from Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Introducing the Essay

Literary Focus: Figures of Speech

Reading Skills: Understanding Figures of Speech

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from Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Dover Plains, Dutchess County, New York by Asher Brown Durand

This above all: to thine own self be true.

William Shakespeare

from Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Emerson believed that a person—not society, the church, or government—is his or her own best authority.

• the unique character and destiny of each individual

• the importance of following one’s inner voice

In this essay he expresses his ideas about

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from Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Figures of speech are imaginative comparisons of things that are basically unalike.

from Self-Reliance Literary Focus: Figures of Speech

• A figure of speech is not meant to be taken literally.

• Instead, an effective figure of speech helps us see something in a new, imaginative way.

Emerson often uses poetic figures of speech to drive home his philosophical points.

from Self-Reliance Literary Focus: Figures of Speech

Trust thyself: Every heart vibrates to that iron string.from “Self-Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson

idea of self-trust

vibration from an iron string, such as a string on a musical instrument that has been plucked

compared to

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In a good figure of speech, a characteristic of one thing helps us see the other, unlike thing in a new way.

from Self-Reliance Reading Skills: Understanding Figures of Speech

Some of Emerson’s figures of speech are complex. To understand them, you may need to

• read the figure of speech several times

• analyze the points of comparison

When you come across a difficult figure of speech in the essay, ask yourself:

from Self-Reliance Reading Skills: Understanding Figures of Speech

• What do the two things being compared have in common?

• Why has the writer chosen this particular comparison?

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