Self- Reliance pg 281, 1-5 a & b

1a.) According to Emerson, every person at a certain point in his or her education comes to realize the envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to til.

1b.) He says that envy is ignorance because if you are envy of someone you are paying attention to them and what they do and want and are ignoring, or being ignorant to yourself and what actually works for you. You are to busy worrying yourself over being like someone else that you aren't paying attention to yourself, and who you actually are. He says that imitation is suicide because Emerson believes that in order to be alive you have to have your own thoughts but when you are imitating someone your are taking there thoughts, and so to Emerson you are dead.
The alternative the Emerson recommends is for you to trust your self and be who you want, and don't follow societies image of a person. He says "Trust they self.... Accept the place the divine Providence has found for you; the society of your contemporaries, the connexion of events."

2a.) The virtue that society asks of each person is conformity. Emerson says people should strive to be a nonconformist instead.

2b.) Emerson Advocates nonconformity because he believes people need to trust their own ideas, that they need to be their selves and not societies image of a person, because if you don't, you become ignorant of yourself. To Emerson means by nonconformity means to not surrender the liberty and culture of yourself. It means to not follow the usual footsteps that society has placed, it means to be yourself and trust your ideas.

3a.) The type of behavior that is difficult but essential for greatness is to be able to live after your own opinion in the midst of a crowd.

3b.) Emerson is saying that a person, in order to be great, has to be able to be himself, like he would be if he were alone, when he is around people, or in the midsts of a crowd. The independence of solitude is = how you are when you are by yourself. It is something for which to strive for because it is they only way you will be great in life.

4a.) The qualities that distinguish them from other people was that they came up with ideas and said them even though it was not what society thought or believed in at the time.

4b.) Great people might sometimes be inconsistent because to be consistent is to be that same everytime, and great people are those that are different and don't keeps things the same or like the rest of society so they will be inconsistent to be different. They type of consistency Emerson believes in though is speaking your mind and saying what you believe, even when it changes. Emerson believes it is important to speak your mind.

5a.) Yes I do believe it is better ti rely on yourself rather than upon others for your values and your principles. The benefits for being self- reliant is you are not ignorant, You learn self lessons on your own. By letting your own personality shine, you find the true meaning of your life. You can not find this by coping someone else. You don't have to stress about worrying over what others think of you.

5b.) Nonconformists have the greatest impact because they are so different than everyone else. It is because people notice when something is different. They remember them because the are strange. A nonconformist can change society so radically because people will see them being different or their self, and the people like it, so they will do it too. Rosa Parks is a nonconformist because she didn't believe that just because she was black should she less equal than a white person. She went against society and stuck up for herself.