Emerson's conception of the writer's role evolved because of--and also in spite of--the Common-sense philosophy and rhetoric he absorbed during his college years. The Scottish critics, Dugald Stewart, Archibald Alison, Hugh Blair, and Francis Jeffries, helped, ironically, both to unleash and restrain Emerson's writing genius. From 1818, the first year he submitted a college essay for a Harvard prize, to 1814, the year he published his first series of Essays, he would increasingly expand upon the Scottish rhetorical theory and philosophy he learned at Harvard. / Chapter one presents an overview of studies that examine Emerson's attitudes toward Scottish rhetorical theory. This overview establishes a need for a study of Emerson's early rhetorical principles in relation to the Common-sense philosophy underlying these principles. In chapter two, those tenets of Scottish philosophy that influenced Emerson's rhetorical literary opinions during and shortly after his Harvard years are highlighted. / Emerson followed neoclassical conventions in prose writing and criticism in his first two years at Harvard. Chapter three focuses on these early years and reveals Emerson's dependence on the rhetorical theory and precepts he found in Hugh Blair's Lectures on Rhetoric and the Belle Lettres. Chapters four and five discuss the influence of both Edward T. Channing, Emerson's rhetoric teacher, and of William E. Channing, the great Unitarian minister. These brothers helped to reshape Emerson's perceptions about the art of writing and oratory. Both Channings, fully trained in Scottish Common-sense rhetoric and philosophy, encouraged Emerson to explore his "place of mind" as a source for an original style. At the same time, they urged "habits of watchfulness" in writing that Emerson would eventually find restrictive. / Emerson's style preferences in the 1840s are implicit in his complaints about the "calculated" rhetoric of the day. As chapter six will demonstrate, he would adopt strategies transcending the limited standards his Scottish-trained teachers had imposed upon the orator and writer in America. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-04, Section: A, page: 0983. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1985.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_75522 |
| Contributors | LESLIE, VIRGINIA ANNE., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 223 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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