03.02B Self-Reliance Questions
1. According to the opening statement, what does every person realize at some moment in his/her education?
According to the opening statement, Emerson states every person realizes that they must take themselves for better, for worse, at their portion because envy is ignorance and imitation is suicide. Meaning, that if each person recognizes their individualism and what they have to offer, then they would not need to imitate others and can just focus on bettering themselves. Emerson makes a valid point that recognizes power as a strength everyone has in themselves.
2. In the second paragraph, what does Emerson say is every person's destiny?
In the second paragraph, Emerson states to “Accept the place divine providence has found for you, the society of contemporaries, the connection of events.” This means if you accept yourself and put forth trust within yourself. He is basically saying that you should except where society has placed you because everything happens for a reason and you do not have control of your destiny.
3.…show more content… Explain what Emerson believes about society as a whole. (Paragraph 3)
Emerson continues to refer “society to a joint stock company” and says that it is a conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members. He is means that society as a whole can be harsh and wrong and that people need to have self-reliance, instead of working to make every single thing better. You need to make your own decisions if you want the best for you. If you do not, and you let society make your decisions for you, you will cause yourself more trouble. That is what Emerson believes about society as a