slave history. The book, entitled "Making Their Mark: The Signature of Slavery at Mammoth Cave," is available at the visitor center at Mammoth Cave National Park. ...

Educational textbook publisher Houghton Mifflin Co. agreed Monday to buy the remaining U.S. units of scientific and medical publisher Reed Elsevier for $4 billion in cash and stock, creating what could become the largest K-12 publisher in the country in terms of market share.The Boston-based...

In the following essay, Lopez traces the critical reception of Emerson's philosophical writings through the decades in an attempt to define his place in American critical thinking.

In the following essay, Selinger examines Emerson's view on marriage and love, and the friction between earthly love and a more divine love.

In the following essay, Cadava traces the link between nature and politics, in addition to examining Emerson's views on war in the context of his poem “The Boston Hymn.”

Essay discusses if the optimism of Ralph Waldo Emerson was unrealistic or a search for complete understanding.

Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson are two of America's greatest writers and the two greatest Romantic writers of all time. Their similar optimistic viewpoints are reflected in this highly analytical essay.

Provides a brief biography of poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. Examines his poetic legacy in American literature. Compares him to his 19th century contemporaries.