Ideas for Reports and Papers
1. What was Thoreau’s philosophy toward humankind’s interaction with nature? Was nature a resource to be used to benefit humankind or was it something to be left alone, spared of all human...
View ArticleTopics for Discussion
1. Why do you think that Thoreau is considered not merely a great American writer, but also a great American? 2. Describe Thoreau’s personality. Is he an outcast? An introvert? Antisocial? How does...
View ArticleSocial Sensitivity
A few of North’s remarks in the book seem directed exclusively to young males, but this does not occur so frequently that readers of both sexes cannot relate to Thoreau’s life and philosophy. Thoreau...
View ArticleLiterary Qualities
Perhaps the greatest literary value of Thoreau of Walden Pond is that it covers Thoreau’s entire life. The biography does not concentrate on the circumstances surrounding the composition of Thoreau’s...
View ArticleThemes and Characters
North’s biography of Henry David Thoreau concentrates on the theme of human interaction with nature and, as a corollary, on individualism. The book recounts Thoreau’s quiet, pensive nature and his...
View ArticleSetting
Born on July 12, 1817, Thoreau lived in one of the most intellectual communities of any era in American history, mid-nineteenth-century Concord, Massachusetts. He was friends with many of the authors...
View ArticleOverview
Thoreau espoused a simple way of life that exemplifies the American spirit of self-sufficiency and thrift advocated by Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. The true measure of Thoreau’s success is...
View ArticleAbout the Author
Although best remembered for his nature books for young children and young adults, Sterling North also wrote a number of biographies of American literary and historical figures that added to his...
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