Emerson's Self-Reliance

1. Discuss the meaning of the verse preceding the essay.

• Seek no one besides yourself.
• everybody is their own person

2. Looking at the entire essay, what does Emerson mean by self-reliance? Objectively summarize Emerson's major points.

• It contains the most thorough statement of Emerson's recurrent themes, the need for an individual to avoid conformity and false consistency and follow his or her instincts and ideas.
• Each persons voice can be as strong as the great man of history.

3. Interpret the first sentence. What does every person realize at some moment of his or her education?

• Envy is ignorance.

4. Interpret the following quote, "The eye was placed where one ray should fall, that it might testify of that particular ray."

• What you're going to focus on and what you're not going to focus on.
• Where we put our focus is what we win.

5. What does Emerson mean by the "divine idea which each of us represents"?

• Each of us represents what we think is good.
• When we act like everybody else we're not owning up to ourselves.

6.  Explain the significance of the "iron string." Why do you think Emerson used iron and not silken, golden, or silver string?

• Iron is stronger and if you know who you are, you aren't going to break.
• It's stronger and its connecting yourself to you.

7. Define Transcendentalism.

• American literary, political, and philosophical movement of the early 19th century.
• To go above and beyond in a rebellion and education.

8. Interpret this quote, "Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members."

• It tries showing that the majority of people deny and worry about their image to others that they never have the chance to live and be themselves.

9. Explain the quote, "The virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance is its aversion."

• People don't want to speak out what's on their mind because they're scared. This teaches them to face it.

10. Interpret the metaphor, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesman and philosophers and divines."

• The more you do something and get results, you tend to stick to that and people with more power will use it against you.

11. Discuss the use of the simile, "Words as hard as cannon balls."

• To be strong and high powered.

12. Respond to the Essay. Write a paragraph expressing your reactions to the essay.