Henry David Thoreau

1817-1862

Life

Homes

Concord, Massachusetts
Walden Pond
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Staten Island

Occupations

teacher
handyman
tutor
surveyor

Chronology

1817: born in Concord, Massachusetts
1833: attends Harvard, majored in English literature
1838: begins lecturing in Concord
1842: Henry's brother John dies of lockjaw
1843: tutors at Emerson's brother's house on Staten Island
1845: moves to Walden Pond
1847: leaves Walden Pond
1849: writes A Week on the Concord and Merrimac Rivers
1854: wrote Walden or Life in the Woods
1857: starts writing The Maine Woods
1859: Thoreau's father dies, and he carries on business
1860: writes A Plea for Captain John Brown
1862: dies in Concord of tuberculosis
1864: The Maine Woods published posthomously
1865: Cape Cod published posthomously

Issues and Themes

Though Thoreau was not really recognized in his own time, he is known today as the most challenging major American author. He is also known as a transcendentalist along with other great writers, such as Bronson Alcott, Margaret Fuller, and Ralph Waldo Emerson.

His style of prose is exhibited in such works as The Maine Woods, "Resistance to Civil Government," and Walden. These pieces of literature focus on the importance of nature and individualism. Thoreau tried to convey the idea to live life, not just walk through it. He wanted people to reevaluate their lives and see what was really important.

Work

Walden

Explain the statement: "It is not enough to be busy...the question is: what are we busy about?"
What does Thoreau mean by living "deliberately"?
How is Emerson different from Thoreau? How are they similar?
What was Thoreau's purpose in going to Walden Pond?
The title "Economy" means something like "philosophy of living" (see footnote p. 788). What is Thoreau's philosophy of living?
What does Thoreau mean by the following statement : "Do not stay to be an overseer of the poor, but endeavor to become one of the worthies of the world" (829).

Bibiography

"Henry David Thoreau." umsa.umd.edu/thoreau/history.htm
Myerson, Joel. Emerson and Thoreau: The Contemporary Reviews. American Critical Archieves Series.
Thoreau, Henry David. Walden. Norton Anthology of American Literature. Shorter Fourth Edition. New York: W.W. Norton, 1995. 788-829.

Written by Anna Hunt, Wendy Jernigan, Matt McNeill, and Tabitha Strickland, students, University of North Carolina at Pembroke, 1997
Edited by Mark Canada, Ph.D., professor of English, University of North Carolina at Pembroke
© Mark Canada, 1997

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