I've always loved English. Ever since I was in first grade with Mrs. O. I've always loved reading and writing and not to toot my own horn, but I feel I've had a natural talent. This year English is looked on as somewhat of a joke because it's pretty easy. And while it may be easy, it nothing shy of interesting and opening. I really feel that Mr. Pereira loves what he teaches and believes in it. We started our unit on transcendentalism, an American version on the European romantic era.
Contrary to what most people would imagine, I'm not as familiar with this movement as I'd like to be, thus welcoming the unit. I am familiar with Thoreau and Emerson (particularly Emerson's self-reliance). According to wikipedia (the number source for any information I seek), transcendentalism (that is a beast to type) "began as a protest against the general state of culture and society at the time" and that the core belief was ideal spiritual state that 'transcends' the physical and empirical and is only realized through the individual's intuition, rather than through the doctrines of established religions."
Huh. Interesting.
We were interpreting a quote of Thoreau, found in our anthology textbook. The quote itself is from Walden and it reads
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away."
We had a mini-discussion on what Emerson could mean by this. I said something along the lines of how man has to leave behind the structure and mold that society has over the greater population. Clearly this quote has relation to the old adage "Run to the beat of your own drum".
Well, I felt Emerson was addressing that truly figure out the beat of his drum, man must, in a sense, run away from society because there is always an influence. When you find the beat of your own drum, it should stay that way regardless if everyone else is off tempo with you.
Then Mr. P introduced the idea of Aristotle with "Trust thyself". The idea is that only you know your opinions and what's best for you. It is perfectly fine to agree with the opinions of others, so long as they come from within you. Needless to say, I'm finding all of this extremely insightful. I am guilty of "liking something" or thinking a certain way because it conforms to what other people believe. Now this may not always be a bad thing, but it can be when you get to the point where you always lose yourself in the wake of everyone's opinions.
As I go through high school, I realize there is this point of accepting who you are and being OKAY with that. Embracing it. By taking that step of accepting yourself for all you are, I think that's the gateway into being able to glance into yourself to find what you truly think, truly feel, truly believe.
This in particular is important because these days, we as a society are so wrapped up in technology and staying connected that going away into nature is becoming a thing of the past. Who cares about opinions? Google it and pick one that makes the most sense. Simply because we are so connected does not mean that this should serve as any subsitution for "isolation" and the early ideals that transcendentalism that those in the 19th century yearned for. There is a reason that I am studying this in English. It had an impact. It made some sense.
Also, relating back to the whole idea about high school. The reason I brought it up was because as everyone knows, the four years you are in high school are the years that in a sense define who you. Define who you become. Some people change a little while others completely transform. Thinking about both this and "Trust thyself" makes me wonder. By changing completely... does that lead to a different discovery of your self? Or does it lead you to finding something within yourself that was simply there all along and you would've inevitably found it?
Furthermore... as you get older, do you discover more about how you think and feel?
Hmm.
This unit will prove to be very inspiring.
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2 comments:
What a cool posting. Emerson really clicks fresh two centuries later.
As Proust (a great French writer no one reads but quotes) said:
"In reality, every reader is, while he is reading, the reader of his own self. The writer work is merely kind of an optical instrument which he offers to the reader to enable him to discern what,without this book, he would perhaps never have experienced in himself. And the recognition of the reader in his own self of what the book says is a proof of its veracity."
Michelle. First of all, thanks for writing. Goodness. I loved all of your thoughts on Thoreau and transcendentalism and high school.
I think that high school is alot of deciding where you want to go in life and growing on that. This nonsense when people say "its just who I am" is ridiculous. Seriously. You decide who you want to be and go with that. The moment you give into your flaws is the moment you give up on growing.
High school is crazy, and yes, there are tons of times when we give up on trying to fix a weakness or "shortcoming" in our personality, but giving into the natural man is the downfall of us all.
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