Analysis Of The Essay 'Sustainability' By Christian Weisser

1234 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: History and development of environmental ethics

Where We Live and What We Should Live For:
A Sustainability Essay Analysis

As the state of the Earth declines, there have been various debates overtime in improving and maintaining the progress made on Earth; while there are differing solutions, one topic is focused on the most, sustainability. In “Sustainability” by Christian Weisser, various writers bring in the power of persuasion and imagery to demonstrate the significance of our surroundings. Author, Henry David Thoreau, as he writes with such lengthy, thick detail illustrates the serenity and beauty the Earth has, and the importance of the human population living with the essentials to conserve the resources and heaven-like appearance for future generations.

In his essay, Henry David Thoreau provides, what could sometimes be described as, long-winded detail of the …show more content…

A lake like this is never smoother than at such a time; and the clear portion of the air above it being, shallow and darkened by clouds, the water, full of light and reflections, becomes a lower heaven itself so much the more important.” (Thoreau 27)

Though this passage is like various descriptions throughout the essay, the serene image he places before his readers further emphasizes the importance humanity’s view on the Earth. What is also important to note in the passage is the personification given to the lake, as Thoreau refers to the body of water as a neighbor of great importance. His attention to describing his neighbor is reminiscent of Gothic literature when a male perspective gives detail of a beautiful woman; the thick descriptions are appreciative of what is before him while reinforcing the superiority such beauty has over

Show More
Related

  • Lost and Found in Walden

    588 Words  | 2 Pages

    Stacy notes that this passage is related to "a person getting a sense of their self in relation to Nature." The Web material describes Thoreau’s practice of linking landscape and identity.

    Read More

  • Walden Rhetorical Analysis Essay

    638 Words  | 2 Pages

    The opening paragraph is an incredibly vivid account of nights spent by “the stony shore” of Walden Pond. His description of the animals around the pond, the cool temperature, and the gentle sounds of lapping waves and rustling leaves all serve to remove the idea that nature is a wild and unkempt world of its own, and instead makes it seem much more serene and graceful. Any who thought of Thoreau as an insane outdoorsmen may have even found themselves repulsed by the monotony and constant bustle of city life and longing for the serenity felt by Thoreau. This

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Strategies In Walden By Henry Thoreau

    376 Words  | 1 Pages

    Henry Thoreau uses specific rhetorical strategies in Walden to emanate his attitude towards life. With the use of many strategies Thoreau shows that life should be centered around Nature. People live their lives not ever taking a second glance of what Nature does and has done for humanity and Thoreau is trying to prove his point. Humanity owes Nature everything for without it humans would be nothing.

    Read More

  • Once More To The Lake Analysis

    1014 Words  | 3 Pages

    He pulled his dripping trunks from the line where they had hung all through the shower, and wrung them out. Languidly, and with no thought of going in, I watched him, his hard little body, skinny and bare, saw him wince slightly as he pulled up around his vitals the small, soggy, icy garment. As he buckled the swollen belt suddenly my groin felt the chill of death.” White is finally beginning to see it is no longer himself in his son but his son is growing up and White is only getting older. On the other hand, Thoreau is giving the visual of the pond itself over time and as the seasons change the details and perspectives of the pond are all becoming something else. As the seasons pass the way the pond changes and the view and elements around it

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of What I Lived For

    218 Words  | 1 Pages

    Henry David Thoreau is a naturalist, and enthusiast of simplicity, he expresses his passion for simplicity in his essay “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For.” He wrote this essay after living in the wood, he contrasts simple life in the wood from busy life in the urban area, through this comparison, he attempts to convince his audience that simplicity is better.

    Read More

  • Henry Thoreau’s Influence on Martin Luther King Jr.

    895 Words  | 2 Pages

    Henry David Thoreau was a great American writer, philosopher, and naturalist of the 1800’s who’s writings have influenced many famous leaders in the 20th century, as well as in his own lifetime. Henry David Thoreau was born in Concord, Massachusetts in 1817, where he was later educated at Harvard University. Thoreau was a transcendentalist writer, which means that he believed that intuition and the individual conscience “transcend” experience and are better guides to truth than are the senses and logical reason (Prentice Hall 1174). Thoreau is well known for writing Walden Pond, Excursions, The Maine Woods, Cape Cod, and A Yankee in Canada. In 1849 Henry David Thoreau wrote an essay called Civil Disobedience which little did he know would influence great leaders such as Mohandas Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and US civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

    Read More

  • Man And Nature In Emerson And Thoreau

    1092 Words  | 3 Pages

    Both Thoreau and Emerson teach us, who live in a more narrowed and often polluted nature, to get rid of our false sense of control and superiority that is influenced by the contemporary trends and culture. They want us to discover our proper ethical and spiritual place in nature. We must remind ourselves now and then that we are not crucial to nature's health, yet our capacity to destroy the nature is growing and becoming more violent. The best of our human tendency, though, depends on our fostering behavior, caring and respectful relationships with the nature that provides us with so many beautiful resources. We are liable to serve the nature for it serves and cater our lives in return. That is wisdom beyond eternity.

