Ralph Waldo Emerson

This critical analysis identifies the different rhetorical strategies and techniques that Emerson used first as a traditional New England preacher and then as he became a widely renowned public lecturer. Ten texts illustrating his different kinds of speeches on a wide array of subjects, such as prayer, manners, eloquence, the American scholar, the genuine man, and the fugitive slave law, accompany the analysis. A speech chronology and bibliography pointing to important primary and secondary materials further enrich this Great American Orators reference tool for students, scholars, and professionals in rhetoric, history, and American studies.