1.
Nature 《論自然》
The American Scholar 《論美國學者》
The Divinity of Address 《神學院致辭》
Representative Men 《人類代表》
English Traits 《英國特徵》
May Day 《五月節》
2.
Self-Reliance
This paragraph is taken from Emerson’s Self-Reliance,
The excerpted paragraph tells the romantic idea of individualism. In it, the author calls on people to rely on themselves rather than on established society or other ’s conformity.
In Self-Reliance，Emerson expresses the Romantic idea of individualism, with an emphasis on self-sufficient and self-reliance. He promotes relying on oneself rather than on established society. Every individual possesses a unique genius, Emerson argues, that can only be revealed when the individual has the courage to trust his or her own thoughts, attitudes, and inclinations against all public disapproval. It contains the most solid statement of one of Emerson's repeating themes, the need for each individual to avoid conformity and false consistency, follow his or her own instincts and ideas. Even if these ideas can't be understood by others, it doesn’t matter because all the great people in history such as Pythagoras Socrates, and Jesus, etc. were always misunderstood and their ideas still remain popular today.
Among the most notable characteristics of Emerson's writing style are those:
1. thorough development of his thesis through examples, repetition, and reinforcement;
2. coinage of memorable statements of principle or aphorisms.
3. frequent references(allusion) to historical and literary figures, such as Socrates, Galileo, Copernicus, Napoleon, Shakespeare, franklin and Dante, and Scipio, who embody qualities Emerson discusses;
4, frequent use of figurative language to make a point, such as an institution is the lengthened shadow of one man" praise the intuitive knowledge of human-beings. Self-reliance.
3.
Ralph Waldo Emerson is the leading New England Transcendentalist, and his work Nature is regarded as 「 The Bible of New England Transcendentalism.」
One major element of Emerson’s philosophy is his firm belief in the transcendence of the 「Oversoul」
Oversoul -- an all-pervading power for goodness, omnipresent and omnipotent.
Stress the importance of the individual. The ideal man was the self-reliant individuals
A reaction against Calvinism
To Emerson, Nature was emblematic of God. It mediates between man and god, and its voice leads to higher truth.
Nature is the symbol of the spirit.
Add to the tradition of literary symbolism in American Literature. Emerson was the prophet of his age and exerted great influence on Thoreau, Whitman Hawthorne, and others of varying ages.