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Self reliance by emerson essay
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Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Self Reliance"
Ralph Waldo Emerson believes he writes quite the persuading argument in 'Self-Reliance.' Wielding his pen as if it were Excalibur, he vies to stimulate and challenge the down-trodden mind in his classic work on the American Spirit. His lines are affecting, romantic, and hypnotic, especially at the first reading; his thoughts on the page beget inspiration for the reader. 'Self-Reliance' has its value in its boldness, its construction, and mature attitudes toward consistency and failure. In addition, Emerson's confident logic seems impregnable. At a second glance, however, it becomes apparent that this logic bases itself on a flawed philosophy which does injustice to the value of society. To Emerson, not only is self-doubt absolutely out of the question, but it is a virtue to believe that everyone believes as you do. He writes that there is no value in life but personal principles and goals, and that society is irrelevant. Readers are often charmed and disarmed by his brave, fresh attitude; it may take a few readings to break through this wall of seemingly godly wisdom in 'Self-Reliance.' The glittery facade, however, eventually fades. With time, it becomes clear that Emerson precisely constructs and calculates the wording and paragraphs of his essay to appeal to readers' emotions rather than their reason.
Not all Emerson's work should be shunned. Let us consider his argument's values as well as its shortcomings and give him more of a chance than he gives society. I applaud his boldness in stating, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines," (1164). The courage to admit one's own...
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...ciety can build on itself and make advances. It is an upward spiral of common interest, not a failure of individual goals. Without society, Emerson would have had no philosophers to feed his mind, no alphabet with which to write, and no society against which to rebel. Even if he were correct in his opinions, I personally would prefer to have society than none at all. I choose to honor my predecessors by building upon their work, and expect the same will be done for our society.
Works Cited:
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. ?Self-Reliance.? The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. 6th ed. Vol. B. New York: W. W. Norton Company, Inc., 2003. 1160?1176.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. ?The American Scholar.? The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. 6th ed. Vol. B. New York: W. W. Norton Company, Inc., 2003. 1135?1147.
The book Anthology of American Literature isn’t the only source that supports Emerson. Critic Eric Wilson says, “Emerson’s famous "transparent-eyeball" passage early in Nature is often taken to be an exemplary statement of the transcendental sublime. Yet, if we read it as a restatement of his vision in the Jardin des Plantes, we realize that it reveals Emerson as a sign in nature’s text, a hieroglyph, describing his own design, dissolving his own solution” (Wilson). The solution Emerson wanted was to find out who he was through nature and still be divine. Emerson shows that it’s okay to find faith in yourself.
He writes, “all things real are so by so much virtue as they contain.” Emerson says that things that are unique and individual are real, so therefore people who are mere imitations of society are neither unique nor individual. This makes it impossible for them to have distinct characteristics and qualities. A person with greater self reliance, Emerson’s goal for society, is an individual who brings value to themselves and others. In his closing paragraph, Emerson drives the final point home in his case for self-reliance. “Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.” The major goal in life is seen as being at peace with oneself, a goal nearly impossible if one is an imitation of someone else. Becoming self reliant is not so simple as making a single decision, it is a journey. Emerson provides crucial explanation and motivation for one to become self-reliant, and leaves it to the reader to take this goal upon
Both Thoreau and Emerson argue that asserting one’s opinions is crucial to attaining a better society. Emerson decries the danger of societal conformity and challenges the reader to “speak what you think now in hard words” in order to remedy it (Emerson 367). Likewise, Thoreau speculates that if “every man make known what kind of government would command his respect” it would be “one step toward obtaining it” (Thoreau 381). With these remarkably similar statements, both transcendentalists appeal to the reader’s patriotism by using language evocative of the agitated and outraged colonial Americans who demanded the people’s voice be heard in government. Although published roughly a half century later, “Self-Reliance” and “Civil Disobedience” mirror the sentiments of famous Revolution-era leaders such as Thomas Paine and Patrick Henry.
At the start of the meditation, Descartes begins by rejecting all his beliefs, so that he would not be deceived by any misconceptions from reaching the truth. Descartes acknowledges himself as, “a thing that thinks: that is, a thing that doubts, affirms, denies, understands a few things, is ignorant of many things” He is certain that that he thinks and exists because his knowledge and ideas are both ‘clear and distinct’. Descartes proposes a general rule, “that whatever one perceives very clearly and very distinctly is true” Descartes discovers, “that he can doubt what he clearly and distinctly perceives is true led to the realization that his first immediate priority should be to remove the doubt” because, “no organized body of knowledge is possible unless the doubt is removed” The best probable way to remove the doubt is prove that God exists, that he is not a deceiver and “will always guarantee that any clear and distinct ideas that enter our minds will be true.” Descartes must remove the threat of an invisible demon that inserts ideas and doubts into our minds to fool us , in order to rely on his ‘clear and distinct’ rule.
Transformational leadership, as detailed in Course 15, is a concept centered molding Airman around you, from subordinates, to peers and benefiting all of those in the chain of command even those above you. One specific tenet of Transformational leadership that I find inspiring and critically important to a developing leader is Inspirational Motivation, or Charming.
