Ralph Waldo Emerson Questions and Answers

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  Compare and contrast Rimbaud's "The Drunken Boat" with Emerson's "The Snow-Storm".
  In "The Drunken Boat," the speaker is a boat whose human occupants have been killed by Indians. It floats aimlessly, wandering and weaving like a drunken person as it is pushed and pulled by the...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  How is the aspect of beauty presented in "Nature" by Emerson?
  In his essay “Nature,” Ralph Waldo Emerson uses the philosophy of transcendentalism from other schools of thought on humankind’s acquisition of knowledge. Expanding upon rationalist and empiricist...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  Using Nature, what is different about an adult that makes him or her not see nature as they did as a child?
  Early in his 1836 essay, Emerson observes that there is a difference in the way a man regards nature as he moves from childhood to adulthood. The relationship is still there, but it evolves from...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  In Nature, highlight some of the ways Emerson says we are connected to nature. What is significant about that? Are any of these concepts useful today? Why or why not?
  Emerson famously says in this essay that in the woods he becomes a "transparent eyeball," or "part and particle of God," phrases which suggest a kind of dissolution of the self. Understanding...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  How does Emerson define self-reliance?
  As Emerson is preaching a practical way of life, he doesn't elaborate over much on the concept of self-reliance. Instead, he provides us with examples of what self-reliant behavior might look like...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  Summarize Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Address on the Fugitive Slave Law," delivered in May 1851.
  American author, philosopher, and leader of the transcendentalist movement Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) presented his impassioned “Address on the Fugitive Slave Law” to the people of Concord,...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  In paragraph 13 of Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay "Education," where do examples of allusion, analogy, rhetorical questions, imperative sentences, and sentence variety/pacing occur, and what are their effects?
  Paragraph 13 of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay titled “Education” contains a number of rhetorical techniques that are effective in various ways. Examples include the following: Allusion. An one point,...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  Why does Emerson say “The use of nature history is to give us aid in supernatural history. The use of the outer creation, to give us language for the beings and changes of the inward creation”?
  This passage comes from the fourth section of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s major essay “Nature” (1836). This essay is one of the defining documents of the nineteenth-century American literary,...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  In what sense were Poe and Emerson both Romantics? How did the Romantics differ?
  In one sense, Edgar Allan Poe and Ralph Waldo Emerson are both Romantics because both privilege the individual and the individual's unique emotions and experiences. Emerson directly advocates for...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  "This is the perpetual romance of new life, the invasion of god into the old dead world..." What does the "this" refer to, and what is Emerson trying to say through this metaphor in his essay on education?
  Emerson subscribed to a new theory of education: he and other transcendentalists did not believe that the child is simply an empty vessel to be filled up with facts and figures; rather, the child's...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  In his essay "Education," explain the effect of at least five examples of figurative language that Emerson uses to advance his argument. Emerson's essay "Education" was put together from his writings published in The American Scholar and from his...
  Much as in his essay Nature, Emerson's essay on Education expresses his philosophy that the universe is composed of Nature and the Oversoul; these, in essence, are the teachers of man. It is this...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  Contrast the beauty of nature with the degradation from the twentieth century (from Emerson's Nature).
  Nature is inherently a very beautiful thing. Emerson recognizes this and spends many of his poems reflecting on how wonderful it is. In nature, there is a natural grace, a circle of life and death,...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  What were the political and social issues during Ralph Waldo Emerson's time?
  Ralph Waldo Emerson was born in 1803 and died in 1882. Thus, he lived through a period of major social and political turmoil, perhaps more than any other time in American history. He witnessed the...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  In Emerson's poem "Love and Thought," what does "Eros and the Muse" mean?
  In this poem, Emerson refers to Eros and the Muse as twins. Eros is erotic love—which Emerson understands as a creative force. Eros is the "love" of the poem's title. The Muse is the idea that...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  What were Ralph Waldo Emerson's ideas regarding solitude?
  Ralph Waldo Emerson's protégé Henry David Thoreau had more experience and inspiration with regard to solitude as he spent so much time living in isolation and seclusion (by choice). In March 1845,...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  Question:  Read the short poem below that was included at the beginning of Emerson's Nature.  What elements of Transcendentalism are in this poem? A subtle chain of countless rings The next unto the farthest brings; The eye reads omens where it...
  Transcendentalism was a movement in the late 1820s and 1830s. The ideas are not religious in nature, but an understanding of life and how everyone is connected in the world. Key concepts of the...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  Identify examples of imperative sentences in paragraph 13 of Emerson's "Education."
