Rhetorical Analysis Of Where I Lived For, By Henry David Thoreau

The purpose of Where I Lived, and What I Lived for, by Henry David Thoreau is to express that life should be lived with simplicity and with purpose. His advanced syntax and high vocabulary makes this passage difficult to read, while giving the reader a challenge. His use of rhetorical devices throughout the passage also helps convey his message about the purpose of life. In the first set of paragraphs, he introduces that he moved into the woods, so he could enjoy the many things nature has to offer deliberately. He compares humans to ants when he says that “we live meanly, like ants.” Ants live their life simply with the sole purpose of building a home and finding food without regards to others. He expresses that humans are similar to ants

The Saint Vitus’ dance is in fact not a dance, but a disorder. This results in hectic and rapid movements of the face, hands and feet. He uses this disorder to describe the way humans commonly live life in confusion and through uncoordinated events. This chaotic life is the opposite of how he feels life should be lived in simplicity. His challenging vocabulary such as, “indispensable”, “unfathomed” and “rudiment” all help express the writers’ intelligence. By creating this passage to be a difficult read he makes the reader think deeper into the text and focus on the true meanings of the words. Another allusion is used to allude to the revolution on 1649. He is expressing that humans gossip too much and are rely too heavily on receiving news through mail and others, while they should be focused primarily on themselves. He believes that all news is gossip and news has not been relevant since the news of the 1649 revolution, also referred to as the English Revolution. In “shams and delusions are esteemed for soundless truths, while reality is fabulous" he is contrasting dreams to reality. He is expressing that dreams are full of mistakes and misconceptions and that humans need to focus on reality and their surroundings, because reality is more fabulous. A biblical allusion is used when he alludes the way God lives to human life in “God himself culminates in the