WALDEN POST-READING QUESTIONS
Write your answer to each question (and each question-within-a-question) using complete sentences and academic English.
“Where I lived and what I lived for”
1) Thoreau says, “I should not talk so much about myself if there were anybody else whom I knew as well.” Do you feel you know yourself better than you know anyone else? Explain.
3) Thoreau loves to depict an upside-down, paradoxical world.
a. Why does he say that farms, houses, barns, cattle, and tools “are more easily acquired than got rid of”?
b. Would most men agree that possessions are more easily acquired than giving up? Why or why not?
7) Thoreau says that we do not treat each other as thoughtfully as we should. In what ways can you treat people with more humanity and thoughtfulness?
“Conclusion”
8)Thoreau mentions “stupid sailors.” Elsewhere Thoreau has spoken despairingly of farmers, villagers, people in general. William Rounseville Alger, a contemporary of Thoreau, once wrote him, “He was unhealthy and unjust in all his thoughts on society; underrating the value, overrating the dangers, of intercourse with men.” Do you agree with the writer that Thoreau was “unhealthy and unjust” in his comments about society? Explain.
9) What does Thoreau mean when he says, “It would be nobler game to shoot one’s self”?
11) What does Thoreau have to say about the danger of falling into a rut? What kinds of ruts are there?
26) “However mean your life is, meet it and live it; do not shun it and call it hard names….The fault finder will find faults even in paradise. Love your life, poor as it is.” Would many young people today agree with Thoreau? Explain.
29) “Superfluous wealth can buy superfluities only. Money is not required to buy one necessary of the soul.” Do you agree with Thoreau? Explain.
30) “Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.” What does Thoreau mean by “truth”?
31) “There is an incessant influx of novelty into the world, and yet we tolerate incredible dullness.”) Does Thoreau link sermons with novelty or dullness?
