Ralph Waldo Emerson

In the article “Playing With Pain” by Michelle Crouch, published by Scholastic SCOPE, in December 2015 and January 2016, is about how when you specialize in one sport, you put a lot pressure on yourself to do well and be the best you can be, but some consequences can be life changing.

In fact, in one of his pieces "Self Reliance," Emerson indicates, "A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the luster of the firmament of bards and sages." This quote demonstrates that man should learn to go after their instinct and not ignore their thoughts. By appreciating Emerson's knowledge, students will learn to trust their instincts. Students who doubt their instincts should trust that "If [they] advance confidently in the direction of [their] dreams, and endeavors to live the life which [they have] imagined, [they] will meet with a success unexpected in common hour," and believe, that if they follow their dreams and instinct they will be successful (Thoreau). Students should fight for what they believe in order to accomplish their dreams. By utilizing Thoreau and Emerson's intelligence in life, people will start to believe more in their own intuition.

Doing the same thing over and over can become boring and lead people to have regrets later in life over the things they could’ve done. Going beyond what you have mastered is essential for having no regrets later in life. For example, after mastering the sport of basketball, Michael Jordan decided to leave his sport and try baseball. Even though he was unsuccessful, he can sit back and reflect on that experience knowing if he passed up on it, he would regret it for the rest of his life. Doing the opposite of Jordan and staying in your comfort zone can lead to people developing a dangerous midlife crisis.

Emerson clarified, “that he must take himself for better” (2). Nevertheless, be your own person and allowing society to shape who a person. Emerson also clears up that, “he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried’ (2). Emerson states this considering, that the reader can be directed to be your own person and figure out how if they were to try, but until then no good will come from what society wants you to be.

An influential literary movement in the nineteenth century, transcendentalism placed an emphasis on the wonder of nature and its deep connection to the divine. As the two most prominent figures in the transcendentalist movement, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau whole-heartedly embraced these principles. In their essays “Self-Reliance” and “Civil Disobedience”, Emerson and Thoreau, respectively, argue for individuality and personal expression in different manners. In “Self-Reliance”, Emerson calls for individuals to speak their minds and resist societal conformity, while in “Civil Disobedience” Thoreau urged Americans to publicly state their opinions in order to improve their own government.

Through excellent metaphors, Emerson stresses that you must first trust yourself to achieve greatness from your own genius, to realize your potential, and to be self-reliant. Your inner genius, when tapped into, allows you to build self-reliance. Some people might argue that you only need to depend on yourself. If you are totally self-reliant you’re going to have a narrow perspective because you can only pull from your own life experiences or from your own family’s or community’s involvement. However, I am arguing that Emerson uses strong metaphors to show that even with a belief in individualism and self-reliance, one must also trust other sources such as society and God.

Emerson highly values the mind of all the individual. He speaks positively about the capabilities of one’s thoughts. He advises that we “should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within” (Emerson 19). Emerson encourages one to pay attention to “gleam of light” because what may come from it might be great. He even says that the light is worth more than “the luster of the firmament of bards and sages” (Emerson 19). Emerson suggests that one’s own thoughts are worth more than the “firmament” of “bards and sages”, who are very smart people. He places the human mind on the same level, if not even higher, than the sages. The only flaw that Emerson saw was that people always wanted to conform to what other institutions thought and said. They would never challenge those thoughts, even if they were incorrect. Emerson said that “so much force is withdrawn from [one’s] proper life” when one conformed to the institutions (Emerson 23). He shows that conformity will ultimately lead to a dull life. A place where Emerson saw where there was a lot of conformity was within a

In my life of sports, there were many challenges, and the biggest challenge is to work hard in practice. This is a good life skill because a hard day of practice teaches you work ethic and time management as a skill after high school. Learning any sport takes patience, whether it be waiting on the pitch in baseball, sitting in the classroom learning plays in football, or weighting long enough for the pole to bend before you swing and turn to go over the bar after planting your pole in the pit.

