... a God known to men only in moments of mystic enthusiasm, whose visitations leave them altered, self-reliant, and purified of petty aims."" (Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience 251). In other words transcendentalists were people who believed that people should focus on God and on nature rather than materialistic objects. People should spend their ... time thinking about things that had more spiritual value. Hawthorne's indifferent attitude towards industrialization led him to regard the hope and optimism of transcendentalism. This new belief influenced literature in New Eng...

• Word Count: 996
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... in the mid-nineteenth century: the industrial revolution, universities, westward expansion, urbanization and immigration, gave rise to a new form of American literature known as romanticism or transcendentalism. The Transcendental movement in America gave rise to the authors of romanticism studied for in our class; therefore the two are interchangeable for the purpose of this essay. Transcendentalism allowed for a new way of ... looking at philosophy, literature, and religion; feeding on the American mans desire to redefine himself and his place in the world in response to an ... are t...

• Word Count: 1122
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate