Emerson encourages instead urges the scholar to be “Man Thinking.”
2. Emerson then begins to discuss influences upon the scholar. What are the two influences
(marked I and II in the text) upon the scholar? What would Emerson say is the right relation
(or response) to these influences? Think this concept through and be specific.
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Emerson.docx
The American Scholar
From The American Scholar we have the following quote:
In the degenerate state, when the victim of society, he [the scholar] tends to become
a mere thinker, or, still worse, the parrot of other men’s thinking.”
Emerson encourages instead urges the scholar to be “Man Thinking.”
1. In your own words, what does it mean to be “Man Thinking”?
2. Emerson then begins to discuss influences upon the scholar. What are the two influences
(marked I and II in the text) upon the scholar? What would Emerson say is the right relation
(or response) to these influences? Think this concept through and be specific.
3. What does Emerson say about books and learning from books?
4. The third topic Emerson discusses in this essay is action. What does Emerson say about
action in the first two paragraphs of section III?
