Rhetorical Strategies In Self Reliance By Ralph Waldo Emerson

Rhetorical strategies are used to convince the reader of the author’s argument. Horace Mann used rhetorical strategies to support his argument in “Intellectual Education as a Means of Removing Poverty, and Securing Abundance.” Mann’s argument is that public education will provide equality for all men, no matter what class they are in. To support his argument, Mann used rhetorical strategies such as style, diction, appeals, and metaphors.

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote Self-Reliance during the time period when transcendentalism emerged, thus based his essay off of this ideology. Transcendentalism is known as the philosophy that divine truth is present in all created things and that truth is known through intuition, not through the rational mind. This principle seems to be a reoccurring theme throughout many of Emerson’s essays. In fact, he is known as a transcendentalist philosopher. In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Self-Reliance, Emerson is convincing his readers that self-reliance is more important than being dependent on others by using metaphors and pathos.

The theme of the essay “Self Reliance” written by Emerson is for beings to not focus on those of others or subside his/her values to fit in with our society, for true geniuses comes from within and are made with their own heart and mind. His idea of self-reliance differs from that of the norm in that he doesn’t encourage those to mix into selfish ways but to be open and proud of their own individuality for that is the true key to life itself. Emerson’s idea is similar to the common use in that he encourages those to not depend on others to define his/her identity.

Many people rely on the opinions of others, never truly stopping to personally consider the subject at hand. Ralph Waldo Emerson, an impactful American writer, wrote a piece entitled Self- Reliance. In Self-Reliance, Emerson’s purpose is to promote ideas of individualistic thinking. Emerson uses strong, rhetorical strategies, such as figurative language, allusions, and complex syntax and parallelism to effectively persuade his audience to trust their own thoughts.

Things can be seen different in many perspectives. It can be interpreted in ways others can’t see. But in order to regulate and adjust our lives, to show the meaning of what we see, we need the solitude to consolidate our thoughts and see things that were hidden in the first place. In “Nature,” Ralph Waldo Emerson applies rhetorical strategies for instance the imagery of unity and the allusion of God to experience the nature in solitude.

Patrick Henry’s “Speech of the Virginia Convention” had many interesting rhetorical strategies. The ones that were most notable was diction, logs appeal, allusion, and imagery. The “Speech of the Virginia Convention” was a strong argument to convince the patriots, loyalist, and the colonist for freedom. Patrick Henry only wanted the best for his fellow americans and for him. His “Speech of the Virginia Convention” led the argument to war with the british.

When one lives in self-reliance and protest against the general state of spirituality they would be called a Transcendentalist. A movement in the 1820s to 1830s really brought attention to this. Authors like Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, and even a popular film called Dead Poets Society. When one is in this state of self-reliance and Transcendentalism they will usually find happiness in themselves before anyone else. They will follow the steps of Emerson in “Self-Reliance”, Thoreau in “Civil Disobedience”, and the theme of the film Dead Poets Society. Within the writings of these authors there are both benefits and consequences of living self-reliant and “sucking the marrow out of life”.

In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Self Reliance, he passionately expresses his views on individualism. Emerson’s views on individuality are views of following oneself’s own thoughts and passions, rather than fearing men and following the world. The speaker is successful in getting his point across with the use of allusions, anaphora, and thought triggering metaphors.

I believe that “I Stand Here Writing” by Nancy Summers constitutes as a literary narrative. The strongest evidence is Summers’s use of personal stories which are scattered throughout the text. She includes a couple stories about her schooling, life as a mother, and her career as a teacher. In fact, Summers uses these narratives to convey a deeper message about the skill of writing. The best example of this is when Summers expresses how she came to love the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson and how she used Emerson’s ideas to set the tone for the rest of the passage. Summers has such an affection for Emerson 's writings because it showed her that writing is a process of creating new ideas, rather than recycling old ones. Summers uses the image

In the novel Ethan Frome, written by Edith Wharton, Ethan, the main protagonist, encounters numerous challenges relating to his love life, social life, and personal life. Ethan’s actions could be analyzed through his decision-making process and used to display him as a self-reliant man. Self-reliance can be defined using criteria laid out by Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American transcendentalist philosopher, in his essay, “Self-Reliance”. Emerson writes about a checklist containing four primary attributes of a self-reliant person. The first necessary characteristic of a self-reliant person is the ability to exclusively fight for causes which s/he believes in. Secondly, one cannot be self-reliant if s/he is afraid of contradicting her/himself. Additionally,

Quotes from significant and famous personalities and authorities are not just merely uttered strings of words. They are important and informative. Often they point at the aspects in the socio-cultural and political environment that they seek to redress, appraise or commend. Quotes are often meant to bring an insight on a specific issue. They may be inspirational at most times. This paper will analyze specific examples of quotes in terms of their significance and relationship to American Literature Tradition.

Emerson uses ethos to present himself to the president. In the beginning of his letter he writes, “ The seat you fill places you in a relation of credit and nearness to every citizen.” And that, “ By right and natural position, every citizen is your friend.” Here he is telling the president that him and every other citizen is a friend of the president. This displays the rhetorical device ethos because he is showing his creditability for the president to read his letter. He wants the president to know that he wants to be taken seriously and see changes from the government. He shows hid creditability by writing to the president with a big degree of respect to him and how he expects the same in return.

In Bradley K. Martin’s novel, Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader, North Korea and the Kim Dynasty, Martin is on a tour at North Korea with fellow journalists. He tells of his surprising experience with North Korean culture. In the first chapter, “To the City of the God-King,” Martin argues that North Korea depicts their leader to be “God-like.” He goes about describing his surroundings in descriptive detail in attempt to allow the reader to realistically visualize what he encounters. Martin is bothered by the propaganda North Korea uses. Inserts of a North Korean play he witnesses, described in his own details, are included sporadically to support Martin’s argument. With use of common knowledge of the historical background of North

The quote I chose was from the essay Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson. The quote states, “Accept the place the divine provi­dence has found for you; the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events.” The paragraph continues on and explains how men in the past have trusted and accepted God’s will and have been accepted into the highest mind, heaven. Emerson is trying to convey to us that God has a plan in each of our lives. As Catholics we need to understand that God is the one who created a plan for us. We should understand and accept that what happens in our lives is meant to happen for a reason because God intended it to happen.

Ralph Waldo Emerson and Walt Whitman emphasize the importance of living true to yourself and developing complete self-acceptance. To live true to yourself and completely accept who you are, you must understand your identity and your sense of self. In Self-Reliance, Emerson explains that your identity and your sense of self is spiritual. Whitman argues, in Song of Myself, that your identity and sense of self is based on both your soul and your body. While both Emerson and Whitman allow for intimate connections and friendships, Emerson encourages people to have relationships with a select few, whereas Whitman encourages people to connect with everyone and anyone, due to their different views of self.