Clearly, Henry David Thoreau did not approve of the fast
pace of life in 1847. He thought
Americans worked too hard – that they were workaholic slaves to bank mortgages
and other debts. And he felt that there
was too much technology (e.g., trains, telegraphs, measuring devices).
He conducted his experiment in deliberate living – his two
and a half year hermitage on Walden Pond – not
simply as an isolationist retreat (yes, his Concord neighbors visited him
periodically, and yes, his mother did his laundry!), but instead as a symbolic statement
about living simply. In effect, he tried
to become a living, breathing counterargument to what he saw as American
addiction to work and technology.
As you review “Where I Lived, and What I Lived for” tonight
(LOC, pp. 256-261), please write two paragraphs – hypothetical body paragraphs
in a hypothetical AP essay of rhetorical analysis – in which you specifically
and eloquently show how at least two
of Thoreau’s rhetorical strategies support his argument in challenging
Americans to “Simplify!”
As you write, please remember that rhetorical strategies are not limited to the items in the
Glossary of LOC. Humor is a rhetorical
strategy. Repetition is a rhetorical
strategy. Insistence is a rhetorical strategy. Irony and sarcasm are rhetorical
strategies. How do Thoreau’s rhetorical
strategies support his argument in challenging mid-19th-century Americans
to “Simplify!”?
TYPE & PRINT THESE PARAGRAPHS, AND BRING THEM TO CLASS
ON WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23. ALSO, PLEASE SUBMIT THESE PARAGRAHS ON TURNITIN.COM. I'VE CREATED AN ASSIGNMENT CALLED 'THOREAU ASSIGNMENT' ON TURNITIN.COM.
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