This is stating that God isn't everything, and that you if you are a truly good person than you are going to heaven, "He who does a good deed is instantly ennobled himself. He who does a mean deed is by the action itself contradicted." You could say that Emerson preached to the wrong crowd of people while delivering this speech, but this is why I'm fond of him. He caused an up roar whenever he wrote something and this caused me to respect him more than if he were to just be a coward (how do you spell that word?) and a follower. I have respect for Emerson because he suggests intelligent thoughts in his writing.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Emerson
Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman, were all similar writers, but when asked which author is my prefered author, a have to say hands down Emerson. The first piece of Ralph Waldo Emerson we looked at was the Divinity School Address. Emerson wrote an address for the graduating class at the Harvard Divinity school that caused quite an uproar, which is why in my opinion he attracted so many peoples attention. Some things that caused people to turn a cold shoulder to him are some of the lines spoken to the graduating class at the divinity school. "Jesus Christ belonged to the true race of prophets.... 'I am divine. Through me God acts; through me, speaks. Would you see God, see me; or, see thee."-Emerson.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Xanthe,
ReplyDeleteFirst off, thanks for the huge typeface (a real treat for my old eyes). Seriously, I like the fact that you've sided with Emerson--and with the notion that he spoke his mind even in the face of what he knew would be extreme criticism. (You also seem to be interested in more liberal notions of religion, or "spirituality"). This latter would make a good topic for the essay we'll begin working on next week. You could (if you were so inclined) use Emerson's observations (which you could reproduce in bits and pieces) as a sport of springboard to launch you into a discussion of what role religion plays in contemporary life. Might be fun (and informative).
Thanks for the ideas Lav.
ReplyDeleteI'm still not really sure what I'm going to write about its still not 100% clear to me, but I'm sure i wil figure it out. Thanks for the comment!!!!!!!!!