CLAIMS VERSUS OBSERVATIONS
Moving From the Obvious to Theoretical/Hypothetical
Observations: An empirical or practical
observation about the text that is obvious, conclusive and not debatable.
Generally, observations recap the “what” of a text: what the author says or believes, what happens, so forth, writing that lends more to summary than
analytical development.
Claims: Claims are
theoretical statements (derived from
a hypothesis or driving theoretical question) that are debatable, matters of
interpretation, and therefore require justification and elaboration. It is your
job to convince readers of the legitimacy of your claim / driving theoretical
idea (presented as the thesis).
Exercise: Determine which of these statements are claims and which are merely factual observations.
1) Ralph
Waldo Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” is a highly debatable piece that continues to shape
and influence our thinking today.
2) Emerson
states why people should be more self-reliant, what’s generally stopping them,
and how to overcome these barriers.
3) Although
it’s easy to disagree with some of what Emerson has to say, most of his ideas
are very intelligent and should be considered.
4) According
to Emerson, people live through the world around them because they are taught
to conform to the names and the customs society practices.
5) Emerson,
nineteenth century poet and writer, expresses a philosophy of life, based on
our inner self and the presence of the soul.
6) “Do not
seek answers outside yourself.” This is one of the main ideas of Emerson’s
philosophy.
KEY: You want to move beyond the obvious (i.e., “Emerson exhorts people to not conform
and to embrace their individuality”) to say something about the text that isn’t readily obvious to the reader and
therefore a matter of persuasion. In other words, you must do more
(substantially more) than simply tell me what the author is saying and what
he/she means. You must draw conclusions and form interpretations
about the significance, meaning, and/or impact of the work (and its
philosophy)—see handout on “Interpretive Questions” for guidance.
Here are some protocols for developing a
strong theoretical thesis:
?
It
must be speculative (it necessitates further discussion/argument)
?
It
should involve a certain complexity; it cannot be obvious (i.e., restating
plot)
?
It
must be specific (avoid broad and
vague statements—“Emerson’s philosophy of individualism teaches us overcome
many struggles” or “Emerson’s essay deals with many life questions”)
Avoid
Vague, Generalized, and “Preachy” statements:
People need to practice aversion and escape the
conformity that society strives on.
Being yourself will help you to solve the problems
of your life. We need to trust ourselves in order to improve our life, like all
great men have done.
Avoid
Responses of Personal Narrative
After
reading the ideas expressed in “Self-Reliance,” I have come to believe that
self-reliance is the most important factor in my past and future life.
$ Sample
Emerson's
Self-Reliance
The Explicator;
Conflicting modes of
thought on Emerson and slavery continue to prove especially vexing. While I
will refrain in this note from engaging the ongoing debates in any depth, I
offer what I trust is a relatively new look at the comments Emerson makes about
blacks and abolitionists in his 1841 essay “Self-Reliance.”
At first glance, Emerson
seems insufficiently sensitive to the plight of African peoples held in
captivity. Rather than join with abolitionists and combat slavery, he
apparently chooses to embrace “nearer duties.” He writes concerning abolition:
If an angry bigot
assumes this bountiful cause of Abolition, and comes to me with his last news
from Barbadoes [sic], why should I not say to him,
“Go love thy infant; love thy wood-chopper: be good-natured and modest: have
that grace; and never varnish your hard, uncharitable ambition with this
incredible tenderness for black folk a thousand miles off.”
We could certainly read
this passage as a rather harsh revision of Candide’s
“we must cultivate our [own] gardens.” Or put in more contemporary parlance,
since charity begins at home, let’s forget about those black folk enslaved a
thousand miles away and care for our own. However, a more valid assessment of
Emerson’s language comes when the lines are read within the context of the
essay as a whole. As with preceding biblical allusions, Emerson echoes the apostle John’s assertion that “If a man say, I love God, and
hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love
God whom he hath not seen?” (1 John 4.20). Similar to
the apostle John, Emerson hears a man claim to love people living thousands of
miles away whom he has never seen, yet the man shuns his infant and shuns his
brother wood-chopper whom he sees daily. It is within this context that Emerson
asks, “Why should I not say to him, ‘Go love thy infant....’”
Viewed from this
perspective, the passage is clearly not a call for selfishness at the expense
of the enslaved. Instead, Emerson is seeking to guide the disingenuous
philanthropist inward to a keener perception of his own duplicity and
selfishness. In addition to hearing the philanthropist trumpet the latest news
from Barbados, a perceptive Emerson notices that he ignores the cries of the
impoverished and enslaved at home in “civilized” America. This much-debated
passage demands, in short, that the philanthropist (and the essay's readers)
gaze, as did Emerson and the apostle John before him, beneath the surface
tenderness to see the poor both within and without.
Exercise: Identify the
author’s claims.
In his essay “Self-Reliance,”
Emerson at first glance seems insufficiently sensitive to the plight of blacks
held in slavery. A more valid assessment, however, comes when certain lines are
read within the context of the essay as a whole.