Henry David Thoreau: "Where I Lived and What I LIved For"
Journal Entry:
What is complicated in your life? What causes you undue noise and stress? What do you feel that you could do to simplify your life in some way? What does the simple life look like and feel like for you?
Objectives:
--Students will read a text from 1800's, becoming used to a more difficult writing style.
--After we read, students will showcase their ability to write a style analysis paragraph on their own.
In the last text we read, "The Chase", Annie Dillard argues that you need to throw yourself into life one hundred percent. Life should be thrilling and full of passion.
However, if we go back by about one hundred years in American History, we have another author, Henry David Thoreau who was trying to figure out that big philosophical question: "What is the good life?" He had a slightly different take on this question.
Basically, Thoreau was upset with the way his daily life was going. In the late 1700's, the age of the Enlightenment had influenced the world. Thinkers such as Locke, Jefferson, and Paine thought we should rely solely on reason, science, and rationality. However, Thoreau was part of a philosophical movement called Transcendentalism.
Thoreau lived in the 1800's and he was living in the industrial revolution. New technology, developed from the science encouraged by the Enlightenment, was draining his life of enjoyment. He thought that instead of being so structured, being stuck in a factory all day, that he should instead listen to his heart and figure out what it really meant to live life.
He got so unsettled and unhappy that he decided to pack every thing up and move into a little lakeside cabin in a forest. He would do everything on his own. Chop his own wood, find his own food. He would get rid of everything unessential. He wouldn't bother being caught up in the news or the drama of politics. He would live on his own.
What we are reading today is basically him explaining to us, his rationale, behind him going to live in the forest.
Vocabulary: since this is a text from the 1800's you might find some difficult vocabulary. You might also see that the sentences are longer than the ones from "The Chase."
Here is some vocabulary to know:
What is complicated in your life? What causes you undue noise and stress? What do you feel that you could do to simplify your life in some way? What does the simple life look like and feel like for you?
Objectives:
--Students will read a text from 1800's, becoming used to a more difficult writing style.
--After we read, students will showcase their ability to write a style analysis paragraph on their own.
In the last text we read, "The Chase", Annie Dillard argues that you need to throw yourself into life one hundred percent. Life should be thrilling and full of passion.
However, if we go back by about one hundred years in American History, we have another author, Henry David Thoreau who was trying to figure out that big philosophical question: "What is the good life?" He had a slightly different take on this question.
Basically, Thoreau was upset with the way his daily life was going. In the late 1700's, the age of the Enlightenment had influenced the world. Thinkers such as Locke, Jefferson, and Paine thought we should rely solely on reason, science, and rationality. However, Thoreau was part of a philosophical movement called Transcendentalism.
Thoreau lived in the 1800's and he was living in the industrial revolution. New technology, developed from the science encouraged by the Enlightenment, was draining his life of enjoyment. He thought that instead of being so structured, being stuck in a factory all day, that he should instead listen to his heart and figure out what it really meant to live life.
He got so unsettled and unhappy that he decided to pack every thing up and move into a little lakeside cabin in a forest. He would do everything on his own. Chop his own wood, find his own food. He would get rid of everything unessential. He wouldn't bother being caught up in the news or the drama of politics. He would live on his own.
What we are reading today is basically him explaining to us, his rationale, behind him going to live in the forest.
Vocabulary: since this is a text from the 1800's you might find some difficult vocabulary. You might also see that the sentences are longer than the ones from "The Chase."
Here is some vocabulary to know:
- terrestrial ---of or relating to the earth.
- We must live in a terrestrial way if we wish to be a farmer.
- garret-- top floor or attic room
- He packed his stuff in the garret of his house
- conventicle --an unlawful religious meeting/ a place where people of unusual views meeting
- The conventicle took place in the backrooms of the palace
- insular-- ignorant of other cultures
- The insular views of the student made him react strongly to the professor's views
- undulations--flowing up and down like waves
- The undulations of the pond, caused by the wind, were quite beautiful
- cessation--ending or being brought to an end
- The cessation of life is often a sad affair
As you read "Where I Lived and What I Lived For" i'd like you to take at least three pages of Cornell notes, with eight to ten questions on one side, varying in the types of questions asked (use a mix of "what", "where", "why", and "how"), and include a summary at the bottom of each page.
One rhetorical strategy Thoreau uses is literary allusion--this is when you reference other works of literature or mythology to make your point. Thoreau is one of the first multi-culturalists; he draws from Hindu myths, Christian stories, and ancient epics.
