Ralph Waldo Emerson Case

Ralph Waldo Emerson delivered the speech, The American Scholar, on August 31, 1877 in Massachusetts to the society of Phi Beta Kappa. On the other hand, Franklin Benjamin printed pamphlets of Information to Those Who Would Remove to America in September 1782 to be distributed across Europe to explain some of the beliefs they had about America. In this brief text, I critically analyze the two texts to conclude whose work is better than the other. Therefore, the aspects of plot structure, character, setting, point of view, symbolism and theme are literary examined in this text.

Plot structure can be described as the manner in which an author arranges the narrations that make up his story and how they relate to each other in pattern and sequence. Therefore, in the essay of Benjamin Franklin, he begins with giving the misconceptions that Europe has about America. For example, he dismisses the belief that Americans are rich and generous but all the same ignorant about science disciplines. He also decries the idea that talented artists are treasured in America. He then dismisses the belief that spacious offices exist in America and cannot be occupied by the unqualified Americans. Moreover, he dismisses the idea that Americans have small families and thus highly respect strangers. Lastly, there is no government program that airlifts foreigners to the country and cater for their expenses. After mentioning his main points that he wants to refute, Franklin goes ahead to explain each by giving concrete examples. On the other hand, Ralph Waldo Emerson organizes his works into sections that relate to each other as the reader progresses. For instance, he has an introductory section from paragraph one to seven that explains his intention of exploring the scholar as a single function of the whole human being. The second section, paragraph eight to nine explores the influence of nature on the scholar while the third section of paragraph ten to twenty takes a detailed look into the influence that the books and the past events have on a scholar. In the fourth section comprising paragraph 21 to 30, Emerson focuses on how actions influence the education of the thinking man. Lastly, in the final section of paragraphs 31 to 45, Emerson dwells on the duties and responsibilities of a scholar in the society and then he concludes by giving personal views of America.

Characters are explained as the fictional individuals that the author uses in his narration to bring out the themes and messages he intends to pass to the reader. The essay by Benjamin Franklin is devoid of real characters, but instead talks about those who have wrong information about the treasures found in America. Similarly, one can argue that the countries he uses as examples are the characters in his essay aimed at bringing out the intended theme. On the contrary, Ralph Waldo takes the scholar as the main protagonist in his essay and gives a detailed analysis of the scholar as a single function of the whole human being.

As the analyses of the two books continue, I examine the settings of both books. Setting can be explained as the scene, intellectual or moral environment and the historical