Last year Michael Jordan made over $100 million on shoe sales alone and that while he’s retired.In the world today people strive to be the best they can be but their idea of the best is twisted by other people and celebrities. I believe that in society today everyone is trying to fit into what is socially acceptable because everyone wants to feel normal. What Ralph Emerson writes In the piece Self Reliance is exactly what we should try to live up to. While this is what we need to stride for I feel that in society today we follow a more less extreme version of what happened in the movie The Crucible. I am trying to prove that you shouldn't let society control how you are as a person and as a human. In the short story Self Reliance by Ralph Emerson, …show more content…
This piece of the text shows that society stresses too much about fitting in and other people's opinion about them when they should focus on what they doing in the moment and what they are need to do in the future. He also says that if you can forget what other people think about you you can strive for greatness. I completely agree with what Emerson said because you see it in everyone around you just by looking through the hallways you can see that people want to have their Jordan shoes and their nike socks because if it’s not the top company then it's not considered cool. This excerpt out of Self Reliance proves how this piece shows who we try to be as people and it shows what I try to fit. Ralph Emerson’s piece Self Reliance really shows what is wrong with society and we we need to change. In middle school I wanted Nike …show more content…
In the Excerpt from a passage Preached in 1741 titled Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God the preacher comments, “The bow of God’s wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string,.. without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood.”(Enfield, July 8th 1741). This excerpt is saying that God is always watching and God is waiting to unleash his wrath onto you if you sin. The Author also says that God has his hand holding back the flood gates and that he is giving you mercy by not unleashing it. I disagree with the author based on how people should live their lives because the preacher is saying that if you do something that is not expected then God will have his way with you. This excerpt is showing the opposite to what I believe and it shows that people were told that they were better off following the norms rather than thinking what they want and going on their own path. In my life I have been told that I am different in a plethora of ways. In my life i have been called fat, I have been told that I what I wear is stupid or doesn’t look good and it made me self conscious. It angers me to think that I cared that much about what other people thought so much to where I felt bad about who I was as a person. My experience shows how society is still modeled around this concept of social acceptance. I can't understand
High school students experience a lot of pressure to “fit in”, or to be “normal”. This age old concept applies not only to adolescents, but to all people. We strive to think and act like those we respect or idolize. Ralph Waldo Emerson attacks the imitation of others in his essay Self Reliance, stating instead that people should think and speak what they themselves think. Emerson sets up a strong rhetorical situation for his argument by using a common societal trait as his exigence. His urgency for writing is rooted in his dislike of imitation. Emerson sees how people, rather than expressing their own thoughts, speak only the words of others. This could be caused by lacking self confidence, but is most likely merely a fact of life. As a champion of thinking for one’s self, Emerson composed his essay to bring awareness to the common man. His essay primarily targets middle and lower
Although the society that we are living in is different than the one the Emerson's essay, the idea of fitting in still exists today. Although society and our minds make us think a certain way, we should always trust our better judgment instead of just conforming
One of the primary issues that Emerson tried to convey was that one must follow what they believe is true for themselves and not listen to what other people think. He states, “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 perfect sweetness the independence of solitude(Emerson 151).” One of the definitions of the word “world” is “human society.” The word “opinion” means “a view, judgment, or appraisal formed in the mind about a particular matter.” By putting these words together, Emerson is implying that the “world’s opinion” is the general point of view accepted by most of society. Emerson also uses the word, “solitude” which means, “the quality or state of being alone or remote from society.” By also using the word “solitude” in this sentence, he shows a contrast between the majority (society), and the individual. What Emerson suggests is that if one can live in a world full of people who think a certain way because they were taught to believe that way, but still hold your own ground and follow what you believe, you are a great person.
In “Self Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson, he promotes the importance of self reliance as an individual, and in society. Individuality to Emerson Opposed the traditional ideas of society, and to him it meant to oppose the conformity and consistency in society. He believes that the majority of people have given up their self reliance because of their fear of judgement by society. To be an individual, Emerson stresses that one has to be a risk taker, and disregard all things external.
“The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried” (p.369). Emerson reminds his audience to follow their instinct. He expresses his desire for each of us to trust in our own inner ability to choose what is best for us. Trust yourself! Don’t conform what society wants you to be. He reminds us that no matter what society tells us
In “Self-Reliance in Emerson’s Sermons and Essays”, John Ronan pursues the substantiated claim that much of Emerson’s philosophy in Self Reliance is founded upon his Unitarian origin as a minister in Boston. To warrant such a claim, Ronan repeatedly evaluates the content of Emerson’s early sermons from Boston’s Second Church. Utilizing these sermons to logically bind them to the contents of Emerson’s later philosophical work. Drawing upon the dominant themes of self-reliance and individualism found in Emerson’s philosophical work, Ronan is able to effectively showcase these same dominant themes in Emerson’s early homilies. When conveying his writing’s purpose, Ronan largely succeeds, thoroughly validating his stance with the abundant utilization of logical appeal.
