Question

which statement best describes emersons opinion of communities, according to the first paragraph of society and solitude?

• regardless of how tightly bound communities may seem, each person is ultimately alone.
• communities are important for the well - being of the individuals that comprise them.
• people live in communities for the purpose of friendship, but nothing else is gained from them.
• communities are the foundation of human society, and without them people would perish.

Explanation:

Ralph Waldo Emerson's Society and Solitude opens with the idea that even within connected communities, each individual retains an inherent sense of isolation and self-reliance, emphasizing the primacy of the individual's inner, separate experience. The other options contradict this core opening argument: Emerson does not frame communities as critical to well-being, reduce them to only friendship, or position them as essential survival foundations.

Answer:

A. Regardless of how tightly bound communities may seem, each person is ultimately alone.