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Epiphanies - Rousseau vs Wordsworth

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Epiphanies - Rousseau vs Wordsworth
Epiphanies, Nature and Experience – Rousseau vs. Wordsworth

I remember a certain time during my senior year of high school when I was in the process of deciding a major and which colleges to apply to. I was driving home from work. As I was driving home, I was listening to the radio and a story came on about a girl who decided to teach English overseas to others who need to learn. As soon as I heard that, out of nowhere, it really hit me hard. Something clicked in my brain and I thought of something that I’ve never thought of before. I had this sudden realization on what I actually wanted to do in life. And that was to become an English teacher and teach overseas. I never thought about that option until I heard that radio interview. I thank God every day that I turned on the radio right at that moment. Most call this an epiphany. I’m sure that most of us have had one in one point of our lives, whether we act upon it or not. An epiphany is a type of feeling, or an internal idea, that appears into your brain when you experience something or hear something, etc. Rousseau had his epiphany, or revelation, while experiencing the memories of his youth. He says that the muse has to be in you. You have to have that certain muse or the epiphany might not happen. Both Rousseau and Wordsworth have this type of epiphany in their stories and if pay attention and read extremely close to what they are saying, we can learn from them. Jean Jacques Rousseau is a Genevan philosopher from the 18th century. Wikipedia states, “His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological, and educational thought”. Wordsworth was an extremely huge English Romantic who was born in Cockermouth, Great Britain. Both Rousseau and Wordsworth tell us their journey through life. They explain to us what happens and how they got to be where they were at the time they wrote their autobiographies. They both have this feel



Cited: "Confessions (Rousseau)." Wikipedia.com. N.p., 04 Sep 2013. Web. 25 Sep 2013. . . N.p.. Web. 25 Sep 2013. . . N.p.. Web. 25 Sep 2013. . . N.p.. Web. 25 Sep 2013. .

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