Essays on The American Scholar

Introduction A scholar. What is a scholar? A scholar is a person who attends a school or studies under a teacher or someone who has done much study in a particular field of education. The American Scholar by Ralph Waldo Emerson was a speech given…

‘Self-Reliance’ and Trusting Our Own Thoughts “Self-Reliance” reflects on, often dismissed, individual insights. Ralph Waldo Emerson believes it is important that we recognize and encourage individuals to trust in their own thoughts more than those from other people (such as famous writers). He believes someone…

Introduction The fundamental theme of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “American Scholar” is the need for American intellectualism to break from European influences and create a wholly American culture. Emerson speaks of the duties of the “Man Thinking” and three of what he considers to be the…

In his essay “The American Scholar” Ralph Waldo Emerson expresses a rather progressive for his time position on the role and the duties of the intellectual, as well as on the different ways of learning and their significance. He rejects the rigid methods of education,…