Emerson Essays Questions
Nature
1. Decipher the meaning of the word “retrospective.” What does Emerson mean when he says,
“our age is retrospective”?
2. Emerson believes we should not “grope among the dry bones of the past” but should instead do
what?
3. Where can we find “Perpetual youth”?
4. How does being in nature affect the author? Find and copy a line to support your answer.
5. Emerson says he “becomes a transparent eyeball.” What does this mean?
6. Emerson writes, “that spirit does not act upon us from without, that is, in space and time, but
spiritually, or through ourselves.” Which aspect of transcendental belief does this statement
relate to? Explain.
7. In the last line, Emerson suggests that “the possibilities of man” are limitless. How does he come
to this conclusion?
Self-Reliance
1. Look at the first sentence. Explain, in detail, what Emerson is saying (note: the sentence starts
with “there is a time…” and ends with “…given to him to till).
2. Emerson argues that every individual is unique and that different things appeal to different
people for a reason. Find the line(s) where he talks about this and copy it/them.
3. Emerson says that we should trust whom?
4. According to Emerson, what do people surrender (give up) in order to make society flow more
smoothly?
5. What virtue does society most desire in its members?
6. Who adores “foolish consistency?” What does Emerson mean by “foolish consistency?”
7. Fill in the blanks: “To be ________________is to be______________________.”
8. What is the difference between intuition and tuition?
9. Emerson says, “We lie in the lap of immense intelligence, which makes us receivers of its truth
and organs of its activity. When we discern justice, when we discern truth, we do nothing of
ourselves, but allow a passage to its beams.” What core belief of transcendentalism does this
passage relate to? Explain.
Friendship
1. According to Emerson, “everyman alone is sincere.” What happens when a second person enters
the picture?
2. Emerson tells a story of a man who “under a certain religious frenzy” decides to do nothing but
tell the truth. How did people initially react to this man? Eventually, how did people come to
treat him?
Experience
1. Emerson says “life is not dialectics.” What does this mean?
2. Emerson writes, “If a man should consider the nicety of the passage of a piece of bread down this
throat, he would starve.” What does this mean? What core belief of transcendentalism does this
relate to?
3. According to Emerson, what is happiness?
4. Emerson writes, “We live amid surfaces, and the true art of life is to skate well on them.” Explain
what he means by this.
5. Which does Emerson think is more important, a long life or a full life? Defend your answer.
6. The Latin phrase, “carpe diem,” means “seize the day.” Find a passage from “Experience” that
reflects this idea.
The Journals
1. In the first few lines of “The Journals,” Emerson divides people into two parts: the part that can
be inventoried, and the part that cannot. Explain what he means by this.
2. Emerson writes: “This is that which the preacher and the poet and the musician speak to. This is
that which the strong genius works upon; the region of destiny, of aspiration, of the unknown.”
What is the “this” that Emerson is talking about?
3. In the last paragraph of “The Journals,” Emerson suggests that people are not confined to only
this one life, but that we are part of a cycle that continues on and on. Find and copy line(s) that
illustrate this idea.