Civil disobedience this is how the internet defines it “The refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes and fines, as a peaceful form of political protest”. The word explains it all disobeying in a Civil way. Many people have became famous for this for standing up for what they think is right. For example, Rosa Parks refusing to sit in the back of the bus, you can say that’s an act of civil disobedience she didn’t think it was right for her to sit in the back of the bus after a long day she disobeyed a law at that time but then we have a group of dumb people that think every law is wrong and its an act of civil disobedience. An example for this civil disobedience would be, people not obeying small laws like speeding, not paying taxes, small laws that to them they seem not right or not hurting anyone when broken. Maybe civil disobed

Can you name poets that were clear examples of Bright Romanticism? A form of poetry that has an optimistic outlook. It stress an importance of nature. That has a valued a feeling over reason. A following of the heart rather than the mind. Also the setting apart from society. There are two who comes to mind; Thoreau and Emerson. Where Emerson and Thoreau were clear examples of Bright Romanticism exemplified by the inclusion of nature, a positive view of mankind, and a poetic style that broke traditional method.

In both passages, the speakers hint that every day is a new beginning and that people should live each day to the fullest. Poet Henry David Thoreau wrote, “I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life…” (Line 2) Word such as “live deep” and “suck the marrow out of life” prove that each day should be spent well. Thoreau also wanted to make the most out of his life with nothing to regret. Each day was a new experience for him and he wanted those experienced to be worthwhile. Similarly, Archie Brubaker described, “For those few moments we are unformed, but creatures more in tune with a tree than a keyboard. We are untitled, unnamed, natural, suspended between was and will be…” (Line 3) Archie indicates that every day is a new day

Author Ralph Waldo Emerson once sad " Unless you try something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow". On past experiences in my life I would agree with Emerson because one will never truly master something but people everyday have said people have mastered a sport or a instrument but everyday that person practices on that one thing all the time. Look at some great sports players like Messi or Stephen Curry both are spectacular at what they do. Messi was looked at by many people when he was young at not able to play due to how short and small he was. He started to practice on end to help him get to a point where a small soccer team picked him up and play for them at this point he wasn't done so he got even better and now competes with some of the other worlds best

In early American Literature, there were several famous authors that shaped America and American literature into modern literature. Among those individuals are Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and, Walt Whitman. Of particular interest is Walt Whitman, who has fascinated the masses for over a century with his unorthodox writings. Whitman was inspired by Emerson in the beginning of his career, and later Emerson was the one who helped give Whitman the courage to continue writing after the public did not accept “Leaves of Grass” which was the first work Whitman published. Sadly, Whitman had to publish “Leaves of Grass” privately in the beginning. One poem of importance is from “Leaves of Grass,” that being “For You O Democracy.” As with many of Whitman’s works “For You O Democracy” discussed new ideas and beliefs. The first being the belief that America could stand as one entity; an entity that accepts everyone regardless of their race or social standing. Previously the nation had been divided based upon race and social standing. The second work by Whitman is “America,” a poem which was not published in Whitman’s original work “Leaves of Grass.” Rather, it was one of Whitman’s standalone tributes to the nation. One may wonder why Whitman had to publish his first work privately. Publishing privately had a great deal to do with censorship and the culture during his era. At this time citizens were not open to the idea of accepting the freedom of slaves or homosexuality,

Growing up, sports never seemed to be my expertise. Dancing my youth away, I never imagined to show passion for such an intrusive contact sport. My friends continued to nag at me saying “You have to try out for the soccer team.” My first year of middle school I stepped out onto the field. Occasionally forgetting to breathe,I focused right on the ball. I started to think to myself that I could get used to this. I mean how bad could it be? What I didn’t realize was I did not have much soccer skills under my belt, but making the team already was an accomplishment. I respected the captains when they talked, and I tried, day after day, to pick up the skills they possessed.

For generations, mankind has talked of peace. It’s a subject that seemingly everyone wants, but no one can achieve. How is this? A common goal that cannot be achieved seems like a foreign idea, but as of now, it is reality. Could it be because it’s much easier to say than to accomplish? Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” This means that as the absence of light cannot help guide one journey through darkness, we cannot expect to continue to spread hate and, in turn, obtain peace. Humans as a whole should all pitch in to this goal of treating others well because everyone can use love, it is never clear what all someone is going through,