Copyright © 2011 by Pearson Education, Inc, or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Literary Analysis

An author’s purpose, or reason for writing, influences his or her style,

the unique manner in which he or she puts thoughts into words. Elements

of style include diction, or word choice, and tone, or attitude. Thoreau’s

style has a conversational quality, as though he is talking to a friend. This

helps advance his purpose of enlightening the reader without seeming to

lecture or scold. Thoreau also “thinks” in images, often using a series of

figurative expressions to develop ideas. In Walden, Thoreau illustrates the

point that modern life is too complex with a series of concrete examples:

from Walden • from Civil Disobedience

Copyright © 2011 by Pearson Education, Inc, or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Literary Analysis cont.

• First, he uses a metaphor, a figure of speech that shows a

similarity between two or more unlike things without using the words

“like” or “as”: In the midst of this chopping sea of civilized life . . .”

• Next, he uses an analogy, an extended comparison of

relationships: “Our life is like a German Confederacy, made up of

petty states . . .”

analyze how Thoreau’s style—including his tone, diction,

and uses of figurative language—advance his purpose for writing.

Copyright © 2011 by Pearson Education, Inc, or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Literary Analysis

1. Explain how the paragraph on simplicity in Walden demonstrates the

following elements of Thoreau’s style: (a) a conversational tone;

(b) informal diction; (c) a tendency to use a series of figurative

expressions, including metaphor and analogy, to develop a key

idea.

• (a) In your own words, describe Thoreau’s purpose for writing.

(b) Judging from the evidence you gathered in question 1, analyze

how Thoreau’s style, tone, and diction advance that purpose.

3. Thoreau often starts a paragraph with specific examples. He then

applies them to a larger truth. (a) Identify one such paragraph. (b)

Do you think this approach is effective? Explain.

from Walden • from Civil Disobedience

Copyright © 2011 by Pearson Education, Inc, or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Literary Analysis cont.

4. Choose two metaphors and one analogy from these essays. Use a

chart like the one shown to examine the meanings of each one.

Metaphor/Analogy Things compared Meaning

I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life

5. Challenge (a) In which essay does Thoreau spend more time

translating abstract ideas into concrete metaphors and analogies?

(b) How does this choice reflect the purpose of the essay?

Copyright © 2011 by Pearson Education, Inc, or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Literary Analysis cont.

6. Analyze Visual Information

Explain the humor in this cartoon.

[Text in cartoon “bubble”: Dear Ralph,

Talk about boring! Nothing to do but

take stupid walks in the dreary woods!

You’d hate it!! Best regards, Henry]