Blog 2: What would a 21st Emerson say on this same topic?

I think a modern Emerson would agree with Emerson’s earlier ideas on “The American Scholar.” In many societies, people look up to role models or heros in order to become successful. However, Emerson’s earlier ideas stressed how scholars should be independent and think freely, neglecting what everyone else is saying or thinking. A scholar makes wise thoughts known to others through the study of the past, reading and by exploring life. Every action a scholar takes,  becomes an observation for future thoughts. Self-trust or independence would still be a idea of a 21st century Emerson. Thinking for ourselves is important and essential in becoming successful, escpecially in this nation, in which independence gave us success. Doing things our own way and being original will eventually help us find new discoveries. Emerson’s earlier idea on how everything in the world is correlated would also prove true for this century. Each day, when we study or observe, we realize these connections from one subject to another. For instacne, when we study science, we see how math and nature connect. Or when we study literature , we explore history and past philosphers in order to see how ideas relate or how they formed.

Blog 1: “The American Scholar”

Have you ever read a piece of writing where you did not understand it the first time?
Well, I read the first half of “The American Scholar,” by Emerson, and had to read it again at a slower pace to understand each passage. The second time I read it, I started understanding the message of few of the passages. For instance, I read passage ten twice and even had to read some sentences more than twice until I formed a few ideas of what it meant. Every sentence that gave me an idea, I highlighted it and wrote down my thoughts. For example, this line : “He that would bring home the wealth of the Indies, must carry out the wealth of the Indies, ” was one that I found important to the pssage. The thought that came up while reading this line was that one should go out into the real world to discover and observe.  How can one hep the Indies prosper without knowing their lifestyle or ways of life. A good author writes things based on experiences and truth from the world, through the exploration of nature and surroundings. A intellect reader will not be able to visualize and image without discovery and creativity. One who is intellect will not let learning opportnities pass by, but instead reach for hands-on and visual learning experiences. This indeed is a true scholar.