Key Ideas and Details (a) What terms does Emerson use to describe society? (b) Interpret: According to Emerson, what is society’s main purpose? (c) Draw Conclusions: In what ways does Emerson believe people should be affected by the way others perceive them? a: He describes it in a conformist tone describing how they strive for consistency and are therefore cowards in their unwillingness to expand to new and unique ideas and ways of thinking.
In the article “The Foul Reign of Self Reliance” by Benjamin Anastas the main topic being discussed is the topic of self reliance. It discusses how it is bad and how much the American society has been negatively effected because of it especially in politics because self reliance presents a self centered view. In the article Anastas’s uses rhetorical strategies such as pathos, logos, and to help the readers understand the concept of “self reliance”. Anasta’s uses pathos as well as logos, Anecdote and tone tone to let the reader know that the ideas that Emerson is discussing is not ok. Through out the article he explains that self reliance comes with one having to be selfish and self centered, Anasta uses examples from our society and challenges
I agree with the statement Benjamin Anastas makes about Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “self-reliance” of how it is “the most pernicious piece of literature in the American canon” (Anastas 602-603). One reason why I agree with Anastas is that Emerson believes the people are timid and apologetic and do not have opinions of their own. Another reason why I stand alongside Anastas is that Emerson thinks people are afraid of each other and the truth(s) that others have are but quotes from a saint or sage. My final reason that I believe Anastas is correct is due to Emerson believing our society does not gain anything new that makes life worth living.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. The American Scholar ; Self-reliance ; Compensation. N.p.: American Book, 1893. Print.
Three shots were fired as the motorcade passed through Dealey Plaza. The first missed. The second seriously wounded both Kennedy and Connally and a third inflicted a fatal head injury on the president. The injured were taken to Parkland Hospital where doctors pronounced Kennedy deceased at 1:00 p.m. CST. Governor Connally underwent numerous operations and recovered from his wounds (“Kennedy”). Eyewitnesses to the shooting reported that shots were fired from the building of the Texas School Book Depository. Police entered the building and discovered boxes piled against a window on the sixth floor and next to them a Carcano rifle, later identified as the murder weapon (“Kennedy”). Based on a description of the assailant, Police Officer J.D. Tippit stopped Lee Harvey Oswald, an employee of the book depository, as he walked along a sidewalk three...
Emerson, Ralph. "Self-Reliance." The American Tradition in Literature. Eighth Edition. Ed. George Perkins. New York. McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1994.
“What I must do, is all that concerns me, not what the people think.” (Emerson, 552) demonstrates that Emerson wants individuals to discover their true self that have unique way of thinking and should have a strong sense of self; The strong sense of self is also presented by “A great man is coming to eat at my house. I do not wish to please him: I wish that he should wish to please me.” (Emerson, 555) while stating that nobody’s ideas should be less valued. Through “The one thing in the world of value, is, the active soul, --the soul, free, sovereign, active.” (Emerson, 539) he shows his preference of resisting influences thinkers in past brings because he believes individuals nowadays can come up with better ideas and reading old ones will hold creativity back. In case that Emerson sticks with the stand that everybody can look into themselves carefully and bring up brand new and great thoughts to contribute to the world, he has no compassion toward poor people. If each individual has ability to be self-reliant, and then the only reason why poor people are poor is that they do not even try to manage their destiny. Therefore, unlike Franklin, Emerson questions “Are they my poor?” (Emerson, 552) to blame poor people.
If I can successfully shape my life around ideas of self-reliance I can be exactly who I want to be. I look around me and don’t want to conform to society’s standards, I recognize that there is an easy way out, but try my best to remain true to myself by following my heart with pure conviction. Because of my desire to remain true to myself, I closely identify with Emerson in “Self-Reliance”: “To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, - that is genius.”
When institutions limit expressions, this can complicate or change the meaning of the works people deliver. It is inevitable for humans to miscalculate or misunderstand things, and education has these miscommunications. Anastas explores the consequences of miscommunications in his article “The Foul Reign of Self-Reliance”. He reviews different meanings of Emerson’s phrase “Self- Reliance” and their flaws, as well as the reasons why readers today misinterpret information in general. Anstatas shows how people were too quick to analyze Emerson’s message and misread its true meaning possibly because of their methods in studying the work. As he explains, “Ever since, we have been misreading him, or at least misapplying him” (Anastas, 3). Meanings that are misread are then passed down and no one challenges them, causing everyone to accept the
Transformational leadership is the process by which a leader engages with others and creates a connection that raises the level of motivation and morality in both the leader and the follower towards the greater good (Northouse, 2010, p. 172). Transformational leaders are different than managers, which as Burns claims are the differences are in characteristics and behaviors. Burns also established two concepts transforming leadership and transactional leadership. The transformational leader elevates followers to make the whole work environment more successful and have everyone be successful, while transactional leaders are focused only on the accomplishments of tasks. Transformational leadership is a way of life, and there is