Henry David Thoreau Walden Rhetorical Techniques

Rhetorical Analysis of Henry David Thoreau’s Walden Henry David Thoreau lived a simple quiet life in a small cabin in the woods. In his 1845 book “Walden” Thoreau explains why he chose to live this way. In the chapter “Where I lived & What I lived for” Thoreau employs the rhetorical strategies of tone, the mode of compare and contrast, and an aphoristic writing style to persuade his audience to live life simply. Thoreau utilizes a critical and passionate tone throughout the essay. In the first few lines he writes “ I went into 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.” Thoreau

Thoreau states “to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life.” Thoreau compares living like Spartans to truly living. Spartans have self-restraint and discipline, things Thoreau believes the average person does not have. This supports his message because if we live like the Spartans then we can make the most out of life. Thoreau also compares human life to ant life stating “still we live meanly like ants… our life is frittered away by detail.” By comparing our lives to that of ants he expresses that humans worry too much about the little things that don’t matter. Lastly, he compares human life to the German government. “Our life is like a German Confederacy” and “is just such an unwieldy and overgrown establishment, cluttered with furniture and tripped up by its own traps, ruined by luxury.” Through comparisons Thoreau criticizes society. He believes that society is overgrown and ruined by luxury and unnecessary spending. By employing the mode of compare and contrast Thoreau convinces the reader to live more simply by pointing out how pointlessly we

Thoreau utilizes aphorisms to reveal truths that will be easily remembered by the audience. He states “ I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life.” Thoreau writes that he lived simply because he wanted all that life had to offer. He also writes “Simplicity, Simplicity, Simplicity” and “Simplify, Simplify.” Using repetition Thoreau emphasizes his main idea to the audience. He also adds “instead of three meals a day, if it be necessary eat but one.” Thoreau suggests how to improve your life by living simply. Lastly, Thoreau writes “We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us.” He states that even though we humans have built this it controls us. It takes away autonomy from the individual by doing what we used to do once upon a time. Society now relies on something it never needed and that is our