For my book synopsis, I chose "Dead Letters to the New World: Melville, Emerson and American Transcendentalism", a book of literary criticism by Michael McLoughlin. The author studies in depth the emergence of Transcendentalism as a school of philosophy in America in the 19th century, and focuses in particular on Ralph Waldo Emerson, as a leader of the movement, and author Herman Melville, whose relationship with various people in the Transcendentalist movement heavily influenced his …showed first 75 words of 700 total…

…showed last 75 words of 700 total…grow and change because of the distinctive American qualities that were applied to it, such as a love and reverence for Nature. Getting to see a comprehensive look at the influence that Transcendentalism had on a particular author was also important; by examining the works of Melville and how they changed and were influenced by Transcendentalism, I got to see how Transcendentalism and its ideologies affected American literature and cultural identity in the 19th century.