Ralph Waldo Emerson Essay Example for Free

Ralph Waldo Emerson EssayRalph Waldo Emerson was born into a pre-determined life. His father was a minister, so he was already set to become a minister. However, Emerson didnt believe in organized religion. This was the reason that he became a transcendentalist and wrote his undertake Self Reliance. In 1817, Emerson attended Harvard College where he first began to formulate his ideas that were portrayed in his intimately famous essay. In his essay, Emerson uses two main strategies to persuade his readers. These strategies were anecdotal stories and reasons supported by evidence. Throughout his essay, Emerson uses anecdotes as his main strategy for persuasion. For example, he tells an anecdote more or less when he was a child. When he was a child, he expressed his true beliefs to a close adult. When asked how he knows that his beliefs arent from the devil, Emerson responds by verbalize, They do not seem to me to be such but if I am the Devils child, I will live then from the Devil. In this response he is saying even if his beliefs are from the Devil, it doesnt matter. This is what he believes in and nothing can change that.This idea was Emersons main virtue that he lived by and treasured others to live by trust thyself. Emersons anecdotes prove to be a very effective dash to persuade his readers to believe in his ideas. The anecdotes in this essay are so effective because the reader is able to connect with him, and place themselves in his shoes. The anecdotes are also effective because they are a portal into Emersons life. Instead of just listing facts and statistics, Emerson chooses to tell stories about his life. This conquers his readers to connect with him on a personal level and the readers develop a stronger emotional connection with Emerson. other strategy that Emerson uses is reasons supported by evidence. This strategy is also effective because it let outs the reader a reason why they should trust themselves, and then supports the reason w ith evidence to aim why the reason is true. For example, he says that if wad dont trust themselves, then they will feel guilty and ashamed. This is the reason Emerson gives of why people pack to trust themselves, and then he supports the reason with evidence by saying that it is a waste of time to want what thers want and envy is ignorance imitation is suicide.He also says that to be truly happy, a man must accept himself for better and for worse. This evidence supports the reason that people should be happy with themselves the way they are. Emersons strategy of reasons supported by evidence is very effective because it gives the reader concrete evidence. The evidence supports the reason, and the reason supports the overall claim. The reasons and evidence are coherent appeals which appeal to the readers good sense this also makes the strategy effective.It is hard to argue when Emerson gives umteen concrete reasons to support his claim and then backs it up with even more eviden ce. Although Emersons essay Self Reliance has many good strategies and qualities, it also has some weaknesses. The essay is aimed at a small audience, better white males. If he were to open the essay up to a broader audience, he would be able to spread his idea more effectively. For example if women were also targeted in the essay, then Emersons ideas would be spread to almost twice as many people. Another weakness in the essay is the overall claim.He says that people should trust themselves. This claim has no qualifiers therefore Emerson is saying that people should trust themselves, always. This is not always true. Yet another weakness in the essay is that Emerson uses in general anecdotal evidence. Although the anecdotes prove to be effective, the evidence inside of them is not all that concrete. The claims he makes in these anecdotes are not as strong as they could be if he had more of a variety of strategies to support his claims. Ralph Waldo Emersons essay Self Reliance tell s its readers to trust themselves.He says that every heart vibrates to this iron string. Emerson uses many strategies in his essay however the two main strategies are anecdotes and reasons supported by evidence. Both of these strategies prove to be very effective on the reader. The anecdotes allow the reader to connect with Emerson, and have strong emotional appeals on the reader. While the reasons supported by evidence apply the readers logic and give concrete examples that support his claim. Self-Reliance is a well written essay that persuades its readers to listen and trust themselves.