Kaylee Wheeler
Self-Reliance Analysis Questions
Write a thematic statement for the essay “Self-Reliance”. Explain how Emerson's idea of Self-Reliance is different from and similar to the common use of the term (take care of your own needs and don't depend on others outside yourself).
Emerson’s take on self reliance is different from the common use of the term because Emerson believes that you shouldn’t take to conformity because right and wrong are just words and the common use of self reliance would just to do what you need to do but within reason of what's good or not and Emerson doesn't think that worrying about good and bad is that big of a deal. His idea of self reliance also becomes similar to the common us of the term when Emerson says that you should follow your own instincts because that relates to taking care of your own needs, if you follow your instincts to do what is necessary for you then you’re taking care of your needs as an individual.
Give 5 examples of figurative language and analyze how Emerson uses them to convey his message of self-reliance (Hint: your analysis should link back to the purpose you mention in the thematic statement above).
“He would utter opinions on all passing affairs, which being seen to be not private but necessary, would sink like darts into the ear of men and put them in fear.” Here emerson uses a simile comparing opinions to darts, he includes this because it helps tie to if you keep things to yourself and your self reliant your words won't hurt others like opinions may.
“Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.” Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events”. Here Emerson includes this sentence to relate to his audience with heavy emotions. He speaks on trusting yourself because your heart knows what you want.
“that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better for worse as his portion” Emerson uses this hyperbole to compare something to be bigger than it is, to help you realize that obviously he doesn't mean that imitation is actual suicide but that imitation is killing yourself because you aren't being you you're being who you think you should be and so you're relying on other people instead of being self reliant
“pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood” Here Emerson alludes to people such as Luther and Jesus to back up his information of being misunderstood but to also support how being misunderstood is good because it means you think differently and have things to say that maybe no one has been able to comprehend or think of for themselves before
“There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance” using the metaphor envy is ignorance relates to being self reliant because if you are envious of someone you're not worrying about yourself and what you need but thinking about other people and what they have and that isn't self reliant but it's ignorant because you're probably doing it unknowingly or without thinking first.
List 5 aphorisms from the text and explain their significance (look it up if you don’t know what an aphorism is!)
“Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string” This aphorism shows self trust and the contentedness it can bring to a person, and to be comfortable with the choices you make and how they make you feel.
“To be great is to be misunderstood’ Emerson includes this saying that if you're not misunderstood you're not great because to be great you have to think differently than other and in that case you couldn't think normally because people would understand you
“Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this” Here Emerson includes that good and bad are just words because he believes that everyone should be there own person and not take to conformity because of what people say are good and bad.
“A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards and sages.” Here emerson includes this to say that you need to listen to yourself and not worry about what the people around you are saying the right thing to do is.
“but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.” This phrase is saying that if you are able to keep yourself grounded and be who you are without trying to be like everyone around you that is what makes you great.
Would Emerson's ideas as expressed in this essay result in a stronger or weaker government? More or less democracy?
Emerson's ideas expressed in this essay result in a weaker less involved government. The reasoning behind this is because as a whole we wouldn't be able to come up with the correct rules and ethics that as a government we need to be successful.
Was Emerson a liberal or conservative — and in what ways? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.
Emerson could've been seen as a conservative because conservatives believed that the government shouldn't help you with every such thing but be there to basically just to provide them with what they need to be successful on their own.
Civil Disobedience Analysis Questions
Consider the historical context of Thoreau’s essay Civil Disobedience. Would it be easier or harder to practice non-conformity today? Give specific examples to support your answer.
Yes, it would be more difficult to practice nonconformity because there are so many rules and laws and punishments for acting out of conformity that if you were to try and act out there is a higher chance of punishment which then could lead you to being in a place of parole where if you act against things you can have serious punishment.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said of Thoreau, “No truer American ever lived.” Consider the political ideas represented in “Civil Disobedience”. Do you consider Thoreau a patriot or a traitor?
I believe that thoreau was a patriot because he argued for self government and he wanted a government that was by the people for the people.
Give three examples of paradox and explain the truth that they convey.
"That government is best which governs least" the truth this conveys is that having a government where the people have a lot of say and the government doesn't actually have that much say is better because we are doing it ourselves for ourselves
“I think that it is not too soon for honest men to rebel and revolutionize” this is a paradox because he is insisting that just because they may do something bad that doesn't mean they aren't an honest man and this truth conveys that he likes to see the best in people
“I felt as if I alone of all my townsmen had paid my tax.” this statement thoreau is saying how paying the tax is almost worse than not paying it because its gonna cost more in the end to just pay it.
How does Thoreau use rhetorical questions to convey his message?
Thoreau uses rhetorical devices in Civil Disobedience to convey his message because they add arguments to be interpreted by the reader to help think about where he is coming from.