Humanities
Mr. Waterman & Ms. Sonni
“American Scholar” Discussion Questions
Group Member Names:
Directions: Respond to the discussion questions that correspond to your assigned category. Please cite examples from the
text to support your answers.
Nonconformity – 1, 2
Self-Reliance – 3, 4
Free Thought – 5, 6
Confidence – 7, 8,
Importance of Nature – 9, 10
You may answer the questions on a separate sheet of paper, on the back of your group’s Transcendentalism Chart
handout, or on the back of this sheet. Although you only need to turn in one sheet per group, it may be beneficial to keep
a copy for yourself to study for the unit exam.
1. Explain the three influences on the scholar that Emerson discusses. Which of these influences do you believe is
most significant to the scholar and why?
2. Among the scholarly duties Emerson discusses, what is the overarching duty of the scholar? Explain why you
think this is the primary duty?
3. Emerson says that man is defined by his occupation in society and that he should not be defined thus. Do you
agree or disagree that this is a wrong way to define or classify people? Why?
4. Are Emerson’s ideas from the “American Scholar” relevant to our current culture or are they out of date, or both?
Explain your answer thoroughly, pointing to specific aspects of the text that you believe are relevant of out dated.
5. What is the difference between a “man thinking” and a “man that is a mere thinker?” How is this distinction
significant to Emerson’s purpose?
6. How can reading books be harmful to becoming a scholar and yet inspire scholars at the same time? (p. 2-3)
7. Emerson states, “Each age, it is found, must write its own books; or rather, each generation for the next
succeeding. The books of the older period will not fit this [one].” If we truly adopted Emerson’s view of books,
would we be reading his writing today? Why should we look back to his past genius? Does he say anything in this
text that encourages us to do so?
8. Where in this essay do you see Emerson’s doctrine that “man is one” and all men are unified? Explain this
doctrine and discuss why it is significant in Emerson’s overall view of American scholarship.
9. Explain the underlying assertion behind Emerson’s comment, “Colleges and books only copy the language which
the field and workyard made.”
10. Trying to explain how the mid-19th century “American Renaissance” happened, the literary critics write that
Emerson’s essay gave rhetorical form to that conjunction of publishing events, the establishment of institutions,
and the development of personal networks that underline such advances. Put this idea into your own words.
How/why is this different from the idea that a few great minds were responsible for changing the literary tastes of
the nation?