On page 117, I noticed that Thoreau makes a point about vegatarinism. He seems grossed out by meat. Are any of you vegetarians? Vegans? What choices do you make about the food you eat? He continues to describe eating on page 18 and he has a lot of opinions! When he sees a rainbow, he is filled with poetry and joy. “All nature is your congratulation, and you have cause momentarily to bless yourself,” he writes. Here, he’s personifying nature, right? Nature has human qualities and is giving congratulations. Perhaps he’s comparing nature to G-d. Could it be that he’s saying that nature is G-d's gift to us and that we should feel blessed?
On page 119, I think he’s high on life. Good for him. Don’t do drugs, kids. In his discussion of food, he seems to be making a connection between feeding our bodies and feeding our souls. In the case of our souls, we would need to feed it good things (virtue) to develop “goodness.” On page 120, he’s talking about “appetite.” If you don’t know the meaning of the word, look it up now. You know how Thoreau loves his metaphors. What are the various “appetites” he examines in this section? He’s not just talking about food, but about other things we hunger for. On the next page, he considers work versus sloth, or laziness. In the middle of the page, we have a very famous line: “Every man is the builder of a temple, called his body, to the god he worships, after a style purely his own, nor can he get off by hammering marble instead. We are all sculptors and painters, and our material is our own flesh and blood and bones. Any nobleness begins at once to refine a man’s features, any meanness or sensuality to imbrute them.” He’s making another metaphor, comparing the body to a temple, to something holy. How does Thoreau feel about our physical bodies? How does he think we should treat ourselves? The chapter, “Brute Neighbors,” begins on the next page. It’s important that you understand what “brute” means so please look it up. He does something interesting in the beginning of this chapter, which is to italicize the first word in the first few paragraphs. Why? Think of this like a conversation between the “hermit” and the “poet.” What are they saying to each other? Now we meet some of his non-human neighbors in Walden pond, birds, otters, and my favorite—the ants! This passage is a long one, but well worth reading closely. Picture Thoreau spending this time focusing on these smallest animals. Why do you think he does that? Is this another metaphor? What could he be comparing the ants to? He even throws in some ant research on page 126. The next page introduces us to more animals, including a surprised cat and a loon. If you’ve never heard one, listen now They’re very cool. Remember the ducks (129) we saw at Oakland Lake? They were so cute. In the chapter, “House Warming,” fall is coming to Walden Pond. He uses sensory imagery to describe this season, including inside of his little house. On page 132, uses the house as a metaphor to make the point that it’s better to keep our higher-level thoughts on the down low instead of making ourselves all fancy. He makes his house sound so cozy!
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