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Chapter Two Of Walden By Henry David Thoreau

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When I began reading Chapter Two of Walden, I didn’t quite understand the point he was trying to make. From the title of the chapter, I had expected Thoreau to have written something of a philosophical nature and experience relative to his environment, based upon the title; “Where I lived, and what I lived for.” After finishing the chapter, I started making connections to my own life experiences when it came to pondering simplicity over detail rather easily. From this reading experience, I now have a better understanding on the simplistic lifestyle answer to the overtly complicated life problem, based on Thoreau’s perspective. One theme that seems to be present throughout the read is Thoreau’s emphasis on his comfort with isolation. It seems to me that his independence is something he holds of great value not only because it allows him more room to think for himself, but because he can better appreciate the nature that surrounds him, without much interference from the rest of the world. As stated in the text, Thoreau found “The real attractions of the Hollowell farm, to me, were: its complete retirement, being, about two miles from the village, half a mile from the nearest neighbor, and separated from the highway by abroad field; its bounding on the river, which the owner said protected it by its …show more content…

I strongly believe that time is one of the most valuable things in life as we know it, and to waste that time suffering from daily stress sounds absolutely

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Chris McCandless looked up to Henry David Thoreau’s ideas in his Walden excerpt. John Krakauer went on to make McCandless’ journey a novel of its own. However, Chris McCandless and Henry David Thoreau’s ideas on how one should live their life didn’t always compare as much as contrast. Thoreau does not like the outdoors as much as Chris does, “I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives to live, and could not spare any more time for that one” (Walden).

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He suggests that you might look around yourself and really take into consideration as to how you are spending your short time you’re given in this life. Much like Chris McCandless, Henry David Thoreau looks around him and finds himself to be displeased. To quote 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.” Much like McCandless, Thoreau thought very little of money, jobs and other things of the civilized world. Henry Thoreau concluded that to live, not much is needed.

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As Thoreau stated that he wants to be in the woods because “[He]wishe[s] to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life[…]and not, when I came to die, discover that I ha[ve] not lived”(1920). This shows that he lives in the woods because he wants to live his life and have no

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In the chapter titled Where I Lived, and What I Lived For from Henry David Thoreau’s novel Walden, the author utilizes rhetorical strategies such as imagery and tone to convey how the distractions that accompany a progressing civilization corrupts society. Since he is a transcendentalist, his argument encapsulates the same principles of becoming free from the binds of society and seeking harmony with nature. He emphasizes those ideals when he states that “[he] went to the woods because he wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if [he] could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when [he] came to die, discover that [he] had not lived”(276). In other words, he wanted to escape from society and live

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Yesenia Garcilazo Period 2 AP Language Mr. Jepson Solitude Henry David Thoreau is known for writing his famous book “Walden”, it is about his spiritual journey as a transcendentalist when he isolates himself from society for a few years. Even though he removes himself from society, Thoreau does not feel alone, he feels more comfortable and lives better with what nature offers him than humans do. Throughout the chapter, Thoreau mentions multiple times that he feels that he is one with nature, and is “a part of herself.” Thoreau mentions that he has no close neighbors so he feels isolated and

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Henry David Thoreau was not afraid to speak his mind and fight for his beliefs. He refused to pay taxes to an unjust government that supported slavery which eventually influenced Mohandas Gandhi’s campaign for independence and still influences many individuals today. Thoreau inspired society to break rules they disagree with, be a unique individual, and criticized people for living only for money and material values. One of Henry Thoreau’s biggest impacts was when he went to live in the woods for about two years at Walden Pond.

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Henry David Thoreau was a philosopher, poet, and a very outspoken person about society. He discusses his opinions on how people should live in his essay “Where I Lived and What I Lived For.” Thoreau's philosophy of simplicity and individualism and self-sufficiency poses many dangers for communities as a whole. Although there are many setbacks, his philosophy is, however, still viable today. Thoreau strongly advocates self-sufficiency and individualism in this essay.

