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Walking Rhetorical Analysis

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Author : H.D. Thoreau was a pioneer of the transcendentalism ideology which strives to return society to a state of nature devoid of industrial features. This idea is often conveyed through Thoreau’s writings; one of which is an essay titled Walking. In order to convey his transcendental ideas in this essay, Thoreau uses rhetorical devices such as similes and repetition to impact the reader more effectively in his essay. Thoreau uses similes in order to convey his message more effectively to the reader. At the end of the essay Thoreau equates politics to smoking by saying”. politics are not, for they are but as the cigar-smoke of a man”. This simile is meant to show how politics are similar to cigar smoke as the smoke is simply something that is meaningless and only there to annoy those around, similar …show more content…

What this simile is talking about is how man is destroying nature to bring forth its innovations, that innovation is innately evil to Thoreau. Since a building would need a surveyor to build it, then a surveyor of darkness for something so evil would be fitting. Thoreau also uses repetition to make his message of wanting to return to a state of nature more clear. In this essay, Thoeau uses the word “man” a lot to show his displeasure with the destruction of nature. Thoreau says “man and his affairs” when referring to the industrial process. He again uses the word “man” when he says, “From a hill I can see civilization and the abodes of man afar”. The word man is clearly being used in an attempt to distance himself from the civilization that he hates, and by repeating this over and over again he cements this idea in the readers minds. The use of rhetorical devices such as similes and repetition in Thoreau’s essay serve to impact the reader in a meaningful way. By comparing one idea or object to another through similes, the essay impacts the reader more as the idea the author is trying to convey becomes more

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