'Thanatopsis' By William Cullen Bryant: Poem Analysis

From the start of man fighting for freedom or his beliefs, the question has consistently been whether a person can wage a battle using words rather than actions. The notion of civil disobedience would seem to be an inept weapon against political inequity; history, however, has persistently proven it to be the most dynamic weapon of the individual. By refusing to pay his taxes and subsequently being imprisoned, Henry David Thoreau demonstrated this very defiance. Thoreau’s Resistance to Civil Government conveys the effectiveness of the individual conscience, renounces hypocrisy, and cultivates a sense of urgency where inaction creates a moral conflict. This path of responsibility paved by Thoreau gave our leaders of today the means they

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.

Romanticism first came about in the 18th century and it was mostly used for art and literature. The actual word “romanticism” was created in Britain in the 1840s. People like Victor Hugo, William Wordsworth, and Percy Bysshe Shelley had big impacts on this style of art. Romanticism is

When David Thoreau wrote “Civil Disobedience,” the government was much more punishing than it is today and it was much less likely for someone to stand out against the government. That being said, today, it would be much easier to practice non-conformity because today’s society is much more welcoming of out of the box ideals and beliefs. For example, when Thoreau had, “paid no poll-tax,” he, “was put into a jail...on this account, for one night.” In today’s society though, if a person didn’t pay a tax, then they would simply take it up with the government, and wouldn’t be thrown into jail on the spot. This example shows that being disobedient to the government today would be much easier to accomplish because of the lesser penalties. The gist of this fact is that because the practice of civil disobedience has become commonplace in today’s society, from living in a tree for years to strapping oneself to a historical building, making it easier to get away with noncompliance without having grave

Henry David Thoreau wrote Civil Disobedience, which is about him trying to persuade citizens that their obligation is to contravene and correct the unfair laws of the government. Thoreau begins Civil Disobedience with the view point “That government is best which governs least”

The period of Romanticism, occurring between the years 1800 and 1860, left a significant impact on not only the literature of that time, but the literature of today as well. Prior to romantic writings, the world focused on society and logic. Romanticism allowed people to start valuing individualism and to appeal to emotional responses. This new way of thinking brought new literary styles, themes, and genres that were never explored before and are still found today. The literature of Romanticism allowed people to escape the harshness of reality and enter a different world.

Civil disobedience is defined as the “refusal to obey civil laws in an effort to induce change in government policy or legislation, characterized by nonviolent means”; theories on this topic have been debated for centuries. (American Heritage Dictionary 3rd Edition pg161) Henry David Thoreau was well known for his refusal to participate in the political systems or activities of his era, not only by refusing to pay his poll taxes for six consecutive years, but also by announcing that he did not wish to be regarded as a member of any incorporated society. In Civil Disobedience, Thoreau stresses the need to prioritize one’s conscience over the dictates of laws. A person should not be obligated to devote his or her life to eliminating evils from the world, but is only obligated not to participate in such evils themselves. He argues that the government rarely proves itself useful and this derives from the power from the majority because they are the strongest group, not because they hold the most legitimate views. Justice is the quality of being just, impartial or fair. Thoreau doubted the effectiveness of reform within the government, and argued that voting and petitioning for change served useless. He felt that justice had different standards for each different group. Which raises the question, is justice fair for everyone? When a government is unjust, people should

After spending a night in jail, after nonpayment of Massachusetts poll tax, Thoreau wrote his essay “Civil Disobedience”. He states that governments are mostly “inexpedient” (1577), or not practical. At best, Thoreau pushed the idea that the government isn’t useful because it is not our own. He writes “What makes this duty the more urgent is the fact that the country so overrun is not our own, but ours is the invading army” (1580). Americans listen to the rules established by the government, but it is not necessary, because the government is just the majority of people with whom are living off a different countries rules. The reason the government is even there, is because it gives the citizens some type of stable structure to live by. Thoreau feels that the government is unjust and the citizens of America should not follow rules. He feels like a reform is in need; “It is not a man’s duty, as a matter of course, to devote himself to the eradication of any, even the most enormous, wrong” and “not to give it practically his support” (1582). Thoreau and Emerson both push for social reform of the individual. Emerson wants the individual to be reliant on themselves, and not fall into the conformity of the American society. Thoreau, also teaches the individual to think different then the governmental established rules. Both authors want the readers to trust themselves, before they trust the

“Shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once? (Thoreau 184).” The choice of acting upon unjust laws is up to the person whether they want to follow with what they believe is morally right no matter the consequences. Thoreau, for example, was arrested for not paying poll taxes for six years. Thoreau peacefully served his time in his night in jail, having known beforehand the consequences for his actions, yet he went along and committed the crime. Even though the crime Thoreau committed didn’t harm anyone, it made a general statement to what he stood for, that government cannot change his beliefs and make him follow laws that are unjust to him. “When I meet a government which says to me, "Your money or your life," why should I be in haste to give it my money? It may be in a great strait, and not know what to do: I cannot help that. It must help itself; do as I do. It is not worth the while to snivel about it. I am not responsible for the successful working of the machinery of society.(Thoreau

Civil Disobedience makes governments more accountable for their actions and has been an important catalyst for overcoming unpopular government policies. To voice his disgust with slavery, in 1849 Henry David Thoreau published his essay, Civil Disobedience, arguing that citizens must not allow their government to override their principles and have a civic duty to prevent their government from using unjust means to ends. The basis for Thoreau’s monumental essay was his refusal to pay a poll tax, which subsequently landed him a night in county jail. In his passage: “If the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the machine of government, let it go, let it go; perchance it will wear smooth—certainly the machine will wear

Have you ever felt a rule you had to follow was unjust? Have you ever felt your moral instinct tell you not to follow it? Prominent figures in American history, Martin Luther King Jr. and Henry David Thoreau, felt this way and decided to not follow the rules imposed on them by indulging in “civil disobedience”. Civil disobedience is the act of peacefully disobeying laws or customs with the purpose of combating moral injustice. This form of protest has proven to be quite effective in making change in history. In “Civil Disobedience” and the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, both Thoreau and King Jr. write their justification for their actions as well as their feelings regarding the particular disputed

     In “Civil Disobedience';, Thoreau’s most famous social protest, He explains that it is our civil right to disagree with laws. He believed that people must be free to act according to their own idea of right and wrong, without government interference. In "Civil Disobedience", he said that people should refuse to obey any law they believe is unjust. Thoreau practiced this type of passive resistance when, in 1846, he refused to pay poll taxes. He did so to express his opposition to the Mexican War. Thoreau spent one night in jail for his refusal.

Henry David Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” is a essay written to oppose the laws of the government, opening the essay with the motto “that the government is best which governs least”. He talks about not paying the government's tax for years now, and being thrown in jail. Thoreau strongly disagreed with the war of mexico and slavery, therefore he did not pay for what he did not support. His reasoning for this essay is to explain how unjust the law is, using himself as a example, fighting for justice. Another thing I found as Thoreau message was to no let people blindly follow their government if they believe their rules and laws are unjust.

In 1848, the last year of the Mexican-American War, Henry David Thoreau had been sent to prison for one night due to his refusing to pay the poll tax. The following year, Thoreau wrote the essay Resistance to Civil Government about his experience in prison, the events that led up to his arrest, and the aftermath of said events. Throughout the essay, Thoreau wanted to trigger people to do what they thought was right, whether it was something as simple as not giving their seat up on a bus or people accepting the consequences of their actions, but his main objectives appeared to be to inspire people to stand up for what they believe in, to support or not support certain causes, and to prove that the government is arbitrary and sucks sometimes.

This can be viewed through the works of author Washington Irving in his short story, The Devil and Tom Walker, published in 1824, where he goes into detail of his opinions of romanticism and what it means to him. A quote from the short story is, “You shall open a broker’s shop in Boston next month,” … “You shall extort bonds, foreclose mortgages, drive the merchants to bankruptcy”. This quotation is said through a man in the story who is symbolizing the devil; therefore Irving is using this to show a negative aspect of human nature and how there is a dark and corrupt side to society. Another example of romanticism having a negative aspect of human nature is in the many stories and essays written by the author Edgar Allen Poe, such as, “The Fall of the House of Usher”, “Ligeia”, and “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”. The short story with the most detail and evidence of romanticism and it’s negative aspect would be another famous work by Poe, “The Pit and the Pendulum”. The story is based upon Gothic literature and includes the story with the tragedy of death and the events that follow. An example from the story is, “I shrank back, but the closing walls pressed me resistlessly onward. At length for my seared and writhing body there was no longer an inch of foothold on the firm floor of the