How are Ralph Waldo Emerson and Everett Reuss alike and different? 

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coachingcorner | High School Teacher | (Level 1) Senior Educator

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Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25 1803 to April 27 1882) was an American essayist, poet and lecturer who was at the forefront of the 19th century Transcendentalist movement. He was perceived as a proponent of individualism and far-sighted critic of the pressures challenging society. He spread his ideas through essay and lecture methods. He put aside the religious and society influences of his peers to lean towards Transcendentalist ideas. He composed many of his important essays as lectures, revising them afterwards for print. His first two collections of essays (First and Second series) illustrate the main tilt of his ideas on topics such as self reliance, The Over Soul, Circles,Experience and The Poet and Nature.

Everett Ruess was also inspired by nature and also wrote essays so in that sense the two men were similar.Everett was arty and  adventurous as a young man and he journeyed alone to experience the beauty and danger of the natural world of the American West. However, he disappeared never to be found while exploring the canyons and nothing more was ever discovered about his whereabouts.

He was different from Emerson in that although he met and debated with famous artists and thinkers, he put his travelling before his writing, and was not as prolific. However, sadly we do not know if this would have been the case had he lived longer.


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