[Jessica Louis]

When reading “Transcendental Wild Oats,” what I noticed at first was the similarities between Alcott’s and Thoreau’s views of individualism. They both believe that acting as an individual can be beneficial for humanity. Alcott mentions how each person in the family should take on a role that they are best at, in order to benefit the entire family. During the transcendental movement, women began to take a stand for their own rights, and this is present in Alcott’s writing. I think that she satirized the dominant role that the man takes, when in reality the woman is the one who is performing all of the tasks necessary to maintain the family. Alcott develops the idea that women have to make a conscious choice to separate themselves from men and live as individuals. This is a belief that is also supported by Solitude of Self.

One difference that stood out to me in these texts was the topic of formal education. Thoreau believes that formal education is less than ideal, and that informal education (such as his time spent in the woods) is a much better learning experience. Alcott is not satisfied with the informal education that women experience and that comes with raising children and keeping a house. She believes that women should have an equal chance at the formal education that men receive. Being a man himself, Thoreau is very quick to speak negatively about a formal education. It is interesting to see it from the perspective of a woman in this time period, and to see that women were not satisfied with their role.

[Jessica Louis]

After reading Thoreau, his views and beliefs about learning have become very clear. He believes that experiencing life and interacting with your environment is much more important and beneficial than sitting in a classroom. Thoreau reflects on his own education when he discusses the moment where he remembered that he took a class in navigation, and he expresses the fact that he could have learned more about navigation by just walking down the street and taking a turn. I have these same feelings when I think about my own education at Geneseo. I have been exposed to an immense amount of information, but I have had minimal chances to apply that information to a meaningful context. I think Thoreau would disagree with the fact that the majority of a college education consists of sitting in a classroom while passively taking notes. I am an education major, and I have been learning information in a college classroom for the last four years. Last semester I had the opportunity to student teach in a first grade classroom, and I learned more in 4 months there than I could have possibly learned in a college classroom. I think this is the point that Thoreau is making. We should be out in the world learning through experience.

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