Reference no: EM133329224

Topic: In his 1837 speech at Harvard, The American Scholar, Ralph Waldo Emerson said the following:

"Books are the best of things, well used; abused, among the worst. What is the right use? What is the one end, which all means go to effect? They are for nothing but to inspire. I had better never see a book, than to be warped by its attraction clean out of my own orbit, and made a satellite instead of a system. The one thing in the world, of value, is the active soul. This every man is entitled to; this every man contains within him, although, in almost all men, obstructed, and as yet unborn. The book, the college, the school of art, the institution of any kind, stop with some past utterance of genius."

Question: Respond to this passage. In that response, be sure to do the following:

• Describe Emerson's tone toward books and colleges. Use and explain quotes for support (no need to cite quotes). Tone can be strong positive, weak positive, neutral (not passing judgement, just reporting facts), weak negative, and strong negative.
• Do you agree or disagree with what he says about books and colleges? Why?
• Were you a professor, would you want students to read a quote that has such a tone toward books and institutions of learning? Why?
• Respond to at least one post of your classmates.