The American Scholar by Emerson

A detailed Summary of The American Scholar by Emerson


The American Scholar by Ralph Waldo Emerson

In the essay the American Scholar, Emerson portrays the scholar as a person who learns from three main things. These things by which a scholar is educated are by nature, by books (the past) and by action.

Emerson uses nature as a comparison to the human mind where he states, "There is never a beginning, there is never an end to the inexplicable continuity of this web of God, but always circular power returning into itself."(296) The human mind is an object that is boundless and can be full of so much beauty and intellect such as nature can be. Emerson continues to explain how classification begins among the young minds. "To the young mind, every thing is individual, stands by itself. Emerson presents this idea as a negative effect on the scholar because


According to Emerson, the next influence on the scholar is the mind of the past, where he uses books to convey his ideas. "Books are the best things, well used; abused, among the worst."(297) Books were originally intended for good. "The scholar of the first age, received into him the world around; brooded thereon; gave it the new arrangement of his own mind, and uttered it again."(297) According to Emerson, books can have a negative effect on the way the scholar should think. "Instead of Man Thinking, we have the bookworm."(297) Emerson feels that the scholar should learn things for themselves and not easily accept the views and opinions presented by a writer in their books. He further on continues to state how books "They look backward and not forward. But genius always looks forward. The eyes of man a

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Approximate Word count = 548
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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