Persuasive Essay On Self Reliance

Emerson’s Self Reliance essay is a motivational to say the least. Several quotes from the essay challenge our current society's moral compass, even though it was written 150 years ago. The essay stresses the necessity of relying on oneself for knowledge and guidance. Unlike other writings that are often compared to the Bible, Emerson’s essay conveys the same ideas as the Bible, without using scenes or characters to get his message across.

For example, in Self-Reliance, Emerson discusses the importance of an individual’s resistance to conforming to social norms. Listing the several benefits of non-conformity, he surmises that accepting public opinion as one’s own ultimately leads to the wasting of one’s life. He further stresses the importance of non-conformity through great figures such as Socrates, Jesus, Galileo, and Newton, all who were initially ridiculed for their innovative ideas and perspectives on the surrounding world. Furthermore, he notes that any apparent inconsistency will ultimately be consistency when examined on a life-long scale. All of the fluctuations, when viewed on a larger scale, will depict an average tendency. He concludes that our individual natures allow us to combat false consistency, as well as conformity, and allow us to become self-reliant--to be able to express autonomy over our individual

Emerson and Thoreau's pieces of literature can help a teenager understand the importance of originality. This is because each of their pieces of writing inculcate ideas about being original, which can influence teens to act more like themselves rather than how society wants them to be. For instance, in one of his pieces "Self Reliance," Emerson expresses, "As soon as he has acted or spoken with eclat, he is a common person watched by the sympathy or the hatred of hundreds, whose affections must now enter into his

1. The main theme of the piece “Self-Reliance” is that one should never conform to the way that society views that they should because in doing that, a person loses their individuality. Emerson believed that a person should, “Speak [their] latent conviction, and it shall be the universal sense,” meaning that if a person chooses to march to the beat of their own drum, then nobody can tell them their opinion is wrong because at least they are taking a chance and speaking their mind. Emerson’s definition of self-reliance is similar to the common use because both definitions discuss how one should take care of personal needs and be independent. Emerson himself stated that, “the great man is he who

I believe that, essentially, life consists of a series of choices. A grouping of these choices in one direction or another makes us who we are, and ultimately we have control over our lives. What makes one person different from another is his own set of choices. When going through life’s motions, we develop certain worldviews and ideas and values to live by. We develop an opinion of what makes a person “great.” In the well-known essay “Self-Reliance”, Ralph Waldo Emerson provides a beautiful way of approaching these choices, and he reveals a very inspiring set of values centralized around going through life answering only to yourself. I love the way Emerson evaluates the society we live

In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay titled “Self-Reliance” he speaks on the topic of the individual, creating the idea that an individual being independent leads to greatness. Emerson’s writing within this memoir is relatable to young individuals who are looking for themselves, an individual must avoid conformity and false consistency while following their own thoughts making themselves an individual. Within the essay, Emerson uses a range of rhetorical devices to prove that every individual can do great by being an individual and not like everyone else, something that young people everywhere should hear while growing up with the heinous act of peer pressure.

Emerson has issue with society. He believes that the conformity and “encroachment on peoples’ liberties [hindered the individual.] He says people should look for individual freedom, and in finding that freedom, people will achieve self-reliance” (Yanella 4, 13). More so Emerson does not trust the system that governs society. He sees society as a “joint stock company that is in conspiracy with every one of its members” (“Self-Reliance” 535). Society can be seen as a hindrance on individual thought because a lot of times people will do what society or authority tells them to do without thinking of themselves first.

