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A Rhetorical Analysis Of Civil Disobedience By Thoreau

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Throughout history there have been many political changes that are either supported, or not, by citizens. In the given passage from, "Civil Disobedience," by Thoreau, a perspective of disagreeing with the government ways, is provided. Thoreau explains how a government should be in comparison to how it really is by utilizing his words to set the tone and mode, imagery to achieve his audience's understanding, and diction to make his writing scholarly. Although tone and mode are not directly stated, you can infer that Thoreau meant for his writing to be taken as serious and powerful. His implementation of words such as, "inexpedient," "execute," " integrity," and "command," makes one think about their lawful rights and reflect on what rights are supported or …show more content…

Towards the beginning of the passage, it is said, "the standing army is only an arm of the standing government." This gives the readers the image of the government as a person in which the army is only but an arm. The arm is an important limb of the body, such as the army to the government, but it is not the only thing that helps the body function. The government is not just relying on the support from its army, but from every other aspect, such as the citizens. The passage also says, "trade and commerce, if they were not made of Indian rubber, would never manage to bounce over the obstacles which legislators are constantly putting in their way. This use of imagery gives the reader the visualization of a rubber ball bouncing over building blocks which are put there to try to prevent it from going through. If the ball did not reply on what it is made from, it would simply roll into the blocks and be stopped. Similarly, if businesses did not have outside, reliable factors aside from the government, the legislators would prevent it from moving forward by having to follow the rules

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The essay Civil Disobedience, written by Henry David Thoreau has a history with Thoreau’s own experiences. Thoreau spent a night in prison for not paying his poll taxes where he was inspired to write the essay and with this essay Thoreau aspired to proclaim against the acts of slavery and the Mexican War. a.“It does not keep the country free. It does not settle the West. It does not educate”().

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In the passage from "Civil Disobedience," the author, Thoreau, utilizes rhetorical devices to support his theme. Such devices include tone and diction. The theme expressed in the text is that the government is in need of change and acceptance, not a replacement. The author conveys a serious and professional tone throughout the passage. This helps add more to the seriousness of the subject and theme created which is the government needs change and acceptance, not a replacement.

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The purpose of Thoreau's "Resistance to Civil Government" is to make an argument between what is right and what is convenient. He describes the dangers of listening and agreeing with everything a government says, or any large group of people, instead of paying attention to one's own conscience. Thoreau relates this idea to one personal experience he had when he was forced to spend a night in jail for refusing to pay a poll tax. He describes how the instance made him feel and how it differentiated from the way he saw his village. Before he understood how his everyday actions were similar to his knowledge of a larger democracy and government.

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Throughout the writing of “Civil Disobedience,” Thoreau often referred back to his idea that he supported which was “That government is best which governs not at all.” (Thoreau) In the passage, Thoreau believed that the government does not have a conscience. He talked about not wanting to pay the government poll tax, which in result, caused him to be thrown into jail. A poll tax is just a tax on a person for existing, therefore, everyone had to pay the same amount regardless of the value of their possessions.

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When comparing Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau and The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, it is apparent that Thoreau’s ideas and thoughts distinguished him from his society. Whereas the society’s ideas in Thoreau’s time period tended to lack inspiration, Thoreau’s ideas transcended the societal ideals of the time. Although Thoreau himself did not write The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail, the play highlights and expresses Thoreau’s transcendentalist ideas more powerfully than Civil Disobedience because the play elaborates on Thoreau’s passion regarding the notion that living is more than just existing. In the first scene of The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail, Lawrence and Lee establish the character of Thoreau

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By making people ponder on the unjust laws in society Thoreau hopes that it will draw more attention to the matter and convince people to help support the cause. Thoreau utilizes this strategy again to draw people’s attention towards the malfunctioning of the current government. He attended to make people question their attitude towards their government. Thoreau asks “how does it become a man to behave towards this American government today? [He answers], that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it.

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In addition, this line targets soldiers who serve the government “with their bodies”, while the government does not even give them the respect that they deserve. He continues to express himself through the use of similes and metaphors and states “…but they put themselves on a level with wood and earth and stones; and wooden men can perhaps be manufactured that will serve the purpose as well”, which infers that soldiers are on the same lowly level of wood, earth and stones, because they blindly follow whatever the government tells them to do, without exercising their morals. He goes on to compare them to men of straw, and a lump of dirt, which further describes the image of soldiers acting as manufactured robots, following whatever they are programed to do, without receiving any form of respect in return. Meanwhile, in reality, the government views soldiers as nothing more than poor laborers, with the same stature as

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Body Paragraph 1: Topic Sentence (Take Straight From Your Reason 1): Thoreau was extremely against the government being too involved in a person's life. INTRO to 1st Quote: Thoreau believed, “...”. 1st Quote that supports the Topic Sentence: “That government is best which governs least.”

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