Individuality

Ingersoll, Robert Green, 1833-1899Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.4

Word count: 43K words
Chapters: 5

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Individuality by Robert Green IngersollAuthor: Ingersoll, Robert Green, 1833-1899,Language: English, Class: BL: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion: Religion: General, Miscellaneous and Atheism, Release Date: Nov 22, 2011

Editor's review

Ingersoll's text is a typical speech-style argumentative essay, centered on individual independence, freedom of thought, and personal dignity. The tone is direct and the rhythm brisk, carrying the immediacy of nineteenth-century American public speaking. Rather than relying on an elaborate system of argument, it moves the audience through firm conviction and expressive phrasing, so it reads more like face-to-face persuasion than a quiet academic paper. For today's readers, its value lies in observing how individualism, authority, belief, and doubt were publicly expressed in a specific historical context. The Project Gutenberg edition is easy to search and cite, making it a useful supplementary text for intellectual history or the study of speech genres. Read it as a speech: notice how short sentences and rhetorical questions drive the argument forward.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in nineteenth-century American intellectual history and public speaking
Students and teachers studying argumentative essays, speech genres, and rhetoric
Readers who want a short introduction to the freethought tradition
Learners seeking English short texts for close reading practice

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting systematic philosophical argument and a rigorous theoretical framework
Readers uncomfortable with blunt criticism of religion and belief
Readers who want light stories rather than discursive writing

Reading tips

Read through once for the rhythm of the speech, then examine paragraph by paragraph how the argument builds.
Read passages aloud to feel how short sentences and rhetorical questions work in oral delivery.
Read a brief background on nineteenth-century American thought, then revisit the text.
After reading, write down one point you agree with and one you disagree with as further reflection.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this a complete book or a single speech?

Judging by its Project Gutenberg classification and length, it is a text presented as a single essay or speech rather than a full-length treatise. Read it as a complete public speech and grasp its stance and tone accordingly.

Can I understand it without knowing the author's background?

Yes. The text itself has a clear stance and direct language and does not depend on extensive prior knowledge. But knowing the background of nineteenth-century American public debate on religion and free thought will help you grasp its targets and period flavor.

Is it suitable as material for close reading in English?

Yes. It is short, with clear sentence structures and focused arguments, making it easy to analyze rhetoric and argumentative structure paragraph by paragraph. Read it aloud once, then select key sentences for grammatical and logical analysis, and finally summarize the main idea.

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About the author

Ingersoll, Robert Green, 1833-1899 Author

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833–1899) was a prominent nineteenth-century American orator and writer, known for his eloquence and his critique of religious orthodoxy. This site holds thirty-two of his works, including lecture collections and collected writings, commonly classified under inspirational growth. Representative titles include Walt Whitman: An Address, the multi-volume Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, and Hell: Warm Words on the Cheerful and Comforting Doctrine of Eternal Damnation. His prose is direct and incisive, using parallel structure and satire to address reason, free thought, and moral questions before ordinary audiences. His speeches were widely influential in his day and remain important sources for studying the American freethought tradition. Because public information is limited, biographical details are omitted; readers may sense his argumentative style and intellectual concerns through these works.