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He believed that the primary source of knowledge was nature itself, so he would likely wonder how we could learn at all in such an industrialized society with nature as a mere backdrop. In Walden, Thoreau stated that “Every morning was a cheerful invitation to make my life of equal simplicity… with Nature herself.” Thoreau believed that nature was positively essential for living a simple life, and that we could find endless knowledge through nature. He would likely despise our suburban neighborhoods and processed goods, as they contrast completely with the idea of simplicity and living in accordance with nature. We involve ourselves in each other’s lives, but never spend time exploring nature and searching for knowledge.

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Henry David Thoreau especially supported the interaction between man and nature. With his experiment at Walden, he addresses a modern concept known as minimalism, focusing on the way one must supply for himself with his basic necessities. His intentions were not to isolate himself, but moreso to separate himself from a life dependent upon others. Through his actions, he is able to criticise society and many of their needs.

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Consequently, what Thoreau proposed was simplicity rejecting modern civilization to return to nature and let the individual to develop his/her highest possibilities. Thoreau not only made a critique of the modern society as Emerson did, but also he practiced his ideology: he experienced that life is better without crowd, luxuries and complexity. The transcendentalist poet spent two year close to nature. He lived at Walden Pond where he wrote entire journals recounting his experience. Thoreau is well known for his book “Walden” (1854).

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In Henry David Thoreau memoir, Walden , chapter two, Where I Lived, and What I Lived For ,Thoreau explains why, “ I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life.” Thoreau uses the appeal of pathos to display to the audience his declaration of living simplistic all the way cut down to the necessities with figurative language and syntactical choices. Thoreau breaks down this chapter into two sections where he lived and what he lives for, as the name of the chapters. In Where I Lived, starting off on the first line, “AT A CERTAIN season of our life we are accustomed to consider every spot as the possible site of a house, ” Thoreau uses a paradox, and irony, to state when one is looking for a house, one considers every possible land space to build/buy a house; now it might not seem true, but when you’re looking for a place to live, one does take into account every available property. Ironically, Thoreau himself, is looking for a house and has, “...surveyed the country on every side within a dozen miles.”

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In Walden, written by Henry David Thoreau, the author expresses the immense longing that we, as human beings, need to give up our connection to our ever-growing materialism in order to revert back to self-sufficient happiness. In Walden, the reader is able to infer that Thoreau feels as if we are becoming enslaved by our material possessions, as well as believes that the study of nature should replace and oppose our enslavement, and that we are to “open new channels of thought” by turning our eyes inward and studying ourselves. Thoreau feels that we are becoming enslaved by our material possessions. As stated in the chapter “In the Where I Lived, and What I Lived For”, Thoreau states that “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.” (972).

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Why I Went to the Woods by Henry David Thoreau is a piece of literature taken from the book Walden that discusses Thoreau’s desire to experience life and it's meaning by living by the most simple terms possible. Thoreau lived off the land, built his own home, hunted and fished his own food. Through these things, Thoreau experienced how life is lived without luxury and only with the raw basics. Although his passion for the natural world shows through his writing his goal is not to persuade others to follow in his footsteps by going out and living in nature. Thoreau wanted others to follow him by living their best life which would be achieved by following their passions and the things they enjoy.

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You can’t walk in the woods and see a leaf that doesn’t quite know if it wants to fall to the ground or stay on the tree. Thoreau noticed this, and thought that if people could be decisive in the same way that nature was, then they could “live deep and suck out all the marrow of life… live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put as to put to rout all that was not life… cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner…” (Walden 771) This is something that Thoreau highly valued. He wanted to live as his own person, which was, in his mind, best accomplished by living in nature and not being involved with the government.

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In his essay Walden, Thoreau affirms the Transcendentalist belief of living simply by emphasizing the thought of living with only the essentials and the importance of self reliance. Thoreau supports the ideal of living simply through the emphasis of only living with what one needs. Simplicity exists

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