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Thoreau's Objections To Fashion And Obedience

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Thoreau thinks that “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation”, meaning they appear content yet are constantly in a state of distress which they put upon themselves; attributing this to the way in which humans obsess themselves with certain things (Thoreau, 7). I associate Thoreau’s objections to fashion, architecture, philanthropy and red meat with a line from the Economy chapter, which reads, “So much for a blind obedience to a blundering oracle…”, reminding one of the fact that we simply follow the actions of others without ever pausing to question society or think about what is truly necessary (6). This has a strong connection to the way in which Thoreau sees fashion. Simply because others start wearing something, we follow in suit
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In the passage from "Civil Disobedience," the author, Thoreau, utilizes rhetorical devices to support his theme. Such devices include tone and diction. The theme expressed in the text is that the government is in need of change and acceptance, not a replacement. The author conveys a serious and professional tone throughout the passage. This helps add more to the seriousness of the subject and theme created which is the government needs change and acceptance, not a replacement.

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Both Thoreau and King rely heavily on ethos to get their points across. The intended audience of both is similar; a group of people with similar morals as the writers, but who have neglected action for various reasons. King also appeals to pathos, describing the plight of the colored man vividly. King’s audience is largely aware of this situation already, but he uses it to drive them to action rather than simple awareness. On the other hand, Thoreau appeals little to pathos, focusing instead on logic and ethics.

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In Thoreau's "Civil Obedience" metaphor and parallelism are utilized to support his notion that the government fails to be one that is satisfactory. Thoreau's usage of metaphor expresses the uselessness that the government is. He writes, " It is a sort of wooden gun to the people themselves..." Here, Thoreau compares the government to a wooden gun, saying that it is as useless as one. He believes that the government is but a wooden gun to the people meaning that it is as useful for the people as a wooden gun would help a person, not useful at all.

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Throughout history there have been many political changes that are either supported, or not, by citizens. In the given passage from, "Civil Disobedience," by Thoreau, a perspective of disagreeing with the government ways, is provided. Thoreau explains how a government should be in comparison to how it really is by utilizing his words to set the tone and mode, imagery to achieve his audience's understanding, and diction to make his writing scholarly. Although tone and mode are not directly stated, you can infer that Thoreau meant for his writing to be taken as serious and powerful. His implementation of words such as, "inexpedient," "execute," " integrity," and "command," makes one think about their lawful rights and reflect on what rights are supported or

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2124 Words | 9 Pages

Resistance to Civil Government (Civil Disobedience) is a dissertation written by American abolitionist, author and philosopher Henry David Thoreau published by Elizabeth Peabody in the Aesthetic Papers in 1849. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was born and lived almost his life in Concord, Massachusetts. After finishing public and private school in Concord he attended the prestige Harvard University. He excelled at Harvard despite leaving school for several months due to health and financial setbacks. Mr. Thoreau graduated in the top half of his class in 1837.

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–For example, when McCandless donates his life’s savings to charity, burns his money, and abandons his car, he’s showing no signs of interest in a lavishing lifestyle (Krakauer 20-22) –Here, McCandless expresses his disgust with luxury living. Materials and possessions mean nothing to him, and it is a clear point to see. –Thoreau says in Walden, “… Ruined by luxury and heedless expense…” (Walden). –This shows Thoreau sees luxurious lifestyles and expensive tastes meaningless, and that wealth is nothing more than the popular desire.

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Being an idea that opposes self-reliance and independence, Fuller condemns conformity as it relinquishes one’s ability to pursue anything independently. In Fuller’s perspective, women must act towards their aspirations as conforming to, as stated by Thoreau, a government or society so susceptible to abuse may derail any hope of equality. Predominantly, what Fuller preached originates from her background and expresses this in her writing. “She had received from her father a calibre of education 'considered the masculine style', which distinguished her from other women of her time. This unique situation that she was in is also responsible for fostering that strong sense of self importance, that of the self 'as the only constant friend' and that

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Individuals lay the foundation of America. The Founding Fathers of this unique nation broke their allegiance with Great Britain to create an improved governing body. They desired an individual-centered authority as opposed to Britain’s monarchy, which ruled with tyranny. These Founding Fathers experienced a neglectful democratic monarchy that cared little about the ethical treatment of its people. The domineering actions of Britain challenged these historic individuals to form a new cultural identity.

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Thoreau asserts slavery is a ¨gross¨ and immoral practice. His fear of not being divine and immortal allows him to dislike slavery. Therefore, Thoreau would support abolition as he believed owning slaves would compromise a man 's divinity, a great fear of his. Slavery also limits the spiritual growth of the enslaved individuals, thus opposing Thoreau 's belief all people should be exposed to spiritual advancements. It was also deemed frivolous by Thoreau.

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Thoreau strongly rejects to this sort of passivity and says “ I was not born to be forced. I will breathe after my own fashion”. (page

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756 Words | 4 Pages

Civil Disobedience I hereby say that student loans is something that should not be dragging educated people down. We cannot allow the for-profit colleges and the banks to follow behind students and collect their wealth. “Everyone deserves a quality education. We need to come up with a better way to provide it than debt and default”(Taylor). Education should not vanish.

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Henry David Thoreau and Civil Disobedience “ Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around.” (Brainy). Civil disobedience is breaking a law for a better reason (Suber). The purpose of civil disobedience is to change a law, or act of the government. Henry David Thoreau involvement in civil disobedience was due to personal influence, he chose to participate in civil disobedience to protest slavery and the Mexican-American war, and he did achieve success using this controversial method for standing up for what he strongly believes is right .

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801 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout all of time, people have needed to live according to their own agendas. Being forced to live a certain way has only caused trouble. That is why Henry David Thoreau supported civil disobedience to help people live according to their own beliefs. In the essay “On Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau, the author defined and explained the effect of civil disobedience. Thoreau defined it as, civil disobedience is any peaceful action that demonstrates the disagreement of a person or persons with their government.

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1198 Words | 5 Pages

What Thoreau means by the Civil Disobedience is that every person should be govern more by his own moral compass that gives him much clearer answer to his deeds, rather than some laws of a government. “Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience, then? I think we should be men first, and subjects afterward.” (1)

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575 Words | 3 Pages

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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