Socratic Discussion on "Where I Lived and What I Lived For"
Did Thoreau move out to the woods because he couldn't handle day to day life?
"We must keep ourself awake... not by mechanical means."
The machinery of life-- steamboats, cotton gin, factories, textile mills.
--1101--"celestial music" instead of "factory bells"
Most people live like robots. "Most men live lives of quiet desperation."
--desperate for personal time
--need quiet, need time for reflection
"Am I part of the cure/ or am I part of the disease? --Coldplay
Thoreau is asking the same type of question? Thoreau says a solution could be to be more "fluid" and "non-robotic."
Clocks "Closing Walls'-- like a coffin. "Tigers waiting to be tamed"...
"Cursed missed opportunities." --Coldplay
Most people squander their opportunity to live poetically.
Where in the text is the purpose most revealed?
On page 1101, Thoreau wants to live life "deliberately"; in other words, be independent, be free, and be mindfully self-aware.
Thoreau wants to distance himself from mainstream society to really see how it works and whether it is actually fulfilling. Thoreau does not want to wake up later on and realize he has not lived life.
Modern songs in the "naughts", such as Coldplay's song "Clocks", deal with similar universal themes. Part of the lyrics say "Am I part of the cure/ or am I part of the disease?"
How does the author view his surroundings in the society of the 1800's, in Concord Massachusetts?
Society is becoming disconnected from nature. He talks about the birds circling him.
"There is no memorable news in the newspaper."
--"If we read of one man robbed"
Thoreau notes that the news often repeats the same tired and worthless stories; these stories tell us nothing about how to live a good life. If you have read one news story, you have read them all.
What type of language is used in the text?
The audience could be anyone who wants to "walk to the beat of their own drummer."
Thoreau uses memorable, pithy phrases.
Epigram
Short philosophical thought-- rhetorical strategy
Aphorism
Thoughtful statement that expresses a general truth
"Why should we live in such hurry and waste life?"
How does Thoreau feel we should live our lives?
We could be more mindful or every moment in the day. Be ourselves.
--"To be awake is to be alive...." ---Be "woke"
--"News is gossip"-- "old women over their tea."
-- News shows how fragile society is.
---"Penny Post": One man robbed, killed, house burned, steamboat blown up
--Read one, you've read them all!
Questioning the author
--You have to stay informed of current problems--
Better Angels of Our Nature-- Pinker
"Shams and delusions are esteemed for soundest truths, while reality is fabulous?"
People hear what they want to hear. People are lead by "tricks" by the news, hoaxes.
The lies we are told are embraced by the truth.
--Lies by politicians for votes
Is Henry David Thoreau depicting a miserable America?
He "walks to the beat to his own drummer."
How does Thoreau use allusion and imagery? (style)
Example--Cabin to Olympus-- fit for a God-- Everywhere there nature there is a place fit for the Gods. Nature.
How does Thoreau's text compare to the themes in Coldplay's song Clocks?
Tone: perspective: feeling --ashamed of the way society was changing at the time.
Went to live alone... "Am I a part of the cure, or am I part of the disease?"
"Tigers waiting to be tamed"
--Thoreau-- Transcendalist--convert to believe
"What should we think of the shepard's life, if his flocks always wander to high pasture than his thoughts."
--Why is life changing quicker than people can adapt to it? 1800's .
--Self-Reflection on one's life.
1102
"Our life is frittered away by detail."
We waste our lives on detail.
--The news
--Gossip-- If you read one thing, you've it all.
--However, some might say that the news does indeed matter because it could change you day to day life and the context.
How does Thoreau describe how we live as a waste of life?
--Communication--/ Gossip
--Unqualified-- Is news real or fake and how do we know?
Warm up for 10/31/18:
Write in the style of Thoreau
"I went to the woods because I wished 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. "
1. Start with a sentence that explains your purpose with a because clause and a to statement.
2. Give another to statement that keeps explaining your purpose.
3. Give another statement about your purpose, and connect it to the previous statement using the conjunction "and"
4. Give a last statement that uses "and not" to explain what your are NOT trying to do.
...................................because............................., to ..............................., and ........................, and not.......................................
I wished to dress like Drax from Guardians of the Galaxy because I wanted to capture the spirit of Halloween, to put on the mask of a warrior, and live like a character I admire, and not just live like a boring English teacher.
