The American Scholar

I tend to think Emerson is overstating his point, but as I understand it, he means that people gain knowledge from books, and though that is a good thing, it means they can also misread an author's...

The central theme of Ralph Waldo Emerson's "The American Scholar" is that intellectualism in America needs to break from its dependence on European thought and shape itself within the distinctive...

Cards are a method of production control, making it easier to track and plan throughout the process. There are a variety of cards, the functions of which sometimes overlap depending upon the...

The American scholar—and we can't forget the distinction of the American, as opposed to the European scholar—has, first, a duty not to be a "meek bookworm," docilely reading the great authors of...

Emerson refers to the scholar as the "Man Thinking" as opposed to the bookworm. The Man Thinking derives his knowledge from robust engagement with many facets of life. These include a healthy...

On the one hand, "American Scholar" is preoccupied with calls for intellectual independence, so to speak. Emerson calls upon his listeners to end "our long apprenticeship to the learning of other...

In Emerson's "American Scholar," the idea of the importance of breeding/fostering a new type of intellectual is emphasized. To begin with, Emerson feels that society creates a drag on the...

There are several ways you could critically analyze Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “The American Scholar.” You could start by trying to talk about the relevance of his ideas. Many of his arguments appear to...

In "The American Scholar," Emerson sums up the duties of the scholar in a single phrase. He says that the scholar must become "Man Thinking." He must show mankind the light of truth by teaching...

The basis for “self-trust” is essentially Emerson's definition and recurring theme of self-reliance. America was still a young country when Emerson was writing and he saw this as a time for America...

In "The American Scholar," Emerson writes that the true scholar is "the Man Thinking" and asks, "is not, indeed, every man a student?" He then focuses on the education of the "true scholar" and...

In this essay, originally a Harvard address, Emerson discusses the nature of the ideal American scholar. In doing so, Emerson is participating in nation building and the process of mythologizing...

The core truth in "The American Scholar," originally delivered as a speech to some of Harvard's most elite scholars, is that it is crucial to continually examine educational philosophies in order...

Emerson's evocation of "self-trust" is a statement of one of the defining characteristics of Transcendentalism. Claiming that "in self-trust are all the virtues comprehended," he asserts the...

American essayist, philosopher, and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) gave a stirring and thought-provoking speech entitled “The American Scholar” at Harvard College (Cambridge, Massachusetts)...

On August 31, 1837, when the United States of America was still a very young nation, Ralph Waldo Emerson delivered a speech before the Phi Beta Kapa Society at Cambridge. That speech became the...

The essay's main themes ask students to "break away" from the "English" style of academia in order for America to "discover" its own distinctive intellectual voice. Why? Emerson believes that the...

Before we talk about how Ralph Waldo Emerson promotes his idea of transcendentalism in his "The American Scholar" speech at Harvard, let's clarify what transcendentalism means. According to the...

Both "Self-Reliance" and "The American Scholar" privilege nature and the self as guides to living. In both these addresses to young college students, Emerson advises them to, above all, be true to...

In the passage in "The American Scholar" in which Emerson mentions an "analogous political movement," he does not state what this political movement is. However, given transcendentalism's strong...

"The American Scholar" (Emerson) and Arnold's thoughts in "Democracy" are similar in their that both thinkers believe that individuals and society should aspire to high moral and intellectual...

The thesis to this excerpt from American Scholar is that the scholar must be free of dogma and established wisdom. The scholar should look within to "defy it," (i.e. his fear of breaking with...