The American Scholar By Ralph Emerson

During the nineteenth century, American schools have caused a raise of differences towards the method of educating students. In his essay, “Education”, an influential American thinker and writer, Ralph Waldo Emerson recommends the parents to take in consideration for their children’s lives by creating a better teaching in which the students can learn/imply the basic fundamentals on their strive for success by doing it on their own. Emerson emphasizes his claim by encouraging a teaching method that children use their “naturel” by utilizing paradox, metaphors and analogy.

"In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life, - no disgrace, no calamity (leaving me my eyes), which nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground, - my head bathed by the blithe air and uplifted into infinite space, - all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eyeball. I am nothing. I see all. The currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God."

Describe the adult that Emerson imagines would emerge from an education based on the principles he supports.

Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau contributed greatly to the American society. First of all, Ralph Waldo Emerson pushed the idea of thinking for oneself, instead of falling into the norm of society and other people’s ideas. Emerson insists on learning by individual experience and not what you learn in textbook. In his essay “Self-Reliance”, this idea is evident in the quote “It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude” (1337). Emerson shows that it is important, even when everyone else is thinking the same way that you create and persist your individualism and

Transcendentalists believe that using their principles, humanity can inch closer and closer to utopia, the perfect society. Transcendentalism, the flawed doctrine, instead leads its adherents on the road to nowhere, and many of the principles fail spectacularly when applied in real life. Transcendentalism is too idealistic to be realistic. Simply put, transcendentalism is wrong. Their ideals are not just incorrect, they are potentially dangerous.

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

This was the battle started with the “shot heard ‘round the world” as Ralph Waldo Emerson observed.

his profession as a pastor in search for vital truth and hope. But his father

In Experience, Ralph Waldo Emerson writes about the human condition shared by all in his uniquely “Emersonian” perspective. Perhaps one of his most effective works is Experience, an essay on a subject of which Emerson had much “experience” and personal grief. To fully appreciate Emerson, the reader must closely analyze his writing, with both its obvious meaning, and the experience with which he’s writing.

Benjamin Franklin and Henry David Thoreau have been thought of as two powerful philosophers in history. Both men were alive centuries ago, but their unique ways of life and ideas still exist in some of history’s most admirable figures. Each man had a judgment that went beyond the era they existed in, but is still obvious in today’s culture. Even though both men are credited for their wise principles, their beliefs do not always coincide with one another. However, one thing they do have in common is that they both revolutionized America through their thoughts, actions, and distinctive opinions on how to improve the world around them.

When I first read Herbert and Friedman’s articles I was instantly brought back to Emerson’s “American Scholar.” While these arguments were addressing entirely different issues, they all motivate the same proposal of change. In 1837 Emerson was persuading a nation to separate from their comfortable ways and to become scholarly Americans that would enhance their country. Emerson’s idea was successful and is the base of what America still stands on. Today, we are back to where we were 137 years ago, trying to motivate our country to take initiative and become American Scholars. I

Ralph Waldo Emerson							I am writing this essay on the beliefs and thoughts of Ralph Waldo Emerson on the subjects of individuality, society, government, technology, and spirituality.

So from my understanding on “What is an American” by Crevecoeur it’s about someone who has high pride for his or her country. Crevecoeur showed us that every American and every religion are equal and free. Crevecoeur shows us in “What is an American” still stands true today that anyone can be an American if he or she is proud their country, has a volunteering heart and acts on new principles. “Self-Reliance” by Emerson is about the natural instinct of American how they are more self-conscious about their life. If you avoid conformity and false consistency, let the important things in life influence your mind, and allowing the past to influence your future you’ll get through life from my understanding after reading this story. In addition, that

The theme of individualism is present in several of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s works. It was also his philosophical views on how to live life. He believed that human beings had remarkable capabilities, more than they can possibly identify. With these capabilities a person should govern themselves, not be governed by a society. Emerson also believed that nature played a large role in how man should act and to follow nature’s actions of growing without obstruction (“Nature”). This is why he lead the Transcendentalism movement in the nineteenth century, along with Theodore Parker, Frederic Henry Hedge, Amos Bronson Alcott, Margaret Fuller and Henry David Thoreau (Lewis). This philosophy was not only significant then, it was imperative throughout times in history.

In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s various essays, poems, and other writings, he puts significant emphasis upon defining what constitutes success among men. “The American Scholar” and “Self-Reliance,” two of Emerson’s most well-known essays, describe in detail the attributes of a successful, enlightened human being; the most essential characteristics, judging by Emerson’s continued reiteration of their value, are most certainly self-trust, nonconformity, and the ability to live in the present. Contemporary American society reinforces these qualities in many ways, but they often seem to be superseded by materialism, insecurities, lamentations, and other ephemeral distractions. According to Emerson, the only way to be considered