Live Deep And Suck Out All The Marrow Of Life, By Henry David Thoreau

The essay by Henry David Thoreau, “Where I lived and What I Lived For” tells Thoreau beliefs of how society should live. He asks deep questions such as, “Why should we live with such hurry and waste of life?” to encourage the reader to contemplate their lives and values. He said, “Our life is frittered away by detail.” and goes on to emphasize the value of, “Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!” Thoreau states simplicity and self sufficiency are virtues society should live by; however, they potentially jeopardize the community and are consequently not viable today.

2. “The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no     greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun. If you want to get more out of life, Ron, you must lose your inclination for monotonous security and adopt a helter-skelter style of life that will at first appear to you to be crazy. But once you become accustomed to such a life you will see its full meaning and its incredible beauty” (57).

In “Civil Disobedience”, Thoreau begins the essay using logos and ends the essay using pathos by giving personal examples of why men should follow their consciences rather than laws that do not support their moral beliefs. In the second part of this essay, Thoreau states “I have paid no poll-tax for six years. I was put into a jail once on this account”(Thoreau). After establishing with reason and logic that government should support citizens, rather than citizens supporting the government, Thoreau gives an example of how he refused to pay taxes to a government that allowed slavery. By showing that he was willing to go to jail, Thoreau builds his credibility because he takes action in accordance with his beliefs instead of just writing them.

Henry David Thoreau philosophized about living the good life. According to him, the good life is reached through what can be interpreted as an ever-evolving soul. The ever-evolving soul matures and begins to tune in to spiritual instinct. Epistemologically, Thoreau argues that spiritual instincts are sentiments or feelings that act as a life compass and distinguish the metaphysical aspect of higher laws from the world of being. In order to live the best life, according to Thoreau, one must avoid being overwhelmed by material possessions and practice economy. Which leads ethically to a spiritual evolution. In accumulating various material possessions we waste valuable time that could be spent with family and friends, traveling or expanding our personal interests. On July 4, 1845 Thoreau declared his independence from American society and moved into a cabin that he built next to Walden Pond in his home state of Massachusetts. After two years, two days and two months he returned home. By immersing himself in nature, Thoreau hoped to gain a more objective understanding of society through personal introspection. Simple living and self-sufficiency were some of Thoreau 's other philosophical precepts. In April of 1992 a recent graduate of Emory University named Christopher McCandless, set into the Alaskan wilderness, far away from civilization, to practice an extreme example of economy. It can be said that within the fateful story of McCandless and the philosophy of Thoreau certain

David Thoreau’s serious tone emphasizes the pleasure of living in the wilderness and observing nature. Thoreau’s serious and calm tone reflects on his time in nature; he chronicles his routine, his daily chores, and he connects this lifestyle to his own philosophy of life. He depicted nature in a positive tone, he had good things to say about both the phases of the day and the seasons of the year. He described the morning, “the most memorable season of the day”

Throughout the novel Common Sense, Thomas Paine is very transparent with his views on British parliament and their what seems to be never ending control over the colonies. He emphasizes that the American colonies must gain their independence in order for them to progress as a whole. When talking about the system of the British parliament, Paine states “Absolute governments have this advantage with them, that they are simple…But the constitution of England is so exceedingly complex, that the nation may suffer years together without being able to discover in which part the fault lies…” Additionally, he shows his disapproval for the British parliament because he believes the system is unreasonable and puts on a façade as if they were.

In Wendell Berry’s chapter, The Body and the Earth, he discusses the connection between all earthly inhabitants, and its descent into misguided chaos by impact of time, evolution, and industry. He uses evidence from historical literature, religious mindset, the development of gender roles and consumerism of the 1950s, and how one defines love, marriage, and interconnectedness between what Berry calls “members of Creation.” His opinions of sexual monogamy and the importance of self-discovery via entrance into the “wilderness” are expressed clearly, but as the essay moves through each sub-chapter, his explanations become scattered and difficult to follow. For example, Berry’s ideas on religion and the relationship between body and soul as

