Ralph Waldo Emerson: from "Self-Reliance," "Nature" - Purpose, Ideals

Question 1

key ideas and evidence from “Self-Reliance”

Answer 1

• you should be willing to risk being yourself; it is easier to conform to everyone else’s ideals in society rather than “risk” being yourself, but it is important to resist that easier path
• individualism and “Self-Reliance” are the key to happiness and acceptance of oneself

Question 2

keys ideas and evidence from “Nature”

Answer 2

• man is basically good

- a close relationship with nature helps man find peace and is essential to maintaining youth/innocence

Question 3

answers

Answer 3

• sec. 6: the only right is what is after my constitution; the only wrong is what is against it
• sec. 7: the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God
• sec 4: In the presence of nature, a wild delight runs through the man, in spite of real sorrows
• sec 5: nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind
• sec 4: Nature says, –he is my creature, and…he shall be glad with me