Walden Summer Assignment
Walden Summer Assignment
Background:
1. Henry David Thoreau was many things, but the most important were him being a philosopher, a naturalist, abolitionist, and a poet. He was born in Concord Massachusetts, into a modest family with his two older siblings Helen and John Jr. as well as his younger sister Sophia. He went to Harvard College in 1833 to 1837. He took courses in philosophy mathematics, and science. He wasn’t satisfied with the traditional professions for college graduates so he and his brother John taught school in Canton, Massachusetts. After he graduated he met Ralph Waldo Emerson.
2. He went into the woods because he wanted a place to write that he wouldn’t be bothered. He quotes “I went to the woods because I wish to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived”. Basically, he wanted to seize the day and get everything out of each day by removing himself from the normal life he had in Massachusetts, plus the economy was on his side.
3. Ralph Waldo Emerson influenced Thoreau because they had similar beliefs and were both poets and writers. For example, in Emerson’s essay “Self Reliance” and Thoreau’s essay “Resistance to Civil Government”. They speak about what changes need to be made in the society.
Introduction:
1. Today’s superfluous luxuries are definitely our cell phones. We can do everything on them. I could say they almost control our lives. For me the big one would be my computer. I use it every day and I could not live without it. Yes, there are some benefits of living without it mostly cost because computers are not cheap. Also it could be a social thing as well as the excuse that you need to do better things with your life then bury yourself in front of a computer screen.
2. The wilderness was basically an escape for Thoreau and he was able to see life in a different view and he was able to write
Background:
1. Henry David Thoreau was many things, but the most important were him being a philosopher, a naturalist, abolitionist, and a poet. He was born in Concord Massachusetts, into a modest family with his two older siblings Helen and John Jr. as well as his younger sister Sophia. He went to Harvard College in 1833 to 1837. He took courses in philosophy mathematics, and science. He wasn’t satisfied with the traditional professions for college graduates so he and his brother John taught school in Canton, Massachusetts. After he graduated he met Ralph Waldo Emerson.
2. He went into the woods because he wanted a place to write that he wouldn’t be bothered. He quotes “I went to the woods because I wish to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived”. Basically, he wanted to seize the day and get everything out of each day by removing himself from the normal life he had in Massachusetts, plus the economy was on his side.
3. Ralph Waldo Emerson influenced Thoreau because they had similar beliefs and were both poets and writers. For example, in Emerson’s essay “Self Reliance” and Thoreau’s essay “Resistance to Civil Government”. They speak about what changes need to be made in the society.
Introduction:
1. Today’s superfluous luxuries are definitely our cell phones. We can do everything on them. I could say they almost control our lives. For me the big one would be my computer. I use it every day and I could not live without it. Yes, there are some benefits of living without it mostly cost because computers are not cheap. Also it could be a social thing as well as the excuse that you need to do better things with your life then bury yourself in front of a computer screen.
2. The wilderness was basically an escape for Thoreau and he was able to see life in a different view and he was able to write