Henry David Thoreau

Thoreau
* was born in 1817,
*Henry grew up very close to his older brother John, who taught school to pay for Henry's tuition at Harvard.
*He and his brother taught school for a while but in 1842, John cut himself while shaving and died of lockjaw in his brother's arms, an untimely death which traumatized the 25 year old Henry.
*At the age of 28 in 1845, wanting to write his first book, he went to Walden pond and built his cabin on land owned by Emerson.
*He found greater joy in his daily life than most people ever would.
*Thoreau died of tuberculosis in 1862, at the age of 44.
*He spent his life rethinking his, always asking questions, always looking to nature for greater intensity and meaning for his life.
*Over the years, Thoreau's reputation has been strong, although he is often cast into roles -- the hermit in the wilderness, the prophet of passive resistance
*So dear to Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King
*His work is so rich, and so full of the complex contradictions that he explored, that his readers keep reshaping his image to fit their own needs.

Emerson:
-Born in 1803 and died in 1882.
-Lectured in America about philosophy.
-Emerson loved Whitman's poetry.
-He also wrote many essays that made him famous.
-Also wrote many poems that made him famous.
-His book Nature, expressed how he thought that the imagination of man is shaped by nature.
-The book sparked a philosophical movement.
-One of the central characters in the transcendental movement.
-Resigned as a clergyman in 1832 to travel to Europe.
-Took over as editor of The Dial in 1842.