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Essay / Analysis of the passage "Where I Lived" from Walden by Henry David Thoreau
In this excerpt from Walden, Henry David Thoreau addresses the millions who "are awake enough for physical labor" and attempts to explain to them to open their eyes and appreciate nature more. He justifies the importance of nature with rhetorical questions, then with symbolism, first person plural pronouns, and finally with vague sentences. Thoreau focuses on the developments taking place during the time period he finds himself in and the detrimental consequences on the society around him "which does not abandon us in our deepest sleep." It sets an angry tone for the clueless and stupid workers of the company. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay In Walden by Henry David Thoreau, Thoreau touches on areas of the credulity of common people in terms of not enjoying the true essence of life through the use of rhetoric. questions, symbolism, and finally through first person plural pronouns. Figuratively, Thoreau expounds his passage by asking rhetorical questions about the “sleep” that almost everyone undertakes. In telling the men to wake up from their deep sleep of blindness, he asks these questions to get them to think about what life would be like if they lived in the woods, in isolation. The rhetorical questions focus on the actual sleep people get during their hard working lives and the effect it brings to their knowledge. If most people hadn't lacked the time they needed, "they would have accomplished something." He uses an aphorism to persuade people to focus on what is not only in front of them but also around them by telling them "to be awake is to be alive", because understanding this message will give them an idea of what This is true freedom. On a literal level, Thoreau speaks more about his “effort” of intelligence by explaining that getting involved in nature is the best way to live one's life. In the passage, Thoreau refers to the details of painting a picture to make it. appear “beautiful”. He continues his use of symbolism by explaining that the more details we add, the more glorious it turns out because of all the effort we put into it. This is what “morally we can do” with our lives like our paints and our brushes like our experiences. Meanwhile, Thoreau would have been considered crazy for wanting this "experience", but for Thoreau he went into the isolated woods "to live deliberately, to face only the essential facts of life" - this expressed his transcendentalist side. This transcendentalist side led him to rebel against the principles followed by society and seek his own sanctuary of peace. In terms of the structure of the passage, Thoreau begins with an ellipsis indicating that the passage was removed from another set of thoughts and continued. He also includes the use of first-person plural pronouns such as "we" when talking about giving up. “If we refused, or rather exhausted, the paltry information we receive, the oracles would clearly indicate to us how this could be done.” In summary, he explains that if we fail to understand the importance of our lives and nature, then together we have failed, as a society, to "be woke." He also uses the pronoun "I" in the first person plural to talk about the reasons for his isolation in wanting to "live deeply and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so solidly and spartanly that it routs everything..