Thursday, September 23, 2010
Emmerson's Self-reliance essay
In Emmerson's Essay, he portrays the idea of individualism and how people compare to their society. In his writing, he is addressing that a society should be filled with diversity than instead of people all trying to be the same. "It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude" (23). Emmerson is adressing in this phrase that it is very easy and compelling to a person to be a follower. He is also saying that this is a confliction to our society and that this is a problem. People want to be like everybody else and to blend in with the general society to feel like they belong and feel like they are a part of something. This quote shows that Emmerson wants people to be unique and stand out in society so that there can be more of a variety of ideas and opinions formed by people within a society. If everyone wants to be like someone or wants to believe like someone else, they will not be expressing what they really feel. Because of this, there will be a big gap missing within a society that will prevent a society from flourishing.
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I also agree with what you said about individualism, which I also wrote about in my blog. I also agree with what you said about nonconformity, and how being an outcast is not always a bad thing in society. When there are different ideas and opinions, there are different interest groups in a society.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your quote. It is easy to conform with other believes that were already thought of but in the end it is better to be enlightened and believe what you want to believe in, no matter what other people try to influence your life!
ReplyDeleteCiao!
-Z
it is important that everyone in a society is individual and unique in a society and i agree that Emerson is saying that. I also agree that being an outcast is not a bad thing, it is important to have different ideas within a society.
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