# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Nature teaches the individual to be self-reliant and reject the traditional establishments of society, it is a divine teacher.

# data[].attributes.body
Thesis: Transcendentalism teaches people to look towards nature as a divine teacher in the context of critical thinking and self-reliance, in order to be fully connected to oneself and find essential knowledge that will enable these individuals to engage in the spirit of reform and progressiveness.

Quotes of Insight:
-"If all people in society were self-reliant, and no one could be influenced by institutions of corruption, the human race could begin to build a society structured on goodness."
-"Analysis of transcendentalism concludes that while it’s advocates acknowledged a diverse array of principles, they were all interrelated and built off one another. Initially, the subjects of nature and societal reform appear to share no correspondence, yet transcendentalists saw individualism in the light of both contexts."

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
The following quote by Thoreau exemplifies transcendentalism through embracing nature; Thorough describes that only in nature he could live purposefully. 

# data[].attributes.body
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”
-Henry David Thoreau

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Thoreau values the simplicity of nature, and defines a walk in the wilderness as a break from the corruption and distraction that is society. 

# data[].attributes.body
“I think that I cannot preserve my health and spirits, unless I spend four hours a day at least- and it is commonly more than that- sauntering through the woods and over the hills and fields, absolutely free from all worldly engagements.”
-Henry David Thoreau

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Emerson describes a key tenet of transcendentalism, the belief that God exists in all aspects of nature, even the human being. 

# data[].attributes.body
“Standing on the bare ground- my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space- all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Emerson expresses that the totality of nature makes it beautiful, for nothing is beautiful in isolation but in context; the transcendentalists loved nature.

# data[].attributes.body
“The standard of beauty is the entire circuit of natural forms, -the totality of nature; which the Italians expressed by defining beauty “il piu nell’ uno.” Nothing is quite beautiful alone: nothing is but beautiful in the whole.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
The transcendentalists valued self-reliance and individualism, Emerson displays this tenet by emphasizing the importance of living after one's own opinion.

# data[].attributes.body
“It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

# data[].attributes.body
Both the film Dead Poet Society and Walt Whitman's poem center on the theme of discovering one's true meaning in life. Mr. Keating in the Dead Poet Society extends to his students, "Carpe, carpe diem, seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary." He educates that one should take advantage of all opportunities provided to them and make the most of the present moment. He encourages throughout the film that his students rebel against the standards expected by society and live with purpose. Likewise, Whitmans poem relays that rather than choosing to blend in with the crowd, one should find purpose in life through individuality. Both display key tenets of transcendentalism, self-reliance and independence.

# data[].attributes.body
Mr. Keatings philosophy, "Carpe diem" (seize the day), is meant to encourage his students to live life to the fullest despite the opinion of others; this corresponds to the emphasis transcendentalist thinkers have placed on self-reliance and individuality.

# data[].attributes.headline
3: What Will My Verse Be? A Declaration of Self

# data[].attributes.subject
3: What Will My Verse Be? A Declaration of Self

# data[].attributes.body
I aspire to contribute to my world through acts of service. I declare that in my lifetime I shall help the unprivileged, the needy, those with limited resources, the destitute, the discriminated, and ultimately all those who will benefit from my aid. My verse will be facilitated through the employment of my heart, my body, and my brain; these elements will only strengthen as I grow older and wiser. Within each age I will succor within my resources. As a child I helped others with kind words and good deeds. As a teen I will do good work through volunteering and participating in community service. As an adult, I will contribute to my world through medicine. I intend to make use of every fragment of knowledge obtained in my lengthy education to provide remedy to the hurt, the sick, and inflicted. Only then will the long hours and dedication be merited. This is my verse.

# data[].attributes.body
I often find myself overwhelmed

With the busy of my day

If only the clock granted me the hour

I’d reflect on this dismay

Not the hour, not the minute, not the second

Finds my way

I wish to break from this cycle

But the luxury is in delay

Life, expectations, and structure

It’s quite habitual to say

When privileged with the hour, the minute, even the second of relief

A scant of interruption from the busy of my day

None of it shall be wasted

Inside the dwelling where i stay

Company is furnished within the fields, the plants, the sun

Only but in nature is where I wish to frolic and to play

However limited this sanctuary may be to me

In nature I am at last feeling gay

Within the fields, the plants, the sun

I am free, and I am away

Within the fields, the plants, the sun

I have transcended from the busy of my day

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
The comic above displays the transcendentalist tenet of nonconformity, the act of refusing a rule or practice. 

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Transcendentalist thinkers emphasize the concept of "feeling small", yet encourage that one takes advantage of all opportunities and lives purposefully. 

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Walks on the beach free me from all worldly engagements, I am able to think independently and seek the truth.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
In taking a walk along the fields of Balboa Park, I have engaged in a return to nature and simplicity.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
In the photo above I am taking a stroll on the beach and embracing nature, in solitude and away from the city.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Much of the curriculum in modern education has discouraged creativity and suppressed the transcendentalist tenet of individualism. 

# data[].attributes.headline
8: Modern Challenges to Transcendentalism

# data[].attributes.subject
8: Modern Challenges to Transcendentalism