Human beings all around the world are different in many ways. They all have their unique and physical characteristics, as well as different personalities. They each also have different ideas and thoughts on different topics. America is made up of a great amount of diverse people with diverse, even conflicting opinions and ideas. Diversity is a major component of the foundation of our country. The cliché of American as a salad bowl is extremely true. Every person is different and every person in his or her own way makes up a small part of America. Without the diversity of ideas and beliefs of Americans, the nation would not be nearly as successful as we are. A major similarity between Ralph Waldo Emerson's Self Reliance and J.D Salinger's Catcher in the Rye is a non-conformist ideology that both exhibit, and the idea that one should choose their own individuality above confomity.
“Self-Reliance” written by, Ralph Waldo Emerson, tells about how people stick to a certain way of thinking due to the way they grew up and what they have been told and seen. “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.” On the other hand, “Various kinds of thinking” written by James Harvey, tells how people have several different ways of thinking, and their minds and thoughts are constantly changing as they grow. These different kinds of thinking are: conscious, unconscious thinking, mind and body, rationalizing, reverie, real, and great reasoning that is explained by both of these authors in their stories. Each excerpt make sense of these learning techniques in its own way.
In “Self-Reliance,” by Ralph Emerson, Ralph stated that “envy is ignorance” and that “imitation is suicide.” What Emerson is saying by “envy is ignorance” and “imitation is suicide” is that between humans, the only thing we do is compare ourselves to others, in any and all matters. We compare ourselves to who has the highest grade, who is richer, who has the better status, who has the most power, who has the best family background, who is the smartest, or who is the strongest. Due to these comparisons, people convey what they do not have, and they will fail to realize what they do have, hence the ignorance part. People have to be themselves and should not wish to be like other people because you must create your own path to succeed.
“What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think(American Literature Reader, pg. 56)” perfectly describes the main meaning of Self-Reliance. Emerson wants his readers to stop letting the community influence their own opinion and start trusting themselves. He says that men have to concentrate on their own thoughts and make them public. The beliefs of other men are not important for oneself since every human has inborn knowledge to recognize what is right, what is wrong and to understand moral truth.
I believe that, essentially, life consists of a series of choices. A grouping of these choices in one direction or another makes us who we are, and ultimately we have control over our lives. What makes one person different from another is his own set of choices. When going through life’s motions, we develop certain worldviews and ideas and values to live by. We develop an opinion of what makes a person “great.” In the well-known essay “Self-Reliance”, Ralph Waldo Emerson provides a beautiful way of approaching these choices, and he reveals a very inspiring set of values centralized around going through life answering only to yourself. I love the way Emerson evaluates the society we live in, and how he radically encourages being misunderstood and nonconformist. Emerson, like myself, exhibits values of saying exactly what you think and living only by what you believe to be the best.
Emerson placed an emphasis on three primary aspects of life that illustrate the most crucial elements of humanity; nature, education and action. According to his theology, nature is the chief facet and because of its universal features, it arguably encompasses the remaining two tenets. Nature supports progress and action by providing physical accommodations in the form of material assets while simultaneously feeding the emotional hunger of man with inspirational beauty. His entire philosophy is embedded in the belief that an external presence shapes and influences the spiritual, intellectual, and physical elements of the individual. In fact, virtually every aspect of man can be traced back to the perfect order of nature.
Near the beginning of the essay, Emerson indicates that he objects to conformity because people do not recognize their own gifts. He presents his disapproval when he states: Envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion. (Emerson 20)
I will, in the following, discuss the theme of self-reliance in the above-mentioned texts. But what exactly is self-reliance? In his 1841 publication called Essays, Ralph Waldo Emerson includes an essay simply entitled Self-Reliance in which he states "Trust thyself…Great men have always done so and confided themselves childlike to the genius of their age…" . Self-reliance is thus defined as the ability to be your own master and to seek your own fortune free from influences from your surroundings.
There are different interpretations of the word danger such as to lean over the edge of a railing on a tall building or not drinking enough water. Similarly, there are dangers to being too open-minded or close-minded. The truth lies within realizing that there are dangers in both sides. Ironically, this could ultimately result in one being open-minded. It is not fair to say one is completely dangerous than the other. It can easily be described as a spectrum, like political beliefs. There is very clearly the left and the right, but there is also the radical left and right. Too much of something is not necessarily healthy; however, as one that strives to be an educated, truth-seeking individual, being close-minded is leaning over the edge of