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Biography: Emerson
Emerson attended Boston Latin School, a private academy. At age fourteen he enrolled (on scholarship) at Harvard College where he won several prizes for writing. After graduation in 1821, he worked as a teacher at a school run by his older brother William. In 1825, he enrolled in Harvard Divinity School, and a year later he began a career as a Unitarian minister. He soon became Chaplain of the Massachusetts Senate.
Emerson Biography
Emerson married Ellen Tucker, the great love of his life in 1829.
Her death a year and a half later devastated him and took a heavy toll on his religious faith. He resigned his pastorate in 1832, telling his congregation that he no longer believed in celebrating Holy Communion.
Emerson Biography
After a tour of Europe, Emerson earned a living as a lecturer. In 1835, he married his second wife, Lydia Jackson.
They lived in Concord, Mass. and had four children; one died as a boy. In Concord, Emerson became friends with author Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry David Thoreau, fellow transcendentalist and author of Walden, who became his student and close friend.
Emerson Biography
Emerson began to shape his lecture material into essays in the early 1840s. These works expound various aspects of Emersons transcendentalist philosophy. Transcendentalism stood against materialism, institutionalized religion, and slavery. Emersons strong belief in the integrity of the individual is summarized in his oft-repeated phrase, trust thyself, and given full expression in his famous essay Self Reliance, published in 1841.
Emotional Appeal
Emersons tight rational argument is complemented by energetic and passionate language that appeals to readers emotions.
He uses the effective technique of using images from nature.
Romanticism
Emerson is considered an American icon of Romanticism. Emersons philosophy as expressed in SelfReliance largely overlaps the ideas of romanticism, which include the inherent worth of the individual, the importance of personal freedom from religious and social restrictions, and the divinity of nature.
Themes
Individualism Nonconformity Originality versus Imitation Past, Present, and Future Cause and Effect versus Fortune
Summary
Genius Societal Disapproval and Foolish Consistency Self-Worth Relation of Individual to God The Highest Truth Resist Temptation Effects of Self-Reliance