The American Scholar

How has the american scholar come to be the sluggish person he is perceived as today?  The principles from The Enlightenment that America is founded on have faded.  The present day american scholar no longer is as inventive or original as intellectuals of the past.  In this essay, Ralph Waldo Emerson's theories about the american scholar and the American education system will be discussed.  Technology is a big part of today's education system and society, but in actuality, does it serve as a benefit or disadvantage to?  The answer is both.  While technology has become a stepping stone to new discoveries, it has also become a big reason why scholars are becoming lazy.
The general argument made by Ralph Waldo Emerson in "The American Scholar" is that the american scholar needs to be more of an individual.  More specifically, Emerson argues that not a lot of people try to be different or individual.  He writes, "The mind of this country, taught to aim at low objects, eats upon itself."  In this passage, Emerson is suggesting that people do not aim to do the best, they just aim to do mediocre.  In conclusion, Emerson's belief is that people have the ability to be better scholars.

In my view, Emerson is right, because his ideas are true today.  More specifically, his ideas fit today's society better than they did during Emerson's time.  For example, in the past, scholars used books to research and understand concepts.  Nowadays, scholars have so much technology, it's not necessary to learn or work as hard.  Although Emerson might object that scholars have and always will be lazy, I maintain that scholars in the past were hard workers.  Therefore, I conclude that scholars are becoming more inactive and less hardworking.

Despite Emerson's argument in "The American Scholar" that the modern day scholar has become lazy and unmotivated, I believe the scholar is not completely at fault.  Social problems such as drugs, violence, sex and alcohol have wormed its way through to take part of many american scholars lives.  Emerson believes that scholars no longer have the mindset of overachieving.  Instead, scholars get away with doing just well enough to pass.  Emerson believes that the scholar should aim to stand out by doing his best rather than aiming to be average.  It seems that Emerson has the mindset of an obsessed parent who pushes his child to perfection.  According to The National Center for Education Statistics, dropout rates have gradually dropped since the 1800's.  Yes, many scholars are not overachievers, but is it necessary to be perfect when scholars are already attempting to do better?
Emerson would probably agree with the statement: a scholar in today's world can be so caught up in technology that he doesn't have to rely on any other sources to educate himself; however, there are two ways to view this.  One can be grateful and appreciate the fact that they now have what scholars in the past lacked, but scholars nowadays have taken advantage of technology.  This technology has been used to create rocks in society - rocks that are indifferent and no longer concerned with obtaining education.  Technology has brought the distraction of social networking as well as the ability of anybody to plagiarize anything from the internet.  Although technology has encouraged laziness in the american scholar, it has also brought change for the better of the education system.  Technology has brought something positive to society as well.  Kosta Grammatis, a man who launched this non-profit operation called A Human Right has the intentions of providing free Internet access to one or more developing countries.  Another recent breakthrough is genetically altering salmon to provide for the demands of hungry people by growing quicker.  Scientific breakthroughs such as this salmon that grows in half the regular time and satellite for free Internet access and is something to be proud of, and something Emerson might not have expected from an american scholar.  Not only can technology allow new discoveries, but it can help revolutionize public education as well.  Scholars who despise learning in a classroom environment with many others would be given the option of taking classes online in a virtual learning environment independently.  This environment mimics real-world items like exams, homework, class, and other external academic resources.  This could change the entire American education system.  Scholars could learn in the comfort of their own home.  The american scholar wouldn't have to worry about their opinions being right or wrong, or how their opinions registered into his classmates minds.  They could speak their mind and not be under judgement.  They could be confident. Dale Stephen's The Case Against College has similar ideas.  This article speaks about home schooled students doing better in standardized testing than public school students.  It's possible that introducing this virtual learning environment will result in more hardworking and intelligent kids, so why not try it?  The american scholar from the past was completely different in that he did not have to think about his ideas being judged and he knew to value education, as it was and still is a way of becoming successful.  Education was also not available to everybody, due to racial problems, gender inequality, and discrimination against low economic class.  According to Bertrand Russell's A History of Western Philosophy, The Enlightenment was a movement of intellectuals during the 18th century in which people used their minds and had a passion to question society, instead of conforming along with everybody else.  This shows what Emerson thought the american scholar should be like an 18th century intellectual, who questioned everything.

As Galileo Galilei said, "You can't teach anyone anything.  You can only help them find it within themselves."  This implies that how intelligent a scholar is is based on nothing but himself.  The american scholar must push to do his best if he wants to do better than just mediocre.  

Emerson explains that the american scholar only does well in school coincidentally or without effort.  Despite the heavy reliance of scholars on technology, there are innovative uses of technology.  People can use technology as a harness to make breakthroughs and to answer questions.
Although Emerson's ideas do apply to the modern day scholar, it did not apply to the scholar of the past, or when Emerson actually wrote this essay.

Assignment #4 draft

The American Scholar

The general argument made by Emerson in "The American Scholar" is that the american scholar needs to be more of an individual.  More specifically, Emerson argues that not a lot of people try to be different or individual.  He writes, "The mind of this country, taught to aim at low objects, eats upon itself."  In this passage, Emerson is suggesting that people do not aim to do the best, they just aim to do mediocre.  In conclusion, Emerson's belief is that people have the ability to do better.