  To begin, one must be able to identify an imperative sentence. An imperative sentence is one which gives advice or expresses a request. Paragraph thirteen of Emerson's Education, written by Ralph...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  Within Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay titled, "The Poet," what are the references made to the crisis in the relationship held between the individual and his or her government (and any political or literary solutions)? 
  In "The Poet," Emerson writes: For all men live by truth, and stand in need of expression. In love, in art, in avarice, in politics, in labor, in games, we study to utter our painful secret. The...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  Why does Emerson criticize schools as bureaucratic institutions?
  The great Transcendentalist who wrote Nature perceives in the bureaucracies of public school the "costly machinery against nature" in which the modes of education aim to save labor and expedite...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  What is the meaning of the poem "Poet" written by Ralph Emerson ?
  "The Poet" by Emerson is a difficult essay to follow, without a doubt. It needs time and patience, best broken down paragraph by paragraph, to understand it. Emerson explains how the poet fits...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  Have you ever had an experience with nature that transported you as Emerson describe? If not , please discuss the importance of such experiences and describe possible ways to transcend everyday reality in this way.
  "Give All To Love" 'Tis a brave master, Let it have scope, Follow it utterly, Hope beyond hope; High and more high, It dives into noon, With wing unspent, Untold intent; But 'tis a god, Knows its...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  What is the role of poet according to emerson with reference to essay, ''poet", discuss. what are the functions of a true poet addvocated by emerson?
  The poet, according to Emerson, has to be just about everything. He has to be a seer into the soul of man, he must be an interpreter and a prophet. I know not how it is that we need an...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  What is an example of personification in Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay, "Nature"?
  Emerson uses personification in the introduction of his essay to imbue the era in which he lives with uniquely human characteristics: "Our age is retrospective. It builds the sepulchers of the...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  What does Emerson mean in the following quote from "Self-Reliance"? "Though I confess with shame I sometimes succumb and give the dollar, it is a wicked dollar which by and by I shall have the manhood to withhold."
  Throughout the paragraph in "Self-Reliance" that this excerpt closes, Emerson discusses his view of charity, specifically giving money to charities or individuals for charitable purposes. He...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  Please explain: The reliance on property shows a lack of self-reliance. People are measured by what they own rather than for what they are.
  The whole point of this essay is that people need to rely on what they themselves believe and not on what society wants them to be. Included in this idea is the idea that people should not be...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  Emerson and Thoreau. Despite their different backgrounds and experiences, Emerson and Thoreau shared a number of ideas. How can I compare their views on nature, the individual, and conformity?
  For individualism and conformity, I would start with Emerson’s essay “Self-Reliance” and Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience.” You can find elements of individualism, nature and conformity in their other...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  Discuss Emerson's style with reference to some of his essays.
  Ralph Waldo Emerson, a Transcendentalist, felt that the self is an autonomous spirit which acts according to universal moral laws. Located in all objects, this spiritual self develops from...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  Write Emerson's ideas about  "THE POET'S" nature and functions? Emerson-- THE POET
  Concerning Emerson's views on the poet's nature and function, I can give you only a limited answer, but since no one else has answered yet, I'll give you what I can. Looking at two specific poems,...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  Would Emerson's ideas about education be supported in elementary schools today? Why or why not? He believed children should be given the choice of what to study and what to learn. They should be exposed to many kinds of learning, but then they...
  While Emerson would be pleased at elementary education's advancement, he would say there is more to do to create a system of formal elementary instruction that maximizes student choice. Emerson was...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  In Ralph Waldo Emerson's Nature, where does he say one can return to "reason and faith"?
  In Ralph Waldo Emerson's Nature, the poet praises the natural world. Nature is Emerson's first book, and his love and respect for nature and the guidance he believes mankind can find in the...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  What are the two things that are being compared (metaphor) in Emerson's, "to draw a new circle"?
  Did you mean Emerson's essay, entitled "Circles"?In "Circles" Emerson compares the eye and horizon to circles with all of nature following this pattern: "The eye is the...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  What is one similarity between Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau? (Civil Disobedience and Self Reliance evidence) I need to find quote from each of their essays to prove their one similarity.
  To me, the major similarity between the two is that they were both Transcendentalists. Perhaps the most important belief of the Transcendentalists was the idea that people should adhere to their...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  What are the metaphors in Emerson's quote, "this thought which is called I is the mould into which the world is poured?"
