Discuss Emerson's style with reference to some of his essays.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, a Transcendentalist, felt that the
self is an autonomous spirit which acts according to universal moral laws. Located in
all objects, this spiritual self develops from communion with nature.  In his essay
Nature, Emerson employs analytical reasoning as he points to
the heavenly state of nature whose existence is in conjunction with the spirit:  As he
explains the reactions of people to nature, Emerson is forced to conclude that its power
to delight does not exist independently.  Instead, he argues, "Nature always wears the
colors of the spirit."  For the man who is happy, there is a delight in nature, but for
the man who has just lost a friend, the "sky is less
grand."

Thus, with Emerson's arguments, there
is in Nature a recurring tension between emotion and intellect. 
When he is more rational, Emerson denies that nature has a soul, but when his emotion
overwhelms him, he endows nature with a transcendence. 

In
his essay Self-Reliance, Emerson makes use of many figures of
speech that compare abstract ideas with ordinary things or events.  For instance,
he uses metaphor as he writes that

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Society is a joint-stock company in which the
members agree for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the
liberty and culture of the
eater. 

Emerson also makes
other points through the use of analogy; for example, he
writes

This
sculpture in the memory is not without preestablished harmony.  The eye was placed where
one ray should fall that it might testify of that particular
ray.

He also
uses illustration.  For example, when Emerson writes that "to be great is to be
misunderstood," he alludes to such greats as Pythagoras, Socrates, Luther, Copernicus,
Galileo, and Newton, who were all misunderstood.

Because
most of Emerson's essays contain all of his major ideas, they may sometimes seem to be
without logical connection; however, Emerson's central ideas are powerful and are always
expressed succintly and with much insight. In fact, critics remark upon Emerson's
masterful command of common language.