Ralph Emerson's Self Reliance '

In Ralph Emerson’s Self Reliance he expresses the joy and calmness felt when people follow their heart and do what they love. Along with this idea he has a great passion for how important it is for people to be themselves, and how everyone is uniquely different. I personally believe in Emerson’s cause, and that everyone has their own special gifts from God, therefore they shouldn’t conform to society. In his essay, Ralph Emerson stresses how one must accept themselves and follow the path God has given them. He does this by telling us not to envy others. He says “Envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide” (p.369). This quote means that Emerson sees that the only happiness in people’s lives can be created by themselves, envying others won’t bring them happiness. Secondly, that by imitating others, they give up on themselves and lose their identity. Next he states his main
I agree that everyone is unique and that they should follow their hearts, and if they do that they will succeed. Correspondingly I agree that envying or imitating others means to lose part of myself. I strongly believe that to be happy I need to be myself and use the talents given to me by God. I wouldn’t go to the extent of saying if I don’t follow God’s path for me though that I’ll never be content or that I’ll be lost in the world. Ralph Emerson is extremely effective in presenting the importance of being who I am. He uses power charged words like divine, faithfully, and immortal to help with the imagery he’s trying to create. By using restatement Emerson successfully is able to not only stress his argument, but also help me understand in a number of ways. With power charged words, several different points, allusions, and by restatement, Emerson’s essay is effective in persuading or helping me to understand his argument and