Duties of an American Scholar According to Emerson

'American Scholar' is one of the famous essays of Emerson. In this essay, he mentions an American pundit's duties as an honorable person of society. A scholar can be influenced by nature, books and his action. The first and foremost influential thing of a scholar is nature. Nature gives the right lessons to a scholar. The books are his second element for nurturing his soul. In case of studying books, Emerson suggests that the scholar should not read the books of past ages too much. He should give priority to read the books at his present time because if the scholar does not solve the problems of his present time he will invalid and too much reading of past ages books do not provide any practical solution to the society. The final influential element of the American scholar is his action. Only theoretical knowledge cannot produce any distinctive decision to any problem. A man of action is the outcome of the practical wisdom of an American scholar. However, an American scholar must be self-reliant. A self-reliant is one of the main virtues of the scholar. The scholar should be cultural independent. He should engage in his country's betterment rather than not to pay any attention to foreign countries' matters. Moreover, oneness and oversoul are also potential characteristics of the scholar.