The American Scholar (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Ralph Waldo Emerson
- First Published: 1837
- Type of Work: Lecture
- Genres: Nonfiction, Essays
- Subjects: United States or Americans, Nature, Nineteenth century, Literature, Education or educators, Schools or school life, Books, Colleges or universities, Instinct
In 1837, Emerson was invited to deliver the address “The American Scholar,” one of the most influential American speeches made at his time, to the Harvard chapter of Phi Beta Kappa; the same topic of the address had been prescribed year after year since his boyhood.
When Emerson urged American scholars at the beginning of his address to create an original literature free from European influence, he was to some extent reiterating a conventional theme. The creation of an original literature, Emerson maintained, however, would have to be based on an inner spirit of...
[The entire page is 785 words long]
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