    Read More

  • Transcendentalism In Henry David Thoreau's 'Spring'

    830 Words  | 2 Pages

    Henry David Thoreau’s Walden encompasses a variety of themes and elements which cultivate an astounding work of American literature. “Spring” is focused on the changing of the season from winter to spring, and Thoreau’s analysis of Walden Pond and the area surrounding the pond. Thoreau looks at the pond from a spiritual aspect, describing the relationships between life and nature with an abysmal passion. Without Thoreau’s incorporation of precise literary elements, and integration of the themes of solitude, newness of life, and transcendentalism to clearly outline the spiritual revelations he obtained from his retirement at Walden Pond, the readers of his work would not be able to completely grasp the concepts Thoreau presents.

    Read More

  • The Ship Wreck Rhetorical Analysis

    762 Words  | 2 Pages

    Thoreau's "The Shipwreck": Changing Perspectives Henry David Thoreau acknowledged the undeniable and vital link between the human and the natural based on his life in Concord, but as he traveled out into the world and was met with a more hostile version of nature's power, his thoughts and reflections on this link changed considerably. In Concord, Henry David Thoreau fell in love with the peaceful accord of the natural world. Thoreau found Concord's nature to be inspirational, soothing, refreshing, and mesmerizing.

    Read More

  • Comparing E. B. White And Henry David Thoreau

    518 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Henry David Thoreau’s excerpt, he writes about his experiences during his stay in the Walden Pond, and an example of this is when he writes, “For the first week, whenever I looked out on the pond it impressed me like a tarn high up on the side of a mountain, its bottom far above the surface of other lakes, and, as the sun arose, I saw it throwing off its nightly clothing of mist, and here and there, by degrees, its soft ripples or its smooth reflecting surface was revealed, while the mists, like ghosts, were stealthily

    Read More

  • Henry David Thoreau: A Timeline

    763 Words  | 2 Pages

    Henry David Thoreau was bon on July 12, 1817 in Concord, Massachusetts, on his grandmother’s farm. Thoreau was of French-Huguenot and Scottish-Quaker decent. Thoreau was interested in writing at an early age. At the age of ten he wrote his first essay “The seasons”. He attended Concord Academy until 1833 when he was accepted to Harvard University but with his pending financial situation he was forced to attend Cambridge in August of 1833. In September of 1833 with the help of his family he was able to attend Harvard University. He graduated college in August of 1837.

    Read More

  • Back to Nature in Henry David Thoreau’s Walden

    2042 Words  | 5 Pages

    Thoreau sees beyond the power and economic structures that society creates and offers an alternative. He uses Walden Pond as his central metaphor and recreates his experiences through his imagery. His recognition of the pond, and the natural world surrounding it, not only establishes an atmosphere for spiritual growth, but also succeeds in creating a paradigm for society to follow in order to achieve the same. He assembles an instruction manual for the purpose of spiritual discovery and discovery of the self.

    Read More

  • Concept of Transcendentalism in Walden

    625 Words  | 2 Pages

    Henry David Thoreau uses literary devices such as imagery and metaphors to assist him in getting across his concept of transcendentalism. Thoreau uses what he observed from his surroundings in the woods to help explain his theory. He came to the conclusion that the best way to find truth is to try to communicate with himself and also with nature. He strongly believed that nature was a metaphor for spiritual enlightenment. Thoreau opens his chapter, Solitude, explaining his pleasure with nature.

    Read More

  • Health and Sustainability

    1569 Words  | 4 Pages

    Sustainability must be defined to include meeting human physical, emotional and social needs (Rogers et al. 2012) and scholarly research and thinking on well being and its connection to the environment, sustainability, growth and sustainable development considers aspects that move towards social and environmental benefits . While environme...

    Read More

  • The Earth Charter

    1223 Words  | 3 Pages

    For quite some time, life on earth has been nothing but peaches and cream for several people and because of people who live a non-sustainable life, it has left others with an indistinct outlook on earth’s future. Sustainability to me is doing things that will help prevent harmful things from happening to the environment now and in the future. With the support of the sustainability and more quality ways of living, the Earth Charter is gradually introduced. Through key research I will explain what the Earth Charter is and why it was founded, describe one of its four parts along with the goals and overarching philosophy, and share the impact it has on my life now and in the future.

    Read More

More about Analysis Of The Essay 'Sustainability' By Christian Weisser

Open Document