Conclusion:
Your Checklist

When composing any written work this year, whether its objective research or related to literary analysis, you should use this checklist to help you determine whether you’ve written a conclusion that implicates your theme. If not, you may need to revise based on these expectations.

  • Does it avoid summary? If not, cut it down to one or two sentences, MAX!
  • Does it clearly reference your claim? If yes, does it touch on what the reader can learn and/or apply to the world from that theme?
  • Does it have a definitive ending? If not, make it sound like you are done!

MODERN DAY ISSUE:

It seems improbably that modern-day society would ever be able to divorce itself from the convenience and connectivity associated with smartphones; however, if the lessons of transcendental philosophy were embraced, “unplugging” and “powering down” might not be out of the question. If more people understood that their constant connection to their mobile device represented the gross materialism that fractures our society—and that clinging to it prevents them from paying attention to their own imagination and intuition—it would be easier for people to seek out more organic and actually connective pursuits. It is important to heed the unintended consequences of smartphones and other omnipresent forms of technology and turn to the natural world. If we do not, we may lose the very things that make us human in the first place, and that would be a fate from which no app could possibly save us.

BIOGRAPHY:

Thoreau’s life provides a veritable how-to guide for how to be a good Transcendentalist; his unparalleled connection with nature and his refusal to kowtow to societal standards helped to create the gold standard for Transcendental living. His life and work continue to underscore the importance of those values to today’s world. What would happen if more people embraced their connection with nature? What if people were able to stand up for the beliefs without immediately being afraid of what others would think? Given the fact that so much life today is driven by technology and fear of reprisal, Thoreau’s simple keys to the good life would most definitely be a balm to the soul. Perhaps if society recognized individuals instead of its own emphasis on conformity, there would be room for more Thoreaus in the centuries to come.