Thoreau At 200 Rhetorical Analysis

Improved Essays
It was a tall white pine, on the top of a hill; and though I got well pitched, I was well paid for it, for I discovered new mountains in the horizon which I had never seen before, —so much more of the earth and the heavens” (2027). Due to his strong language, as readers we are able to visualize climbing a tall white pine tree, discovering new mountains, and finding the missing pieces in ourselves along the way. It is his imaginative approach to language and nature that allows us to accept his words and believe that we are going with him on an adventure through his writing.
Likewise, Thoreau gives us many anecdotes in his essay that we can learn from. Author Kristen Case effectively describes an anecdote in her book Thoreau at 200: Essays

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    In "Civil Disobidience" by Thoreau, he explains the goverment and how it is being ran as a whole. Thoreau includes imagery,diction, and mode of discourse as an argumentative. He uses these devices to emphasize how he's againstamerican goverment. Thoreau uses mode of discourse and chose to write it in argumentative form. He chose to go against the goverment and stay true to his own belief system.…

    • 328 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    this book, many of Thoreau’s views influenced McCandless through his decisions including his choice to leave his wealthy life behind to venture into the depths of the Alaskan wildness, giving up all of his personal possessions, and the way that he views American society.…

    • 544 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Thoreau developed his argument against the government by using tone amd diction. Furthermore, Thoreau used tone to persuade his argument against the government. Thoreau said, "... What kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it..." Giving the reader to take a moment to question what the government is capable of doing.…

    • 206 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Henry David Thoreau won his audience over in the appeal to pathos, when describing his time in prison, for not paying poll­tax. But his strongest appeal is the appeal to ethos. Thoreau is not only a philosopher, poet, essayist and naturalist, but also has experience first hand in jail. Readers usually take to a strong sense of credibility to first hand experiences, such as his. Logos appears rarely, once when he made a connection the the,then current, Mexican war.…

    • 176 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Danielle Bagley Professor Behr American Lit 222 10/13/15 American creator, writer, naturalist, visionary, and abolitionist, Henry David Thoreau was a prosperity to American Literature for a long time. Thoreau once said, "the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation". This quote originated from his book, Walden which focuses on communicating a visionary and naturalist point of view on life and recognizing the world around you. This quote can be interpreted as Thoreau saying that you should lead a life of trustworthiness and not rely on anybody but yourself. The quote is from chapter one, Economy and concentrates on the optimistic side of Thoreau.…

    • 694 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Wood insist the essay was a narrative and dramatic essay which caused critics to think his work was out of proportion and uninteresting. Wood thinks his focus and accomplish was too dramatic and narrative form, yet his work lacked the message to his essay on being a truly self-reliant man. Wood and other critics expected to read and get the message with more supporting details on civil disobedience rather than his experience and thoughts. Thoreau offered encouragement to the individual’s rights, to withdraw any support from a government whose policies are evil. He was such a moral thinker, did not fear possible consequences of civil disobedience against injustice.…

    • 1663 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In this quote, Thoreau is using symbolism to compare big and often controversial thoughts, beliefs, and opinions to a bullet from a gun. It could also be argued that a hyperbole is being used as Thoreau was exaggerating when he said, “...else it may plow out again through the side of his head.”. Both of these figurative devices are effective because it makes a powerful connection in the reader’s head and draws attention to the seriousness of his statement. Thoreau likely used these devices to get his message across to his readers because people have notoriously been known to be very stubborn and have very strong opinions. By making such a strong comparison, it in a sense gives his readers a reality check about the impact their words and opinions…

    • 134 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In Thoreau’s letter he uses a lot of emotional and logical appeal. He talks about how the government should just be there to insure the freedom of the people and not be abusing power by deciding to get in control of peoples private lives. He says how each man should have the right to be able to live his life how he wants and that the government should not be able to intrude and try to take control of his personal life. He is trying to appeal to the people who are reading this which are probably the citizens who live near him, and he is trying to prove a point to the people in government that they are no more important than the citizens and they should have no control over their lives. Mlk Jr. seems to use more ethical appeal than Thoreau,…

    • 259 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Given all the topics brought up in the texts, the idea of the city really stuck out to me. I found the rural and urban contrasts; especially the aspects that make a walker feel free, intriguing. Through closer reading, I realized that although multiple writers hint towards an authoritative entity that prevents walking, few give it a name. After reading de Certeau and Solnit it became clear to me that the hints were towards the city. When I did more research, many writers mention architecture and how it predisposes humans to take a certain path.…

    • 1015 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The separation between spirit and nature is Enlightenment’s existence. Without this split, the bourgeois economy would collapse, along with its hierarchy and division of labor; thus, the Enlightenment would cease to exist. Along with its existence, the bourgeois economy’s rationale may fall to unreason, to the mad. Enlightenment seeks to maintain a strong hold upon reason with knowledge, only by dispelling unreason. Reason is obtained through subjugation, that of the rational and irrational, that of the norm and that of the mad.…

    • 579 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In his essay, “Walking,” Henry David Thoreau discusses a number of ideas on wilderness and society, and makes several bold claims about society’s detrimental effect on the “wild.” He begins by expressing his affinity for taking long walks on which he “saunters” outdoors. Thoreau explains that not everyone is equipped with the necessary disposition for these types of journeys and says, “no wealth can buy the requisite leisure, freedom, and independence which are the capital in this profession.” He doesn’t appreciate the fast pace and development of society, but rather prefers the world in its natural state.…

    • 947 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Based on the research I found throughout Thoreau’s writings, as well as the textbook, I have come to the conclusion that the public during this era were very materialistic, and dependent on the concept of industrializing. There was a select few people who called themselves Individualists, that believed “…modern society stifled individual judgment by making men “tools of their tools,” trapped in stultifying jobs by their obsession with acquiring wealth.” The Market Revolution was a time period of industrialization. It focused on not only improvements for the economy, such as means of transportation and the trading of slaves, but also improvements for the market and individualistic thinkers. The public really liked the idea of anything that would…

    • 360 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    At the end of the chapter Thoreau soft meditation turns into a bitter discussion about modern day society. He wants us to live “ deliberately as nature and not be thrown off the track by every nutshell and mosquito’s Wing that falls on the rails.” Thoreau wants modern day society to move forward as nature does and divert from destructions like technology. Thoreau is challenging human nature to push forward no matter what the circumstance like nature.…

    • 902 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Henry David Thoreau, an unconventional Romantic writer, uses his experience at Walden Pond to decipher the significant elements of life. Through his time spent in solitude, he ponders upon personal development and wishes to “live deliberately” and simply. Thoreau’s idea of living simply and reflecting on the important things in life allows him to realize that society is filled with a myriad of detrimental matters, including the prominent materialistic mindset, unnecessary distractions including technology, and a lack of simplicity. In “Where I Lived, And What I Lived For”, Henry David Thoreau effectively uses diction to emphasize the negative aspects of materialism, efficiently uses anecdotes and rhetorical questions to analyze the negative…

    • 1208 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    1. Thoreau is characterized as "The Now Thoreau" because of the cultural context in which the play was written. One of the fundamental driving forces of the drama is how Thoreau believes that the Mexican- American War is wrong and while he cannot stop governmental policy about it, he can voice his own dissent against that which he considers to be morally wrong. The play's historical context of the Vietnam War is not accidental.…

    • 316 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays