Rhetorical Analysis On Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau: Biography and Rhetorical Analysis of His Works

Henry David Thoreau and the transcendentalist movement can’t be summarized merely in a single sentence or even essay, though this quote comes close, “Most of the luxuries and many of the so-called comforts of life are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind.” Transcendentalism is the belief that material things, the “comforts” and “luxuries” of which Thoreau speaks, are inferior to knowledge and spirituality. Thoreau was a major leader in this movement. Thoreau’s works, “Walden” “Main Woods”, and various poems of his helped to lay the foundations for Transcendentalism. Some 140 years after his death Thoreau is still being published, and written about.

Thoreau was born in the summer of 1817, in a small town in Massachusetts called Concord. (Thoreau Society) Thoreau was born to Cynthia Thoreau,

In his own biography, Thoreau argues that instead of living in Concord, he lived wherever he was at the time. So, Thoreau lived in the woods, in the street, in his room, or under the stars. (Henry...Biography)

Thoreau was almost always engaged in thought, In his mind Thoreau would travel to his neighbor’s houses, perhaps to buy land, talk to them, all within the safety of his own mind. “I never got my finger burned by actual possession” Thoreau did not buy any estate in reality, but instead lived with Emerson. (Arya Book II)

Thoreau died at his home in Concord on May 6 1862, at the age of 45. Three days after his death Thoreau’s closest friend and mentor, Ralph Waldo Emerson did the eulogy at his funeral. Four months later “Thoreau”, a piece by Emerson, was published in the Atlantic Monthly. Works of Thoreau continued being published long after his death, and as many as 140 years after his death he is still being written about. (Petrulionis