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Ralph Waldo Emerson's Argumentative Essay

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1. According to the opening statement, every person realizes at some point in their education that they must become self-reliant. It states that every person will eventually recognize that although the world is full of good, none of it will go to them unless they work for it. 2. In the second paragraph, Emerson expresses that every person is destined to live in their own way and that they should embrace that life, not shy away from it. 3. Emerson believes that society as a whole holds back those striving for greatness. He believes that society prevents people from being completely self-reliant, and that it causes people to go against each other. 4. In paragraph three, it is implied that self-reliance is an aversion to society as a whole. …show more content…

In this one, he is basically saying that that bad memory is dead, and it is time to forget about it and move on. Brumgardt 3 8. I somewhat agree with Emerson's view of self-reliance. However, I believe there are other ways of being self-reliant that does not so much take away from others as he seems to want in the third paragraph. Other than this, I agree that it is not good to let memories limit yourself and you should always strive to be the best that you can be without letting others hold you down. 9. Emerson's writing is influential. He maintains a steady tone that makes it seem like he is preaching but at the same time he allows those reading to really contemplate what he is saying. He also seems to have a liking of metaphors and rhetorical questions, which he uses to keep the structure going and better influence those reading. 10. In the last paragraph, Emerson talks of being misunderstood and why is it not such a bad thing. During this, he talks of how many people have been misunderstood and despite this still go down in history as being great. It is his way of saying that it is better to say what is on your mind, be misunderstood, then move on until that person understands than to simply stay

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