Thoreau

Question 1

What was Thoreau’s father’s occupation?

Answer 1

Pencil-maker

Question 2

Where did Thoreau attend college?

Answer 2

Harvard

Question 3

When did Thoreau live?

Answer 3

1817-1862

Question 4

When did Thoreau take up residence at Walden Pond?

Answer 4

July 4, 1845

Question 5

What book did Thoreau hope to write at Walden?

Answer 5

The book that would later become “A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers” about a trip he took with his brother John, who had recently died.

Question 6

What inspired Thoreau to write “Resistance to Civil Government”?

Answer 6

He spent a night in jail in 1846 after refusing to pay his taxes (because they supported the proslavery agenda of the war against Mexico).

Question 7

When was Walden published?

Answer 7

1854

Question 8

How long did Thoreau spend at Walden?

Answer 8

Two Years

Question 9

Economy: What is the main gist of this chapter?

Answer 9

This is Walden’s introductory chapter, and the one that lays out Thoreau’s philosophical ideas and explains his set up at Walden. Thoreau critiques an increasingly busy, material, capitalistic society and suggests that people can be happy and more fulfilled with less.

Question 10

Who owned the land where Thoreau built his house at Walden pond?

Answer 10

Emerson

Question 11

Discuss Thoreau’s use of the pronoun “I,” Emerson’s ideas about self-reliance, and Thoreau’s project in Walden.

Answer 11

In the opening chapter, Thoreau explains his use of “I” by explaining that he is writing about personal experience. He acknowledges that everyone has a different perspective, and hopes that by sharing his unique views he can show what can be gained by breaking away from conformity. This, of course, is almost exact what Emerson calls for in his essay “self-reliance.”

Question 12

Economy: What are the necessities of life?

Answer 12

• Food
• Shelter
• Clothing
• Fuel

Question 13

What is Thoreau’s opinion on philanthropy?

Answer 13

While he is in favor of helping others, he thinks it is hypocritical to give a small portion of your income to others, and then feel good about it while you enjoy the rest of your wealth.

Question 14

How does Thoreau describe luxuries?

Answer 14

They keep those that are very wealthy “unnaturally hot.” They are not only unnecessary, but actually hindrances to the elevation of mankind.

Question 15

What is the most famous line from the section “What I Lived For”?

Answer 15

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately

Question 16

What is Thoreau’s opinion on News?

Answer 16

That it is much better to remove yourself from the desire of constantly wanting to hear news from other places. Most of it is inconsequential, and we are better served by paying attention to our own reality (preferably based in Nature and spending lots of time away from the hustle and bustle of the world).

Question 17

Where I Lived and What I Lived For: To what two Quals works does Thoreau reference when talking about why he condensed two years into one?

Answer 17

Colderidge and Chaucer (Nun’s Priest’s Tale)

“I do not propose to write an ode to dejection, but to brag as lustily as chanticleer in the morning, standing on his roost, if only to wake my neighbors up.” (61)

Question 18

Reading: What types of works does Thoreau say everyone must study?

Answer 18

The Classics, in their original languages if possible. Puzzling out the original language will make you truly engage in the work in a way you may not if it is in translation.

(Western/American focus, “othering” cultures where English may be the foreign tongue.)

Question 19

Reading: How does Thoreau characterize the process of reading?

Answer 19

It should be laborious and time-consuming. One should read a work “as deliberately and reservedly” as the work was written. This is the only real way to get value out of the books you read.

Question 20

What are the two types of Reading Thoreau discusses?

Answer 20

Easy Reading, which is done for necessity (account keeping) or entertainment, and deep intellectual engagement, which few ever truly practice.

This second type of reading is so valuable that Thoreau can barely express how great it is.

Question 21

Reading: What does Thoreau say about education in this chapter?

Answer 21

That there is no reason why it should be confined to elite universities. The world would be better off if we brought this type of focused study to villages where everyone could participate and better themselves.

Question 22

Reading: What argument does Thoreau make for progress in this chapter?

Answer 22

“If we live in the Nineteenth Century, why should we not enjoy the advantages which the Nineteenth Century offers?”

This is Thoreau’s argument for why university-caliber learning could be brought to “provincial” villages like Concord. It seems a bit at odds with some of his other refutations of progress (like the railroad and the telegraph).

Question 23

What are Thoreau’s views on Solitude?

Answer 23

Being alone might feel uncomfortable at first, but that is only because we have to learn how to be alone without being lonely. If we are truly engaging with nature and our work (like reading or farming - not making money), being by ourselves won’t make us lonely. Being with other people is fine, as long as you are really opening yourself up to being with them, but it’s also important to spend some time by yourself.

Nature can provide companionship, as long as we are open to it, because Nature is the closest thing to divinity.

Question 24

Why did Thoreau leave Walden?

Answer 24

Once he had been there for two years, he felt he had gotten into too much of a routine, so that living there didn’t provide the same stimulation to self-exploration and communion with Nature as it once had. He felt it was time to change things up.