In my view, Emerson is right, because his ideas are true today.  More specifically, his ideas fit today's society better than they did during Emerson's time.  For example, in the past, scholars used books to gain their education.  Nowadays, scholars have so much technology, it's not necessary to learn or work as hard.  Although Emerson might object that scholars have and will always be lazy, I maintain that scholars in the past were hard workers.  Therefore, I conclude that scholars are becoming more inactive and less hardworking.

Emerson argues in "The American Scholar" that the modern day scholar has become lazy and unmotivated to do well.  Emerson believes that scholars no longer have the mindset of overachieving.  Instead, scholars do just okay and get away with it.  Emerson believes that the scholar should aim to do their best and stand out rather than aiming to do mediocre.  A scholar in today's world can be so caught up in technology that they don't have to rely on any other sources to educate them.  There are many ways to view this.  One can be grateful and appreciate the face that they now have what scholars in the past lacked, but scholars nowadays have taken advantage of technology.  This technology has been used to create rocks in society - rocks that are indifferent and no longer concerned with obtaining education.  Scholars from the past knew to value education, as it was and still is a way of becoming successful.  The Age of Enlightenment, a movement of intellectuals during the 18th century, was a time when people used their minds and had a passion to question society, instead of conforming along with everybody else.  If these theories created by Emerson are true, there is no point in education, if the american scholar has no ambition to do his best.  

Emerson explains that the american scholar only does well in school coincidentally or without effort.  Although it does apply to the modern day scholar, it did not apply to the scholar of the past, or when Emerson actually wrote this essay.

"How to Do a Close Reading"

Close reading is paying attention to the subtle text.  It's paying attention to different connotations of words.  It's wondering why the author chose that certain word or phrase.  Patricia Kain's passage "How to Do a Close Reading" explains that "observations constitute the first step in the process of close reading.  The second step is interpreting your observations."  She explains that you look for patterns in the text and think about what they could mean and why the author put it there.  I found this article called "What is Close Reading? - guidance notes"  and I thought it's ideas were interesting.  According to the article, there are four types of reading: linguistic, semantic, structural, and cultural.


Sources:
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~wricntr/documents/CloseReading.html
http://www.mantex.co.uk/2009/09/14/what-is-close-reading-guidance-notes/

Thoughts on Assignment #1 and Assignment #2 Expectations

My first english college assignment was an interesting experience for me.  When I read the assignment, I didn't know who to interview and more importantly, where to start.  With further discussion in class and help from my peers, I tackled the assignment not knowing what to expect.  I believe my writing isn't the best and can be improved; the peer review really helped me see my piece in a different way and showed me how I could improve it.  I'm nervous for assignment #2 because there are so many ways of annotating a piece of literature and I tend to feel like my opinion and interpretation is the wrong one.

What would a 21st century Emerson have to say about the same topic?

21st century Emerson would have similar ideas on the american scholar, but he would have a different perspective, due to the different time periods.  Emerson would not be happy with the ways of today's american scholar.  Students don't realize that education is a privilege; not every child is blessed with learning how to read and write.  While technology such as calculators and computers is a necessity in today's American world, the american scholar abuses it, thus allowing the humankind to be dependent and sloth-like.  Emerson stated that "The next great influence into the spirit of the scholar, is, the mind of the Past,--in whatever form, whether of literature, of art, of institutions, that mind is inscribed." (The American Scholar, paragraph 12)  No matter what great influence the past is, the american scholar should always be welcome to speak his own mind, rather than become "the parrot of other men's thinking".  Emerson would also be shocked of what's happening in the world today: litter polluting the earth, third world countries with children starving, and innocent citizens dying in an unnecessary war.  The american scholar only thinks of himself while being so dependent on others, creating an egoistic attitude.  While some do attempt to help, "Help must come from the bosom alone."  The american scholar must be passionate about helping people, they cannot help if the only thing in their mind is their own benefit and their own success.  Emerson states true facts; if the american scholar does not change, he and the world might as well cease to exist.

The American Scholar by Ralph Waldo Emerson

My first reading assignment in English 101 was to read the first half of The American Scholar by  Ralph Waldo Emerson.  English is not my best subject, and I had difficulty understanding what Emerson was trying to say in the beginning of the passage.   I believe Emerson is trying to convince students to have their own way of thinking, to dig deep and find the creativeness inside them, instead of conforming to mankind's thoughts.  Emerson stated that the gods "divided Man into men"(The American Scholar, paragraph 4), which suggests that all mankind has branched from one man, one mind, and one way of thinking.  "Meek young men grow up in libraries, believing it their duty to accept the views..." (paragraph 15) It suggests that human minds are not much different from one another, but we can break free from that by taking what we are given and creating our own new ideas.  I found a few things difficult, one of them being paragraph 14.  "Or, might I say, it depends on how far the process had gone, of transmuting life into truth.  In proportion to the completeness of the distillation, so will the purity and imperishableness of the product be."  I think I wrongly interpreted this passage, leading to a confusion.