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Anastasia Danilevsky
Mr. Deidrich
Band B
October 27
A.P. English

"Where I Lived, and What I lived For" Henry David Thoreau

Questions on Rhetoric and style

1. In the first paragraph, what does Thoreau declare as his higher purpose?
I believe that Thoreau sees his higher purpose in life as to live life naturally, to get every breathe out of it, to live truly and happily and understand how it really is that life works. One would say Thoreau focuses on "Spartan-like" lifestyle, mentioned by the author in paragraph 1, however, later on the author, Thoreau mentions God and how one should "glorify and enjoy him forever". I believe that the author is contradicting himself starting from paragraph 1. The main purpose in authors life is to …show more content…

The author is viewed as if he is unsure of his own ideas. The attitude of the text, whenever the author asks rhetorical questions is interrogative. Another example of a repetition in the specific writing can be seen in paragraph 6. When the author constantly repeats "let" or "let us". By using these repetitions the author is appealing to pathos by involving the audience into the text and making the reader be part of the argument.
7. What paradox does Thoreau develop concerning the railroad in paragraph 2?
In paragraph 2, the author initially states that railroads are supposed to be built by us, men, however, later on Thoreau states "We do not ride on the railroads, it rides upon us." This statement seemed contradictory to me, which shows the use of paradox in this segment of the writing.
8. Paragraph 3 begins with a rhetorical question. How effectively does the rest of the paragraph answer it?
If I understood the reading correctly, the author does not quite answer his rhetorical question throughout the rest of the paragraph. As a matter of fact, he shifts into talking about people view life, and their actions in specific cases. However, a rhetorical question is the one that does not expect an answer. This paragraph, as the rest of the writing, seemed contradictory and paradoxical. Sentences are compound - complex with a use of colons.
9.

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