  There was an interesting philosophical discussion going on in Emerson's time about the way we "learn" about or apprehend the world. Locke and others had posited that everything we learn...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  What are the implications of “Self-Reliance” for religion, government, traveling, art, and property ownership?
  The implications of "Self-Reliance" stem from Ralph Waldo Emerson's belief that people are responsible for their own lives and should spend time developing themselves, accepting control of their...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  What is Emerson asserting in this statement? "It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion, it is easy in solitude to live after our own, but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the...
  The basic premise of the quote is that there is a greater sense of character within the individual who is able to maintain their own sense of character and integrity in a world that might speak...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  What does Emerson say is every person's destiny?
  Being a Transcendentalist, Emerson seeks an answer to the question of individual destiny through an emotional sphere. Striving to establish an answer devoid of social conformity and traditionalist...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  In "Self-Reliance" does society conspire against self-reliance?
  In his seminal work, "Self-Reliance," Ralph Waldo Emerson touts the merits of rugged individualism. Conspiring against this individualism is society, which is against the manhood of all its...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  In "Self-Reliance," how did Emerson view the prayers of the people?
  Emerson complains that mainstream prayer practices are petty and self-serving. He also complains that they presuppose a patron-client relationship with God. People often use prayer as an...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  Could you explain to me what Ralph Emerson is trying to say in his essay "The Poet"?
  First, you need to understand that Emerson is a transcendentalist. In this context, that means that he believes that human beings need to seek "an original relation to the universe," meaning that...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  What is the contribution of Ralph Waldo Emerson to American literature?
  Ralph Waldo Emerson contributed to American by influencing other writers; calling for a national literature; imbuing his writings with the ideal of spiritual harmony as opposed to the dominance of...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  According to Ralph Waldo Emerson, why should people trust themselves?
  In his essay, "Self-Reliance", Emerson says, "Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string." He says that people know themselves better than they know anyone else...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  What do you think of self-reliance by ralph waldo emerson, write a review about your feeling towards it.
  There are many aspects to this essay. The one I will focus on is Emerson's idea that people should follow their own consciences rather than obeying what society tells them to do. I think that this...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  What is the meaning of the poem "Nature" (e.g., symbolism, characteristics, deeper meanings)?
  Like much of the Transcendentalist movement, Emerson's work explores how individuals can discover and claim a conception of real truth as opposed to the illusions social orders offer. Emerson seeks...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  Compare "Self-Reliance" or Walden to Woman in the Nineteenth Century as regards the responsibilities of the individual within a conformist society
  Margaret Fuller, in Woman in the Nineteenth Century, advocated for the rights of people to whom they had been denied in US society, especially women but also enslaved African Americans. Feminism...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  What is an analysis of Emerson's poem "Sursum Corda"?
  Ralph Waldo Emerson's poem "Sursum Corda" is a short work that highlights the power of the Holy Spirit and its intents and comings and goings as the wind. The poem is one stanza of eleven lines....

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  Can anyone tell me what the central theme of Ralph Waldo Emerson's speech he wrote regarding "The Fugitive Slave Law"? This article from the book "For The Record A Documentary History of America" written David E. Shi & Holly A. Mayer. I would...
  Ralph Waldo Emerson's speech regarding The Fugitive Slave Act was delievered in accordance with his transcendalist beliefs. The Transcendalist Philosophy fostered the idea that American society...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  What is an analysis of Emerson's "It was high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, 'always do what you are afraid to do.'"
  Emerson's quote, "It was high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, 'always do what you are afraid to do,'" could be understood as follows. First, Emerson's use of "high counsel"...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  How can I explain this quote by Emerson "life is not intellectual or critical, but sturdy". how can i use examples and what could it be a good topic sentence?
  What he's trying to say here is that you shouldn't spend a lot of time trying to think about stuff or whine about stuff, but rather take everything as it comes, deal with what life gives you. In...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  What are some examples of analogies that Ralph Waldo Emerson uses in his essay "Education"?
  This is an essay in which Emerson presents his typically Transcendentalist views on education, arguing against the traditional education system and broadening the term in our thinking to encompass...

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• Ralph Waldo Emerson
  In Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay, "Education," identify examples of rhetorical strategies in paragraph 13, and explain their effect.
  The text that I can find of this essay by Emerson gives the following in the thirteenth paragraph: Whilst thus the world exists for the mind; whilst thus the man is ever invited inward into...

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