Martin and Thoreau the Voyage Begins
Thoreau and Martin writers of words that led us on a journey of discovering what makes them similar as well as diverse. The paths may be different, but the destinations are the same. This adventure begins with who and why moving forward to explore figurative language and ending our little escapade with the levels of language used. Let us see if we can have some fun as we undertake this quest.
The who seems a little obvious as the main intended audience for both Thoreau and Martin is the everyday writer. Their easy laid back styles make their writings engaging and thoughtful, as well as a light read. I felt both writers were able to get across the importance they place on writing without becoming technical,
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In Thoreau’s essay, he uses figurative language when he compares the sketches of a painter done for fun to that of a writer’s spontaneous thoughts. In the second paragraph, we again see Thoreau’s use of figurative language in the form of a cliché when he states, “…ready to turn over a new leaf…” (Thoreau par. 2). He continues with this language as he compares our thoughts of ourselves to what others think of us as each being “…different editions of the same great work” (Thoreau par. 3). Martin’s use of figurative language enhances and advances his thesis, “Writing is the most easy [sic], pain-free, and happy way to pass the time of all the arts” (Martin par. 1), with his use of comedy and his myriad of stories to illustrate his point. Such as when he compares writing about Dwarfism in California to writing about it in Czechoslovakia stating, “…dealt with in [sic] California. Seven happy dwarfs… [dealt with in Czechoslovakia] seven melancholic dwarfs at best…” (Martin par. 2). Our journey as we progress forward leads us into the depths of …show more content…
Let us see where each leads us. Martin is laid back and open with his audience inviting us into his realm as if we are his friends and neighbors. He takes us on a journey through his mind asking us to see as he sees, in this way showing us how easy writing can be. Martin acknowledges that he feels California is the place to be for writers, with its always sunny weather. His comedic form of writing makes the journey swift with highs and lows as if on a roller coaster ride, ending with that abrupt stop and the joyous sounds of our fellow riders saying, do it again! Thoreau with his serious way of writing draws us in using metaphors and thought provoking statements. He has a rhythmic feel to his voice that makes us want to continue reading, as if being pulled by a mother’s voice as she sings her baby a lullaby. Thoreau’s use of words that seem antiquated to our modern ear, are that of an old world style but are easy enough for even the layman to
Thoreau, Henry David. "Walden." The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998. 2107-2141.
on ways to be civil but disobedient, they have opposite ways of convicing you. Dr.
How people see one another vary in numerous ways, whether it be from actions or what is gathered through spoken conversations. When an intellectual meets someone for the first time, they tend to judge by appearance before they judge by how the person express their thoughts or ideas. In Thoreau’s excerpt, he emphasizes the importance of his philosophy, especially by making sure the reader is aware of his own feelings about it. He puts literary devices such as metaphors, personification, and imagery to construct his explanation for his philosophy as well as provide several attitudes to let the reader identify how he feels towards people and the value of their ideas.
Thoreau wasn 't one to take advantage of what the world had to offer and just took life what it was, all while following his motto of doing what was right. Thoreau sees the miracles of the world similarly to the Whitman poem because there isn 't a limit to what can be appreciated. There are quite a few modern views that compare well to Thoreau as they take that step away from society defined by technology and progression and just take a look at the bigger picture, one of these approaches is the recent Occupy Wall Street movement.
In his world-famous thought-provoking novel, Walden, Henry David Thoreau presents his readers with a simple, inspirational guide for living. Written beside the beautiful Walden pond and completely surrounded by an unencumbered natural world, Thoreau writes about his own relationship with the beauty that surrounds him. His book provides an outlet for everyone to learn from his lessons learned in nature, whether they be city-dwellers or his own neighbors. One of Thoreau's most prominent natural lessons running throughout his novel is that of his deeply rooted sense of himself and his connection with the natural world. He relates nature and his experiences within it to his personal self rather than society as a whole. Many times in the novel, Thoreau urges his readers to break away from their societal expectations and to discover for themselves a path that is not necessarily the one most trodden. He explains that everyone should "be a Columbus to whole new continents and worlds within you, opening new channels, not of trade, but of thought (341)." Walden inspires its readers to break out of the mold of tradition, away from outwardly imposed expectations, and out of the loyalty to society over loyalty to oneself in order to find truth and self in nature.
...eeds to be challenged and according to the writer, the only way of achieving this is through the potential of the discontent. The complaints go against order and have the possibility of organizing and changing traditions. If he targeted the conformed, the efforts will result unsuccessful because changing the mind is harder that structuring an argument. The conformed have no potential to challenge order and changing their mind proves harder than organizing the minority. Thoreau’s philosophy of achieving change through the potential of the minority thus translates to his choice of audience.
