Self-Reliance Group
Question:
soniesun
Student
Community / Jr. College
Please interpret and critique the following quote from Emerson's "Self-Reliance."
"Your miscellaneous popular charities,building of meeting houses to vain end to which many now stand, alms to sots and thousandfold relief societies." What did Emerson mean by the above? How would we write a critique on the above?
Answers:
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pohnpei397 Teacher
Community / Jr. CollegeeNotes Editor
Posted by pohnpei397 on Wednesday October 14, 2009 at 9:28 PMBest answer as selected by question asker.
In the essay, just before what you've quoted, Emerson essentially says he'll do anything for the people he feels an affinity towards but... then the stuff you quote.
In general, what he's saying here is that he doesn't value the same things that society values, doesn't believe in the same charities and causes they value.
More specifically, I'd like to comment on a few of the lines above. As regards the "meeting houses" -- here he's talking about organized religion, which he has little regard for. The two lines after that show him arguing that too much charity is being given to people who don't deserve it, like drunkards. So overall, he's sort of listing out some of the things that society supports that he doesn't.
As far as critique goes, if you mean how can we criticize these views, I guess I'd say that they're fairly heartless-sounding and perhaps arrogant. That's because they imply that he and he alone is right about everything and that other people are pretty much stupid. But that's really right in line with what Transcendentalists thought -- that you should believe in your own ideas and not really put much stock in what others think.
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alexandriasunshineee Student
High School - 11th GradePosted by alexandriasunshineee on Wednesday October 21, 2009 at 7:01 AMWhat I know about the introduction to the personal essay:
1. This study explains how to write a PERSONAL essay.
2. The modern essay originated with the writings of Michel de Montaigne
3. Personal writing lets you express your own WORLDVIEW in a way others find interesting.
4. At its root, the personal essay is all about YOU, the author.
5. A PERSONAL ESSAY is an essay written in the first person. It emphasizes a personal, subjective viewpoint by recalling events from the author's life.
6. You want the reader of your personal essay to be INTERESTED.
7. One way to gain your reader's interest is by appealing to a FAMILIAR experience.
8. Your personal essay may include a PERSONAL situation that presents a conflict.
9. DRAMA means "something that presents a conflict."
10. CRISIS means "an opposition of two ideas, people, or forces."
11. The three things to avoid while writing a personal essay are RANTS , CONFESSIONS , and SELF - AGGRANDIZING .
12. You should also avoid CLICHES when you write your personal essay.
13. You can use your own style and tone to express INDIVIDUALITY in your personal essay.
14. You will need to EDIT your essay to present only the best material.
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alexandriasunshineee Student
High School - 11th GradePosted by alexandriasunshineee on Wednesday October 21, 2009 at 7:02 AMWhat I know about the structure of a personal essay:
1. A personal essay has the same basic five-paragraph STRUCTURE as do most other essays.
2. The INTRO paragraph begins the personal essay.
3. The two things that the introductory paragraph includes are the HOOK and the THESIS .
4. The HOOK grabs the reader's attention.
5. The THESIS is the main point of the essay.
6. The BODY follows the introductory paragraph.
7. The body includes three SUPPORTING paragraphs.
8. The supporting paragraphs all share the same basic STRUCTURE .
9. Supporting paragraphs begin with a TOPIC sentence.
10. The TOPIC sentence is what a supporting paragraph is all about.
11. The 3 SUPPORTING sentences support the main point of the paragraph.
12. The supporting paragraph ends with a CLINCHER sentence. It wraps up the paragraph.
13. The CONCLUDING paragraph follows the body in a personal essay.
14. The concluding paragraph WRAP UPS the essay and RESTATES the idea presented in the TOPIC sentence.
15. The concluding paragraph ends with the CLINCHER sentence.
16. The example concluding paragraph about mustard does two things all good concluding paragraphs do: It WRAP UPS the essay and SUMMARIZES the supporting paragraphs, and it RESTATES the thesis in new words.
17. The concluding paragraph about ketchup and vegans FAILS to do the things a concluding paragraph should do.
18. TRANSITIONS are words or sentences that help your reader navigate your essay smoothly.
19. Writers use transitions to guide readers from paragraph to PARAGRAPH .
20. To figure out where your writing needs transitions, consider what might potentially confuse your READER .
21. Writers also use transitions to guide readers from sentence to sentence within a PARAGRAPH .
What I know about tools, ideas, and tips for writing a personal essay:
1. An OUTLINE is a handy way to visualize the structure of a personal essay.
2. When you try to write vividly, remember to SHOW and not tell.
3. The study gives three tips on how to show instead of tell in your personal essay. Avoid TO BE verbs, use DESCRPITIVE and CONCRETE language, and create and use carefully constructed DIALOGUE .
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alexandriasunshineee Student
High School - 11th GradePosted by alexandriasunshineee on Wednesday October 21, 2009 at 7:50 AMWhat I know about the introduction to the personal essay:
1. This study explains how to write a PERSONAL essay.
2. The modern essay originated with the writings of Michel de Montaigne
3. Personal writing lets you express your own WORLDVIEW in a way others find interesting.
4. At its root, the personal essay is all about YOU, the author.
5. A PERSONAL ESSAY is an essay written in the first person. It emphasizes a personal, subjective viewpoint by recalling events from the author's life.
6. You want the reader of your personal essay to be INTERESTED.
7. One way to gain your reader's interest is by appealing to a FAMILIAR experience.
8. Your personal essay may include a PERSONAL situation that presents a conflict.
9. DRAMA means "something that presents a conflict."
10. CRISIS means "an opposition of two ideas, people, or forces."
11. The three things to avoid while writing a personal essay are RANTS , CONFESSIONS , and SELF - AGGRANDIZING .
12. You should also avoid CLICHES when you write your personal essay.
13. You can use your own style and tone to express INDIVIDUALITY in your personal essay.
14. You will need to EDIT your essay to present only the best material.
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