Perspective of the Intellectual

Some would argue that the difference between an accomplished and unaccomplished person is confidence. Ralph Waldo Emerson certainly upholds this belief throughout his discourse entitled “Self-Reliance,” with the characterization of a man who holds on tight to what he believes in as being the best kind of man. Emerson argues that original and unique thought is necessary for true education and that conformance and perpetuation are the great hindrances to mankind. By putting the very things that he is advocating on display, Emerson’s contention is well-argued to the audience with his use of inclusive language, allusion, and individualized rhetoric. It is this use of confidence by Emerson, that allows his argument to be well-received and seem

Kim Brooks, we know has been “teaching composition at state universities and liberal art colleges and community colleges as well,” (Brooks 2) however what makes her truly passionate about the situation is her love for literature since she was a teenager. “Like so many, depressive, creative, extremely lazy high-school students, I was saved by english class” (1). Brooks demonstrates through these quotes her credibility, not only because she’s a teacher but because she truly loves writing and believes others should receive the education which she was fortunate enough to get. She was not apart of any clubs or extracurriculars, she wasn’t interested in other academic classes, so she knows how beneficial having the skills to converse, to write and to properly articulate one's self are. Brooks shares this personal anecdote, otherwise known as pathos, to relate to those reading, most specifically high school students like she once was. While focusing this piece mainly on English it can also be associated with other classes in high school as well. She is trying to illustrate how one can use what is learned in high school in their life if given the proper tools and taught skills which can be applied

Emerson wanted others to understand the way one’s mind will affect them in society. Emerson will bring his purpose to the readers in a way to prepare the readers think using the allusion and metaphors to draw the readers wonder what society has done to change us. Making the readers wonder, why care about what society thinks of us? Emerson’s Self-reliance will allow us to open their minds and detect what’s right in front of them.

"Students do need to read models of intellectuality challenging writing-- and Orwell is a great one--if they are to become intellectuals themselves. But they would be more prone to take on intellectual identities if we encouraged them to do so at first on subjects that interest them rather than ones that interest us". (Graff, 265). By this, Graff means that by mixing social and academics together, an endless path of opportunities can be introduced to learners. When students are given an opportunity to write about issues they are interested in, they are naturally able to learn more about the subjects linked to their day-to-day lives as well as acquiring the benefits of classroom knowledge.

Emerson begins his major work on individualism by declaring the importance of thinking for oneself instead of humbly acquiring someone else’s belief. Emerson says, “To believe that what is true in your private heart is true for all men — that is genius”. The one who scorns personal intuition and, instead, chooses to admit others' opinions lacks the inventive power necessary for strong, fearless individualism. Emerson says, “Trust thyself,” a saying that ties along this initial section of the essay. This simply resembles to believe others' judgments is poor-spirited, with no inspiration or hope. An individual with dignity, exhibits originality and is childish unspoiled by egoistic desires but mature. Emerson currently focuses his attention

December 14th, 2016, 1:24 pm. Pacific Standard Time. A teacher addresses her flannel-clad class on their final essay. “If you have passion about it, do it,” she says.

In his piece entitled “ Disliking books” Gerald Graff, a professor of English and education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, tells his story of how with some helpful insights he shifted from disliking literature to enjoying reading and analyzing the texts. The author shares that during his early school years he developed an aversion to literature as well as most liberal arts disciplines for not being able to find their application in his daily life. Coming from a middle class family, it was expected that young Graff would go to college. Since no particular discipline really interested him and his family did not own a business to set him up on a successful business path, he decided to major

He presents the idea by comparing how most students are able to take in, “George Orwell’s writing on cultural meanings compared to the cogitations of Shakespeare.” In Graff’s closing sentence he writes, “Give me the student who writes a sharply argued, sociologically acute analysis of an issue in Source over the student who writes a lifeless explication of Hamlet.” He continues to explain this concept with his own experience with the love of sports and subconsciously developing the skills of creating an argument and backing up one’s

Confronting texts often incite a process of discovery that can challenge worldviews. As such, composers of these texts offer fresh and meaningful insight into commonly-held conceptions, evoking emotional and intellectual discoveries that lead to renewed perceptions of ourselves and our society. Robert Gray’s imagistic poems “The Meatworks” (1982)and “Flames and Dangling Wire” (1977) serve as conduits for the confronting discovery of mankind’s ignorance of the consequences of consumerism. Author J.M. Coetzee’s novella “The Lives of Animals” (1999) violently thrusts the audience into a reaction against consumerism, hence showing how discovery can be far-reaching and transformative.

From start to finish, English this year had been unlike any other I had. From start to finish, each and every book had a deeper meaning than I, before, could possibly resolve from the text. The exposure I had to this deeper level of thinking forever changed the way I see literature. Less about “what” than “why”, Literature distinguishes a meaningful story from another. While what makes a book “good” is different for everyone, what makes a story meaningful is what it teaches. Each book I read this year had a story and logic behind it. Every story was real enough to have actually happened because the plot points are supported with real speculation backed up by the nature of humanity. I, personally, have never gone as deep into literature as I have this year, giving me a new appreciation for the genius behind the speculation these books present.

I won the Hopwood Award for Poetry (rare for first-years) and the MFA’s Vermont Studio Center fellowship. Nevertheless, my scientific background has left me like a surgeon with dexterous hands but no training—with every poem, I stumble blindly to the operating table. Just as I’ve regretted touching down in a country without knowing its language, I need academic training to do my art justice. MFAs take one graduate-level English course, and in that single semester, examination of the canon expanded my notion of what poetry can do, shifting my attention from single-image poems to ambitious works that centrifuged in a common vial my Southern identity and the persecution of gays abroad. If one seminar can transform my aesthetic, three years of rigorous academic inquiry could work

In this paper you will learn my insights into my life. I will touch on my formal and informal education. I will reflect on the four Breadth areas of Ottawa University’s program of liberal arts studies. Future goals, philosophy, values, and obstacles will be discussed. This will include significant people and events that have happened in my life.

The English philosopher, Sir Francis Bacon, once wrote, “ Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man”. Bacon expresses three ideas about how processing literature affects an individual. To explain, reading fills one’s mind with knowledge and ideas, talking about those ideas makes one adaptable to differences in others, and writing forces one is define one’s beliefs and opinions. In room 303, Bacon’s three statements are practiced regularly, as students read and annotate out of the hymnals, discuss major texts in class, and write essays each week over the material. During the last semester alone the Junior Honors English class read several texts by American Authors from the ancient oral cosmogonist myths of Native Americans to the Feminist literature of the 1890’s. In the entire range of different texts read, three specific texts were the most important in room 303.

In this essay, the composer encourages individuals to reach beyond the knowledge that one learns from his/her parents. Furthermore, the information that one gains from others is a building block to one’s intellectual being. Another idea that Emerson expresses is individuality, confidence, and self-trust. Basically, the author compels his audience to have freedom of expression and avoid conforming to others trending ideas. Often times, humans are conformist by being fearful of other’s opinions about them.

Ralph Waldo Emerson opens his essay by by first recognizing the great literary year they have just had but the switching to a serious tone in explaining how they have not all met just to have fun and play games but to bring to light the idea that America cannot continue being apprentice “to the learning of other lands’’ and cannot continue to rely on “foreign harvist”. Emersons purpose is to explain how Americans need to get away from this idea and become more individualistic in that they should gather their own ideas separate from Europe something similar to an American age of enlightenment. He also explains how this so called literary renaissance or enlightenment should start with the scholarly people who have a love for letters.