| 1. What exactly does Emerson mean in Nature when he writes, "Every man's’ condition is a solution in hieroglyphic to those inquiries he would put" (440)? How does this comment relate to his thesis about nature? |
| 2. What distinction does Emerson make between Nature in the philosophical and common senses? Does Emerson's’s insistence that this distinction is unimportant still make sense in today's’ world? Why or why not? |
| 3. What does Emerson mean when he says he becomes "a transparent eye-ball" (442)? |
| 4. How does Emerson's essay combine philosophical and poetic insight? |
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| Emerson, "The American Scholar" |
| 1. What complaints does Emerson have about American culture? |
| 2. What is the difference between "Man Thinking" and the "mere thinker"? |
| 3. What is the relationship between nature and the human mind? |
| 4. What is the proper use of books? |
| 5. What place does action have in the life of the scholar? |
| 6. What are the social duties of the American scholar? |
| 7. What "signs of the times" does Emerson perceive and what significance does he find in them? |
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