The spirit of each individual is what is captured by the writing styles of Romanticism and Transcendentalism. Both of these unique forms of writing began during the early 19th century. Some of the writers who contributed works for these writing styles were Ralph Waldo Emerson, Washington Irving, Henry David Thoreau, and Walt Whitman. Although both Romanticism and Transcendentalism were new literature forms of the time, they also had differences, which separated them from each other.
             Romanticism began after much uproar that occurred in the 18th century such as the Age of Reason and new rationalistic ideas. This way of writing focuses on the supernatural and imaginary unrealistic images. Obviously, this didn't please many Christians who were taught to fear god, then in come new writers that create stories challenging many peoples' beliefs and ideas. At the time many people thought it would be immoral to write anything about the prince of darkness himself, Satan. Washington Irving stepped up to the plate and wrote the Devil and Tom Walker, a story involving a poor man who struck a deal with the great evil one only to end up being sucked into the flaming cesspits of hell. This story did however convey a sense of sarcastically cynical irony, which was a relatively new twist on writing of the time.
             The other style of writing, Transcendentalism, was a bit more focused on the individual and becoming a part of nature. In Thoreau's essay entitled "Civil Disobedience", he challenges modern government by saying that it should be less involved and to not be majorly controlling. Thoreau also goes on to state that instead of using violence to solve problems, use the power of the individual. He even compares soldiers with wood, earth, and stones, saying that these nonliving objects represent how society lets the government walk all over them. Whitman's "Song of Myself" and in many of his ot
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