Life is our Dictionary

For American Lit this week, we had to read "American Scholar" by Ralph Waldo Emerson. I loooved it!

His way of writing is very... Spacey? I'm not sure this is the right word for it, but I am going to go with it. Granted, some of that may have come from the fact that I read it at 2 in the morning but.. I still enjoyed it very much.

I think I marked up his "American Scholar" more so that I have any other selection. There were just so many great quotes. Some of my particular favorites were:

"Thus far, our holiday has been simply a friendly sign of the survival of the love letters, amongst a people too busy to give to letters any more.

In the degenerate state, when victim of society, he tends to become a mere thinker or, still worse, the parrot of other men’s thinking.

The sacredness which attaches to the act of creation - the act of thought - is instantly transferred to the record. The poet chanting, was felt to be a divine man.

To create - to create - is the proof of divine presence. Whatever talents may be, if the man create not, the pure efflux of the Deity is not his; - cinders and smoke, there may be, but not yet flame.”

These are just a few out of loads of quotes I marked. Even as much as I liked him, his prose was somewhat difficult to understand at times. He speaks with a very philosophical dignity, a type of transparent abstraction. I think that is part of what gives it its beauty, however. Even if I don’t necessarily agree with everything he said, I very much appreciated his use of language. He writes absolutely beautifully.

I thought the part where he talked about book worms particularly humorous. I am an English major and I am typically proud to have the title of “book worm” but Emerson’s opinion on the subject matter made me consider it more thoroughly. I am still proud to claim that title, but his points force me to remember that I should not be reading a book and automatically regurgitate the opinion of the author in my own life. It is a reminder of where the “critical thinking” objective that USF is so big on comes into play.

My finishing thoughts are these: I love Emerson, I will probably read more of his work outside of class, and I think USF should include “American Scholar” in LAR classes.