Transcendentalism Group

Question:

bellkaty
bellkaty
Student
High School - 12th Grade

Paraphrase an epigram from Emerson's "Nature."

 Examples:

"Life only avails, not the having lived."

"Power ceases in the instant of repose."

"What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think."

"Travelling is a fool's paradise."

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Posted by bellkaty on Tuesday May 20, 2008 at 3:31 PM and tagged with paraphrase, ralph waldo emerson, transcendentalism.

Answers:


  1. linda-allen Teacher
    High School - 10th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    "Life only avails, not the having lived." The word "avail" means "to use to one's advantage." So this saying could be paraphrased as: Life itself is what's important, not the fact that you lived it. You could say that this is an argument against despair that leads to suicide.

    "Power ceases in the instant of repose." The word "repose" means "to rest" or "to sleep." So a paraphrase might be: "No one is powerful when asleep."

    "What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think." This one shouldn't need any paraphrasing for understanding, but you might restate it as: "It doesn't matter what people think, I'll do what I have to do."

    "Travelling is a fool's paradise." Paraphrase: You have to be crazy to like to travel!

     

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    Posted by linda-allen on Wednesday May 21, 2008 at 4:29 PM