What are the main duties of the American scholar according to Emerson's speech?
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 the past and blindly doing what they say. Instead, Emerson argues that it is the duty of the American scholar to think for himself and evaluate these old ideas. A distinctly American scholar must not be content to be derivative—he must be strive for genius which:
looks forward: the eyes of man are set in his forehead, not in his hindhead
Emerson also states that the American scholar also has a duty not to be a recluse. He must embrace action and experience as the basis of knowledge, along with books. As Emerson says:
I will not shut myself out of this globe of action, and transplant an oak into a flower-pot
Furthermore, unlike the Europeans (who, Emerson...
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says, "whittle" away at one idea until they have nothing left), an American scholar has a duty to be a broad-minded generalist.
In addition, the American scholar must think for himself and trust his own inner voice. By living a balanced life in the world, listening to the divine voice inside, and embracing all knowledge, the American scholar develops what is most essential: character. He has a duty to cultivate character, for, as Emerson puts it:
Character is higher than intellect
Ultimately, Emerson defines the American scholar as distinct from the European scholar by his not being backward-looking, weak, effeminate, timid, reclusive, or vitiated. He is the foundation of the republic and has the duty to nurture the robust, red-blooded, active, American virtues delineated above. Emerson states:
The study of letters shall be no longer a name for pity, for doubt, and for sensual indulgence. . . . A nation of men will for the first time exist, because each believes himself inspired by the Divine Soul which also inspires all men.
What is Emerson's view on the duties and improvement of the American Scholar?
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 individual, and he becomes "the parrot of other men's thinking." This is the idea that an individual ceases to have any original insight and merely repeats knowledge/wisdom from the past or other contemporaries. Emerson continues to explain why we relish in unoriginal thoughts as he continues to deliver this oration to Phi Beta Kappa. Unfortunately, because of the need to classify anomalies and natural order, man's relationship to nature is shortsided because "he is ignorant of, so much of his own mind does he not yet possess." Because humankind focuses so much on studies and production, the individual fails to appreciate the beauty of the outside world and fails to suck the "marrow out of life"(Thoreau).
Lastly, Emerson targets the greats from the past. To further emphasize the dangers of unoriginal thought, he says "meek young men grow up in libraries, believing it their duty to accept the views which Cicero, which Locke, which Bacon, have given; forgetful that Cicero, Locke, and Bacon were only young men in libraries when they wrote these books." Emerson lays out the cyclical process of learning: history repeats itself and scholars simply study the works of the past rather than exploring the world themselves for new insight. However, Emerson points out that an individual needs to lay a foundation down educationally before taking the next step. He ends the speech by saying, "[books] are for nothing but to inspire"
Emerson's ideas in "American Scholar" pointed out to a new form of thinking. Hence, he is one of the founding fathers of Transcendentalism: rising above as an individual from the constraints of societal expecations in order to live a more rich and fulfilling life.