Who Knew That Kohelet Would Be So Involved In Mr. Brame's Class?

        In Mr. Brames literature class we have been talking greatly about Romanticism. Romanticism is setting aside reason/ rationality and is all about using spontaneity, nature, and feelings. Two things in the class sounded similar to something I heard before. Henry Longfellow, a Romantic writer, wrote a poem, "The Psalm of Life." Most of the poem just really sounded awfully familiar to me. In the "Psalm of Life", Longfellow is basically urging the readers to look at life in a positive way and using the messages from the poem as a guide in their lives. When talking about death Longfellow explains the following:

Life is only temporary and everyone dies eventually. Every day people are getting closer to their deaths.  After a person dies though, their soul continues to live. G-d created the world having everyone die. Death should not get you down. 

^ 

It honestly sounds like Longfellow wrote this part of the poem after hearing the Chacham's philosophy in Kohelet. When the Chacham responds to all the philosophies didn't he say that everyone dies? Didn't he specifically say to the Amal that G-d made the world broken? G-d made the world with death, but didn't he tell the Amal not to let death get him down? 

Anyways,

Part of this poem was very similar to the Chacham's responses ( Especially to the Amal) but today in class something else we talked about also sounded very familiar to Kohelet. We were talking about writers like Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman. 

Do you know what all of these writers have in common?

 They are all Transcendentalists. 

Transcendentalists are Romantic writers who try to simplify everything. They try to go beyond, examine nature, and make a difference. 

( Kind of similar to the Amal's starting philosophy before he realized man could not do anything.)

When they die they want to be able to look back and feel like they accomplished something and they want to understand their lives. Thoreau, a famous transcendentalist wrote a book after he faced a hardship which inspired Ghandi. Ghandi then inspired Marting Luther King Jr. and he inspired us.   <-- This is the political part of transcendentalism. They made a difference and helped the world. They also thought, "Are your acquisitions going to make you happy when you die? What do you want to be remembered for?" They lived a simple life and are very involved in nature. They are very optimistic. 

Yet again the Transcendentalists remind me of Kohelet again.

 This time, part of the philosophy reminds me of the Amal's starting philosophy when he says that man needs to make a difference and fix injustice.When it is talking about the materialistic acquisitions it reminded me in the beginning of Kohelet when Kohelet is talking about how he was the wealthiest king and all of his wealth did not make him happy.

Basically I have come to the conclusion that Kohelet's philosophies are not just in Kohelet, but they also appear in all different subjects. I would never expect Kohelet to appear so much in Mr. Brames American Lit class? I just find it so fascinating that parts of these philosophies are what we learn in our every day lives.