Rukeyser, Muriel. "Thoreau and Poetry." Henry David Thoreau. Ed. Walter Harding, George Brenner, and Paul A. Doyle. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1972. 103-116. Rpt. in Poetry Criticism. Ed. Ellen McGeagh and Linda Pavlovski. Vol. 30. Detroit: Gale Group, 2000. Literature Resource Center. Web. 31 Mar. 2011.
Literature such as Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Nature” and Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden” reflect the tenets of Transcendentalism. They set the foundation for Transcendentalism because Emerson and Thoreau were the “fathers” of the literary movement. Both writers searched for truth and the meaning of life on an individual level that fit their feelings. They demonstrated the perfectibility and self-reliance of individuals. For example, “Walden” tells of Thoreau’s two years of living in the woods relying on himself for food and shelter and trying to simplify his life. He wanted to demonstrate that there was no evil in the simplicity of his forest home. Just as Thoreau’s “Walden” demonstrated Thoreau’s renewal or refreshing of his own spirit, Transcendentalism was the renewal or rebirth of American Literature.
While Emerson and Thoreau certainly have difference of opinions, they recognize the need for public discussion and discourse. Emerson declares “a foolish consistency” to be “the hobgoblin of little minds” (Emerson 367). This is shown in their essays “Self-Reliance” and “Civil Disobedience” in which they support individuality and personal expression. Despite their contrasting views of society and government, the two most prominent transcendentalists in literary history share a passionate belief in the necessity that every American must exercise their constitutional rights and make known their views even and especially if it challenges the status quo.
...ing Henry David Thoreau into a prominent American Romantic writer. Such elements include his writings about life in Nature having great solitude; he became friends with the surrounding plants and animals. Secondly, he wrote about what was occurring day to day at Walden’s Pond which showed him as being individualistic. Moreover, there was the idea that God can only be found in nature, and pantheism was constant idea in his book. Finally, Thoreau wrote about intuition as a means of obtaining knowledge, and his use of senses as a tool for building intuition. These ideas time and time again show the various aspects of Thoreau being portrayed as an American Romantic which has lead to a great historical achievement as a writer that he well deserves.
Fender, Stephen. Introduction. Walden. By Henry David Thoreau. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1997. Print.
As one of the most well-known authors of the nineteenth century, Henry David Thoreau wrote and inspired many poetic works we recognize as “classics”. He lived during the height of transcendentalism and eventually became a major contributor to its cause. Thoreau accomplished this magnificent feat through his short writings and his poetry. As such a significant writer in American literature, Thoreau, like any great writer, explored many topics and ideas in his work such as religion, and nature. Among the most consistent of these topics seems to be that he as an author, appeals to a higher law, or greater power in many of his works. Throughout his poems “Nature,” “Great God I Ask for no Meaner Pelf,” and “On Fields O’re Which the Reaper has Passed” Thoreau blatantly references God or other supernatural forces, giving way to his sense of style, and ideology.
In "Walden, Or Life in the Woods" (1995), by Henry David Thoreau, he takes a very analytical approach to his recollections of the past. Through the use of colorful descriptions, he paints a vivid account of his surrounding scenery with no detectable embellishment while providing an extremely accurate report of his experience. "But while we are confined to books, though the select and classic, and read only particular written languages, which are themselves but dialects and provincial, we are in danger of forgetting the language which all things and events speak without metaphor, which alone is copious and standard." (Thoreau 72) In this description of sound, the level of scholarly, colorful language is clearly evident. Comparing Thoreau to his modern counterpart Jack Kerouac, in "The Dharma Bums" (1958), Kerouac writes with far less colorful language but provides more detail on personal sentiment and emotion. "Far off, just the sound of the yards where they were kicking cuts of cars with a great splowm waking up all El Paso, but me." (Kerouac 154) Kerouac is still descriptive, however is much less academic in his word cho...
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was an American philosopher, author, poet, abolitionist, and naturalist. He was famous for his essay, “Civil Disobedience”, and his book, Walden. He believed in individual conscience and nonviolent acts of political resistance to protest unfair laws. Moreover, he valued the importance of observing nature, being individual, and living in a simple life by his own values. His writings later influenced the thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. In “Civil Disobedience” and Walden, he advocated individual nonviolent resistance to the unjust state and reflected his simple living in the nature.
Walden is written by Henry David Thoreau, an American author, poet, philosopher, and a leading transcendentalist. The Walden is written in 1st person on how the author, Henry David Thoreau, was determined to find out everything he can about human nature. In order to do so, Thoreau moves to the woods because he believes that Society’s Normal concerns like, Money and material goods would block his understanding. Transcendentalism is a philosophy that emphasizes the Importance of the spiritual over the physical. Thoreau’s idea of transcendentalism stressed the importance of nature. Henry David Thoreau uses literary devices such as imagery and metaphors to assist him in getting across his concept of transcendentalism.