One rhetorical strategy Thoreau uses is literary allusion--this is when you reference other works of literature or mythology to make your point. Thoreau is one of the first multi-culturalists; he draws from Hindu myths, Christian stories, and ancient epics.
Socratic Discussion on "Where I Lived and What I Lived For"
Did Thoreau move out to the woods because he couldn't handle day to day life?
"We must keep ourself awake... not by mechanical means."
The machinery of life-- steamboats, cotton gin, factories, textile mills.
--1101--"celestial music" instead of "factory bells"
Most people live like robots. "Most men live lives of quiet desperation."
--desperate for personal time
--need quiet, need time for reflection
"Am I part of the cure/ or am I part of the disease? --Coldplay
Thoreau is asking the same type of question? Thoreau says a solution could be to be more "fluid" and "non-robotic."
Clocks "Closing Walls'-- like a coffin. "Tigers waiting to be tamed"...
"Cursed missed opportunities." --Coldplay
Most people squander their opportunity to live poetically.
Where in the text is the purpose most revealed?
On page 1101, Thoreau wants to live life "deliberately"; in other words, be independent, be free, and be mindfully self-aware.
Thoreau wants to distance himself from mainstream society to really see how it works and whether it is actually fulfilling. Thoreau does not want to wake up later on and realize he has not lived life.
Modern songs in the "naughts", such as Coldplay's song "Clocks", deal with similar universal themes. Part of the lyrics say "Am I part of the cure/ or am I part of the disease?"
How does the author view his surroundings in the society of the 1800's, in Concord Massachusetts?
Society is becoming disconnected from nature. He talks about the birds circling him.
"There is no memorable news in the newspaper."
--"If we read of one man robbed"
Thoreau notes that the news often repeats the same tired and worthless stories; these stories tell us nothing about how to live a good life. If you have read one news story, you have read them all.
What type of language is used in the text?
The audience could be anyone who wants to "walk to the beat of their own drummer."
Thoreau uses memorable, pithy phrases.
Epigram
Short philosophical thought-- rhetorical strategy
Aphorism
Thoughtful statement that expresses a general truth
"Why should we live in such hurry and waste life?"
How does Thoreau feel we should live our lives?
We could be more mindful or every moment in the day. Be ourselves.
--"To be awake is to be alive...." ---Be "woke"
--"News is gossip"-- "old women over their tea."
-- News shows how fragile society is.
---"Penny Post": One man robbed, killed, house burned, steamboat blown up
--Read one, you've read them all!
Questioning the author
--You have to stay informed of current problems--
Better Angels of Our Nature-- Pinker
"Shams and delusions are esteemed for soundest truths, while reality is fabulous?"
People hear what they want to hear. People are lead by "tricks" by the news, hoaxes.
The lies we are told are embraced by the truth.
--Lies by politicians for votes
Is Henry David Thoreau depicting a miserable America?
He "walks to the beat to his own drummer."
How does Thoreau use allusion and imagery? (style)
Example--Cabin to Olympus-- fit for a God-- Everywhere there nature there is a place fit for the Gods. Nature.
How does Thoreau's text compare to the themes in Coldplay's song Clocks?
Tone: perspective: feeling --ashamed of the way society was changing at the time.
Went to live alone... "Am I a part of the cure, or am I part of the disease?"
"Tigers waiting to be tamed"
--Thoreau-- Transcendalist--convert to believe
"What should we think of the shepard's life, if his flocks always wander to high pasture than his thoughts."
--Why is life changing quicker than people can adapt to it? 1800's .
--Self-Reflection on one's life.
1102
"Our life is frittered away by detail."
We waste our lives on detail.
--The news
--Gossip-- If you read one thing, you've it all.
--However, some might say that the news does indeed matter because it could change you day to day life and the context.
How does Thoreau describe how we live as a waste of life?
--Communication--/ Gossip
--Unqualified-- Is news real or fake and how do we know?
Warm up for 10/31/18:
Write in the style of Thoreau
"I went to the woods because I wished 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. "
1. Start with a sentence that explains your purpose with a because clause and a to statement.
2. Give another to statement that keeps explaining your purpose.
3. Give another statement about your purpose, and connect it to the previous statement using the conjunction "and"
4. Give a last statement that uses "and not" to explain what your are NOT trying to do.
...................................because............................., to ..............................., and ........................, and not.......................................
I wished to dress like Drax from Guardians of the Galaxy because I wanted to capture the spirit of Halloween, to put on the mask of a warrior, and live like a character I admire, and not just live like a boring English teacher.
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