When young adults are presented with the expectation to join society, they lose the capability to trust their own opinions and enact judgment based on their morals. The inability for young adults to understand their full potential translates to them not understanding how they can achieve their future endeavors. Ralph Waldo Emerson, a prominent Transcendentalist, flourished society’s perspective on cherishing what they have without the help of aids with his essay, “Self-Reliance.” Emerson’s essay uses the stylistic techniques of compare and contrast along with cause and effect. He contradicts society’s claims of what is deemed self-reliance and associates their views with false arguments. On the other hand, Henry David Thoreau, a widely-known philosopher, communicated his beliefs of self-reliance with his personal essay, “Where I Lived and What I Lived For.” Thoreau demonstrates his experience in the woods as one of the most important times in his life where he learned about life’s necessities and how to rely on himself. Both Emerson and Thoreau interpret the lack of reliance in an individual as an inhibiting factor in a young adult’s ability to achieve greateness in their introduction, development, and conclusion paragraphs.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.” Emerson is a firm believer of maintaining self-reliance and values rather than following the crowd. He also explains that in order to be truly successful in life, a person must make decisions and trust in his or her judgment. In today’s society, teenagers are more likely to not be self-reliant because the teens feel they will be judged for having different beliefs. People today need to realize that they should not conform to be like the rest of the world, they must not depend on the judgment and criticism of others, and people must refuse to travel somewhere in order to forget their personal problems. Through Emerson’s piece, readers are able to

In many works of literature, authors express their viewpoints on society and times in which they live. In the essay “Self Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and the book Walden by Henry David Thoreau, the authors speak out against conformity and materialism in society. Both were romanticism authors during the 1800s. They focused on simplicity and individuality. Both writings can advise teenagers today on the importance of non-conformity and the value of rejecting materialism.

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

In Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay "Self-Reliance," he defends the personality traits that every creative human being possesses and a person's intellectual independence, which enables him to surpass the achievements of previous generations. Emerson explains how most of society is made up of conformists, people that simply conform to a past technique created by earlier innovators. Against being a conformist, Emerson chooses to support being a creator, or a person who has the courage to trust himself and disagree with society's beliefs. During earlier centuries, society was mostly grouped together in mobs, but Emerson challenges this trend and suggests individuality. Emerson's ideas of self-reliance connect

Another key transcendentalist idea that Emerson and Thoreau had was self-reliance. They believed that one cannot rely on others to help them and aid them in their journey called life. Sometimes you just have to experience things for yourself. You can’t wait for others to lead you or show you the way, occasionally you just have take a leap by yourself. This quote from Emerson’s Self-Reliance explains his belief on the subject, “Great men have always done so and confided themselves childlike in the genius of their age”(Paragraph 2, Line 3). This quote explains how Emerson believed that great men have let go of society's opinion and just been themselves. In Emerson’s Self-Reliance, he spoke of how the average person is so caught up with trying to please society that they forget to be themselves. Society always has a standard for what normal or acceptable is; it’s ever changing throughout the course of history, but nonetheless, there has and will always be a standard. Society views anyone that acts or thinks outside of this standard to be less important or below them. This quote explains how important self-reliance is, “Freedom comes from strength and self-reliance”(Murkowski). Self-reliance can bring everyone so much happiness. You have to just stop worrying about anyone else and be yourself. Self-reliance is a very important transcendentalist idea that Emerson and

One of Emerson's main themes in Self Reliance is that conformity destroys he individual and his/her distinctiveness. Most people tend to take the word of others, however distant and removed from the individual's situation they might be as gospel. They trust unknown men because they are published or

It is simply not easy for a teenage kid to always stay true to himself/herself throughout their entire teenage life. A statistic found on lovetoknow.com shows that “70 percent of teens who smoke have friends who smoke or started smoking because of peer pressure” (Zeiger 1). Another fact from statisitcbrain.com shows that “90 Percent of 15-17 year old girls who want to change at least one aspect of their physical appearance” (Brain 1). Examples like these are the problems that 21st century teenage boys and girls deal with everyday. However, reading Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Self Reliance, might give them useful advice on how to live a better, more happy life. The compilation of short essays that Emerson composed inspire the readers to be nonconformist, and to rely on oneself to do the right thing. These ideas are what the Transcendentalists believed in. The group thought that everyone should move away from what society thinks, to listen to oneself, and to live life the way one wants to. However, today’s society completely contradicts Emerson’s writing. Most citizens, especially teenagers listen to how they are expected live life by society, instead of being who they truly are. Emerson says staying true to yourself and not imitating others will make an individual truly happy, which would help teens make better and smarter decisions when bad influence and temptation come their way.