The American Scholar (Part II)

       Today in class, we talked about the "influences" that Emerson wrote in his American Scholar. I found it difficult to follow his ideas  while just reading it. Most of the time I have to read through a sentence more than two times and look up some words.
       There are three main influences: nature, mind of past, and action. The first one, Emerson was stressing that the human mind is connected to the nature, and it is the scholar's duty to understand those concepts and investigate it.

       The mind of past is the second influence on the American Scholar. We should always learn from those before us, to read, to observe, and to study. However, he also explained that they should not only just stubbornly repeated the old leanings, but also absorbed and adjusted it for the present.
       The third influence is action. Only by thinking all the concepts were not enough. Intellectual leaders were responsible to take actions and interact with the world; change the thinking concepts into a realistic helpful sources.
       In summary, Emerson was trying to remind the following scholars that they were there to guide other men, not just being individual thinkers.