Walden
During this unit, we studied Henry David Thoreau's work Walden, and what writing about a specific place could do for us. We wrote our own works about a meaningful place, and also examined Thoreau's philosophies critically in an extended essay (both found below).
Artist's Statement
My encircled page was created to be a visual companion to the writing about a place in nature (below). I tried to make the art inside the flaps of the page portray the feeling I got when I was physically there, in the place I wrote about. My book shows the forest I played in for about five years, before my family moved.
Media I used to create this included colored ink, colored pencils, watercolor pencils, and tissue paper. On the outside I drew a fairy house. The inside was the part of the woods I used to play in.
After the art was done, I wrote my place writing right on it. I wrote mine bordering almost all the outlines on my drawings. I used all my poem, and incorporated more small sayings to make it look more interesting.
Media I used to create this included colored ink, colored pencils, watercolor pencils, and tissue paper. On the outside I drew a fairy house. The inside was the part of the woods I used to play in.
After the art was done, I wrote my place writing right on it. I wrote mine bordering almost all the outlines on my drawings. I used all my poem, and incorporated more small sayings to make it look more interesting.
Place Writing
A kingdom with a throne
A throne growing up
Might not be there anymore
Small world of beauty
A throne growing up
Out of a tree
Small world of beauty
Branches reaching out
Out of a tree
Rain softly falls
Branches reaching out
They could touch the sky
Rain softly falls
Down to the packed brown dirt
They could touch the sky
Our hands reach up
Down to the packed brown dirt
Our feet land hard
Our hands reach up
Leaves fly as we run
Our feet land hard
Might not be there anymore
Leaves fly as we run
A kingdom with a throne
A throne growing up
Might not be there anymore
Small world of beauty
A throne growing up
Out of a tree
Small world of beauty
Branches reaching out
Out of a tree
Rain softly falls
Branches reaching out
They could touch the sky
Rain softly falls
Down to the packed brown dirt
They could touch the sky
Our hands reach up
Down to the packed brown dirt
Our feet land hard
Our hands reach up
Leaves fly as we run
Our feet land hard
Might not be there anymore
Leaves fly as we run
A kingdom with a throne
Thoreau's Ideas
Henry David Thoreau is one of the few writers who represent American literature at the middle of the 19th century. As well as being a writer he was an abolitionist, delivering lectures to anti-slavery crowds and even spending a night in jail because he didn’t pay his taxes to support the Mexican War. Around his 30th year he lived two years in the woods, in a tiny cabin near Walden Pond. His masterwork, the book Walden was written during this stay in nature. The book is long and hard to read, but the ideas in the text are very interesting. In fact, many of the ideas are worth many people’s while to listen to, even now, in 2011. Most of these ideas are about following your dreams and being yourself. It may sound like a magazine cover, but if people listened to them we’d have a much more diverse and interesting world.
Thoreau had many ideas of how people should treat each other. “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away” (Thoreau 207-208) This quote clearly expresses Thoreau’s ideas of nonconformity, or being yourself. He may have thought that even though people were different, they should still treat each other nicely. Thoreau followed his ideas to the end of his life. Many of his friends and family were disappointed that he did not go into a career that befitted a Harvard graduate, but Thoreau didn’t want to become something everyone wanted him to be. He achieved more in his personal life that anyone could ever hope for, here in 2011. He continued his education until he died. His life long theme was “The end of life is education.” (Thoreau 203) Many people might think this means he hated education and you’d die if you were educated, but in fact it means the opposite. He believed that you should learn as much as you can, so that when your time to die did come around, you’d have lived you life to the fullest and kept learning the whole way through.
Thoreau seemed to believe that all dreams that you have should have solid bases and you should work hard to make them true. “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” (Thoreau 207) I used to disagree with this theory. Now I can somewhat see where he’s getting at, but I still don’t fully agree. I think what he’s trying to say is that if you have dreams (castles in the air) you should make them come true (putting the foundations under them). But what I don’t see is why you can’t have flying castles. If he thinks imagining is good, I don’t see why he couldn’t agree with having castles fly. Maybe he thought that flying castles were pointless to life and were not needed. However, dreams are a very important aspect of anyone’s life, back then or now, in 2010.
