Frederick Douglass, Benjamin Franklin, and Ralph Waldo Emerson Essay

In our class, Survey of Ameri weed Literature, we have read and analyzed the classic American sours that have influenced and in some cases ingrained themselves into our coun strains identity and belief system. Among those studied has been Benjamin Franklins memorial, Ralph Waldo Emersons essays, The American Scholar and Self -Reliance, and Frederick Douglass Narrative. to each one of these covers a vast amount of subjects that could be discussed, scarce ace that proves most compelling is the topic of fostering. These three men, who come from different life circumstances and have wide-ranging philosophies of life, each came to define the uses of information in their own expressive styles. How ever so, they do each(prenominal) seem to express the imprint that education can be employ to empower ones self.In Benjamin Franklins Autobiography, comes through to me as a perfect example of the American dream, that being the idea that no proceeds where you come from, you can achiev e almost anything with hard work and dedication. Coming from a lower-middle class capital of Massachusetts family to being one of the most famous Americans of all time is the classic rags to riches story that he himself lived pop. The way he achieved this was by being self-educated. When looking at Franklins life, it could be said that he is a Renaissance man because he did so many things he was a printer, a writer, an inventor, a scientist, and a statesman, and the solo thing he had a formal education of was of printing.This American dream that is up to now deeply ingrained in our society today though, always seemed to be a bit of a myth to me. I breakt specify it is right to say that if you are willing to work hard enough, you will always achieve success. Things are non that simple. Of course hard work can get you places, but some population work very hard their entire lives and still dont achieve success due to unfair circumstances. I would say that success is achieved not and by hard work, but also by the right circumstances and a bit of luck.It seems to me that Franklin did not view education as what is important in life. What is important to him is what you accomplish in life. He dialog about success and how to achieve it, and education is only part of that.I grew convincd that Truth, Sincerity and unity in Dealings between Man and Man, were of the utmost Importance to the Felicity of Life pg. 268, Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography (Part 1), The Norton Anthology of American Literature.Not that education could be seen as unimportant to him. He did create the first ever circulating library, which is a way in which others can become self-educated. He almost certainly matte up that education was of great importance. It is just that I think he viewed education as a needful means to get to the greater goal of being a successful mortal. Education was a way to prepare oneself for success.Ralph Waldo Emerson was a Transcendentalist, and therefore had a somewhat different take on education. He believed that all people are inherently divine. According to him, we all know truth in hearts but we often dont recognize it or express it. I think he wants people to listen more closely to themselves for answers to their questions. Education can be used to embolden us and help oneself us realize our truths. In The American Scholar, Emerson says the true sources of education are nature, the mind of the past (most important being books), and the action taken of the heroic mind.In nature he believes we see a visible(a) representation of what is in your self, and that is ultimately divine. And because true wisdom lies within, books can help bring it out. What is most enkindle to me is that of taking action with the knowledge you have. I think here he relates to Franklin in the thought that an education is no good if you dont go and use it. His definition of actionThe preamble of thought, the convert through which it passes form the u nconscious to the conscious, is action. Only so much I know as I have lived pg. 519, Ralph Waldo Emerson, The American Scholar, The Norton Anthology of American Literature.Without action, a person would never experience the life issues that they studied. That would make it unimaginable to fully understand or form anopinion over almost anything. Gaining knowledge will only be important if it is applied through action, and validated by action. Emerson sees education as way to inspire your own mind, and in turn, help you on a road of self-discovery in your own wisdom.Frederick Douglass comes from the most exhausting circumstances (to put it lightly), being that he was enslaved and a black American in the 19th century. His annals is a story of self-discovery he details how his growing awareness of his condition, through his self-acquired education, propelled him to re-imagine himself. He had to learn to think of himself as a human being rather than as a beast of burden, as a free man rather than as a slave. This required him to educate himself at the risk of grim punishment and then to take the even greater risk of an escape attempt. After one failed try that could easily have cost him his life, he succeeded the second time. Douglass story is one of self-reliance. To him, education was necessary to his survival because it offered him a first step to get out of a life of slavery.I understood the tract from slavery to freedomThough conscious of the difficulty of learning without a teacher, I set out with high hope, and a fixed purpose, at whatever cost of trouble, to learn how to read pg. 946, Frederick Douglass, Narrative, The Norton Anthology of American Literature.Each of these men, Franklin, Emerson, and Douglass, viewed the need for education for seemingly different purposes. Franklin, who focused on how to be a successful person understood that education, was an important step in preparing oneself for future accomplishments. Emerson felt we all had the ans wers within, but saw education as a way to prompt our ground of those inner truths and convince us to express them. Douglass used education for survival and a small ray of hope that he would not remain a slave forever. But what is true of all these men is that education was used to better themselves, theyre understanding of the world around them, and to then educate others through their literary works. To educate the self is to empower the self.