In literature, readers often see topics that one can relate to; topics that mimic everyday life, personal anecdotes or situations one has experienced . “A Rose for Emily,” a fictional story written by William Faulkner, shares eerily similar details with an article written in the Philadelphia Inquirer on January 30, 1987, “A Woman’s Wintry Death Leads to a Long-dead Friend,” by Dick Pothier and Thomas J. Gibbons JR. Faulkner’s narrator depicts the reclusive life of Miss Emily Grierson and the events leading to the discovery of a dead man’s body that had been locked away in her 2nd story bedroom for over forty years. In the article, Pothier and Gibbons report how a woman named Frances Dawson Hamilton was found to have “lived with the skeletonized remains” of her long-time companion for over two years after being discovered frozen to death in her home (153). Faulkner’s short story heavily relies on the narrator’s knowledge in addition to his point of view and experiences whereas Pothier and Gibbons report facts observed on scene or learned from interviews of neighbors, police, and investigators. Although fear of solitude initially motivated both women to behave so outlandishly, it is the authors’ distinct portrayal that illustrates each individual’s intentions.

Author Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.”. I think this quote is an explanation of a lot going on right now, and I will show that by using my own experiences as a guide. To grow even more you need to push past mastery. This could include sports, by pushing yourself even harder, and life by stepping out of your comfort zone.

Martin Luther king Jr. said “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”This means that violence does not get ride of violence. That only light can get rid of darkness. Then he compares it to hate and how hate can’t get rid of hate, How only love can get rid of hate.Dr. King wrote this in a time when the relationship between cops and African Americans was not good. King was trying to say violence will not solve the issues between cops and African Americans. This quote taught me that you won't get rid of anything if you use hate you can only get rid of hate when you use love .

11 year old Salva Dut became orphaned during the Second Sudanese Civil War, when around 2 million were killed and millions were displaced (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Boys_of_Sudan). In A Long Walk To Water, a book by Linda Sue Park, one of the main themes is perseverance. The book is about a young boy who is forced to flee his village, due to a war. He meets a few people along the way, and he is faced with very catastrophic events. Throughout the book Salva learns how to deal with challenges.

“It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look, which morally we can do.” (Line 4-6). Walden, an excerpt by Henry David Thoreau in 1854, expresses his experience in discovering a rich, full, and meaningful life at Walden Pond. He talks about the empty and worthless life he leaves in his past to grasp a new and spiritual life. He is influenced by his surroundings in making choices about his future path in life. The text defines why its important to pursue your passions and what can happen if you let others change your decisions. This essay will explore the ideas

Civil disobedience is the refusal to obey civil laws in an effort to induce change in governmental policy or legislation. Thoreau 's infamous ideas on "Civil Disobedience," written in 1849, have been monumental in the fight for change. It has helped influence change anywhere from the 1940s fight against Danish resistance, to the 1950s and McCarthyism. Thoreau 's words have helped lead the way to freedom. It has made the people of the world think about how they are being governed and how they are being treated. Thoreau 's message of freedom in “Civil Disobedience”, transcend his own time to be so influential to those throughout history for three main reasons which are that he is read around the world, it had to do with helping yourself, and he connected it to real life.

In Legend by Marie Lu the author develops the theme that everyday is a fresh start to reveal Day’s perspective of life and his way of living it. At this point in the story June and Day have escaped the Republic and are going into hiding. A storm hits them and they take shelter in an abandoned train car when June asks Day what made him chose Day as his street name. Day says “Each day means everything's possible again. You live in the moment, you die in the moment, you take all one day at a time… you try to walk in the light.” (Lu 304) This scene reveals the theme of taking life one day at a time because it shows how Day approaches life in his dystopian world. This emphasizes the mentality that Day has and how he is living life the best he can.

In life, you are born into societies where various ideas or things are thought to be normal and the customs are already established. The novel Anthem by Ayn Rand has many themes, but what I believe the theme of the novel is, to think for yourself. To think for yourself means to make your own decisions and opinions, without depending on other people. I also think that if you are going to think for yourself you can’t worry about what other people will think of what you believe in. Whether you believe that you should only have school a few days a week or you believe in a certain god, no person should feel ashamed for what they believe in. In today’s society and in the society of Anthem, people don’t think for themselves and they just follow people blindly. In the media, today we see what celebrities are saying, who they like, who they dislike, what they use, what they endorse, and we follow them because we want to be like them. Sometimes you don’t realize that you’re not thinking for yourself, but not being able to think for yourself can make you miserable and that is what Equality 7-2521 realized in Anthem.