He also seemed to conclude that the way of life around that time was rather materialistic. “Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth. I sat at a table where were rich food and wine in abundance, and obsequious attendance, but sincerity and truth were not; and I went away hungry from the inhospitable board.” (Thoreau p. 206) This quote is a perfect example of people in 2010. We are far too interested in our own material things, not in honesty, truth and friends. Well, we are interested in friends, but only friends of the right kind. Honesty and truth are almost nonexistent in the working world of 2010. People lie, cheat, underpay, cut, fire, etc, with no qualms about whomever’s life they are ruining. People are much more interested in the amount of money they’re making then how much honesty is involved in making it. If we listened to Thoreau’s ideas, we would probably have a more honest world.
Thoreau’s lifelong theme was to always do what he wanted to do. “I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” This is the golden line that the population of 2010 would be well-advised to follow. We should pay attention to our own dreams, not follow those of our friends or idols. We are each our own person, with our own dreams and desires. It is up to us to assemble our own identity and follow those dreams to the end. Thoreau did what he wanted, and now almost everyone knows who he is, 150 years later. His ideas are still relevant to us now, and his work will never become too old fashioned for people to listen to.
Thoreau had many ideas of how people should treat each other. “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away” (Thoreau 207-208) This quote clearly expresses Thoreau’s ideas of nonconformity, or being yourself. He may have thought that even though people were different, they should still treat each other nicely. Thoreau followed his ideas to the end of his life. Many of his friends and family were disappointed that he did not go into a career that befitted a Harvard graduate, but Thoreau didn’t want to become something everyone wanted him to be. He achieved more in his personal life that anyone could ever hope for, here in 2011. He continued his education until he died. His life long theme was “The end of life is education.” (Thoreau 203) Many people might think this means he hated education and you’d die if you were educated, but in fact it means the opposite. He believed that you should learn as much as you can, so that when your time to die did come around, you’d have lived you life to the fullest and kept learning the whole way through.
Thoreau seemed to believe that all dreams that you have should have solid bases and you should work hard to make them true. “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” (Thoreau 207) I used to disagree with this theory. Now I can somewhat see where he’s getting at, but I still don’t fully agree. I think what he’s trying to say is that if you have dreams (castles in the air) you should make them come true (putting the foundations under them). But what I don’t see is why you can’t have flying castles. If he thinks imagining is good, I don’t see why he couldn’t agree with having castles fly. Maybe he thought that flying castles were pointless to life and were not needed. However, dreams are a very important aspect of anyone’s life, back then or now, in 2010.
He also seemed to conclude that the way of life around that time was rather materialistic. “Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth. I sat at a table where were rich food and wine in abundance, and obsequious attendance, but sincerity and truth were not; and I went away hungry from the inhospitable board.” (Thoreau p. 206) This quote is a perfect example of people in 2010. We are far too interested in our own material things, not in honesty, truth and friends. Well, we are interested in friends, but only friends of the right kind. Honesty and truth are almost nonexistent in the working world of 2010. People lie, cheat, underpay, cut, fire, etc, with no qualms about whomever’s life they are ruining. People are much more interested in the amount of money they’re making then how much honesty is involved in making it. If we listened to Thoreau’s ideas, we would probably have a more honest world.
Thoreau’s lifelong theme was to always do what he wanted to do. “I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” This is the golden line that the population of 2010 would be well-advised to follow. We should pay attention to our own dreams, not follow those of our friends or idols. We are each our own person, with our own dreams and desires. It is up to us to assemble our own identity and follow those dreams to the end. Thoreau did what he wanted, and now almost everyone knows who he is, 150 years later. His ideas are still relevant to us now, and his work will never become too old fashioned for people to listen to.
Work Cited
Thoreau, Henry David. Walden. Adventures In American Literature. ED. Francis Hodgins and Kenneth Silverman. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, publishers, 1980. 203-209