Rhetorical Analysis Essay On Where I Lived And What I Live For

160 Words1 Pages
Thoreau at Walden Pond, comes to the conclusion that humans are capable of achieving freedom and greatness. In his essay, “Where I Lived and What I Live For” in “Walden”, Thoreau uses an antecedent to demonstrate the power of choice. Thoreau describes a well know story of an egg placed in an applewood tree, hatching into a bug “perchance by the heat of an urn” sixty years later (Line 241-242). Thoreau believes people have the freedom of ‘hatching’, or discovering truth despite their age. Thoreau uses extended metaphor to express his optimism for human potential. Thoreau writes “If you build our castles in the air your work be not lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundation under them” (Line 185-187). Some may see setting high