Comparing E. B. White And Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau, a transcendentalist, writes about his experience in Walden Pond, which conveys a serious and straightforward writing style. On the other hand, E.B. White visits Walden Pond as well, but writes about how the advancement of technology has caused man to lose touch with nature and writes in a satirical and humorous style. Though, despite their differences in writing styles, both writers share a common trait, and this is their inclusion of descriptive detail.

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

White’s excerpt, he showcases his theme of man’s interference with nature and dependence on technology, which in turn made him lose his connection with nature. This can be seen in his excerpt as he says, “On one of the lawns in the outskirts of the village a woman was cutting the grass with a motorized lawn mower. What made me think of you was that the machine had rather got away from her, although she was game enough, and in the brief glimpse I had of the scene it appeared to me that the lawn was mowing the lady. She kept a tight grip on the handles, which throbbed violently with every explosion of the one-cylinder motor, and as she sheered around bushes and lurched along at a reluctant trot behind her impetuous servant, she looked like a puppy who had grabbed something that was too much for him.” In addition to his theme, his use of a satirical and humorous style of writing, filled with descriptive details can also be seen inside of the