Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Quiet Desperation in the Lecture Hall
Hi Everyone: In light of our visit from Henry David Thoreau, and our
discussions about argumentation, write a response to the lecture in
which you identify what you think Thoreau's principal claim is and what
you think about it. I understand that the lecture may have been hard to
follow in the lecture hall, so I excerpted some crucial parts and
handed them out in class. Check the bookshelf if you didn't get one.
Please have your responses in by Wednesday evening. Thank you, Mr.
Telles.
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I think that Henry David Thoreau’s principal claim is that there are more ways to live than how you’re living right now. There are a wide variety of lifestyles that have yet to be discovered, and he believes that most people think there is only one option. At one point he says, “what are the true necessaries and means of life, it appears as if men had deliberately chosen the common mode of living because they preferred it to any other. Yet they honestly think there is no choice left. But alert and healthy natures remember that the sun rose clear.” It’s stating how “men” choose this mode of living, but in reality, they’re really just afraid to do something differently. When he refers to how the sun rose clear, he’s talking about how everyday is like a fresh start, a chance to do something new. Thoreau talks about how there’s this restriction on the daily lives of these people in one of his famous quotes, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” They may want to get out of this routine, but they don’t feel like they can. It’s like they’re scared to take a chance on life. Thoreau believes that one has to find out what life has in store for him/ her through his/ her own experiences and then reflection on it in order to shape his/ her own life; a person shouldn’t be defined by others. Later on, Thoreau says, “So thoroughly and sincerely are we compelled to live, reverencing our Life, and denying the possibility of change. This is the only way, we say; but there are as many ways as there can be drawn radii from one centre.” He knows that there are other ways of living than just the one he is talking about in his speech, but he wants people to know there’s more out there than they think. There’s more than the daily rituals everyone else follows.
ReplyDeleteMy opinion on Thoreau’s argument is that he’s right. I think that society leans closely to conformity more often than not, and a lot of people don’t realize that there’s more to life than what you know. For the first eighteen years or so of your life, you’re living in the same place, so all you’re only aware of what’s around you. Your town, community, and school mold you into who you are, and it’s easy to forget that you can change, and you are your own person. I know that whenever I travel to another country, I get a better sense of what’s out there, and I can take that into account when I make certain decisions. I agree with Thoreau when he talks about how you have to live through your own experiences and reflect upon them to discover more about the world and how you fit into it. When you have the ability to see the world through a different point of view, either through travel or meeting new people from other cultures or something else entirely, it does change you. You develop this broader perspective on life, and I think that’s part of what Thoreau wanted the world to encounter.
In the speech given by “David Henry Thoreau”, he talks about how there are many ways a person can live their life. Thoreau describes how many people have “ deliberately chosen the common mode of living because they preferred it to any other” and believes that experience can not be passed down from seniors, but has to be embraced by the beholder and valued highly. Thoreau describes his way of living and how he bought a small house, few furniture, and only bought the supplies he needed. For food he would grow much and spend little, only supplying what he needed for himself instead of trying to make a profit. This is the type of life that contrast with the materialist and money run society that we had back then and still have today.
ReplyDeleteThoreau goes on to question many people's beliefs, like how we as people must try to make our existence known and important, or how people use religion to “commit ourselves to uncertainties.” Thoreau is questioning the way we live and think and is saying that there are different ways of living your life, and that following others way of life may not be what benefits you.
I think that there is a grey area between Thoreau’s argument and how we live today. I think that while providing for yourself is important, it doesn't have to be the only way of life. If we didnt try to reach out, buy different things, explore new options, we as humans would not have advanced because we wouldn't have had need or drive to advance. I think that in today's society it's not about who’s conforming, but who’s breaking away. Yes, there is some desire in people to conform and fit in, but I think we as people need that conformity so that you can find out who you are. During the time people are trying to fit in is the time that they tend to realize they stand out, and when those people act on that uniqueness, they can do amazing things. Yes, some people will spend their whole lives sticking to the status quo, but for those who dont, it separates them and that's what makes our system great for those who use it to their advantage. Money on the other hand I don't think should have as much power as it does, and I agree with Thoreau that we should live simply but I feel that we should also get those little luxuries in life. Understandably, there are many gives and takes of both our society and Thoreau’s way of life, but I feel that if you can find the right in between, you can equally balance both worlds.
I think that Henry David Thoreau’s principal claim about human life is that you have a choice in the way you live. He believes that most people chose the “common mode” way of living, which in the way he describes it, sounds like the easy way out. He claims people trust too often, and most people are very passive. It almost sounds like he is sort of saying that hard work is dead and that people follow in others footsteps instead of creating their own. In some ways, his claims are true.
ReplyDeleteMost people would love to chose the easiest path. Not exactly because they are lazy or can’t create their own path, but because it is simply just the most efficient way for them to live. Thoreau also claims that experience comes with age and the time you live in. Your elders may not have thought of something as a way to fix a problem, but due to the resources available, someone from our generation might have seen it in that way. He believes in proof before trust. Without proof, he does not see the sense in trusting something, no matter how early on it came from. I agree with that. Without proof, there is no sense in trusting someone or something
The principal claim that Henry David Thoreau made in his speech was for a simpler life. Thoreau made the point that people tend to make things more complicated than need be. Most people get caught up in material possessions and put too much stalk in the monetary value of things. People spend their lives working, trying to get ahead and earn more than everyone else. The simple things in life, such as the beauty of nature, are often forgotten. Thoreau believed that people should only be working for what they truly need. Instead of building huge houses or having an abundance of food Thoreau believed people should have a small house big enough to shelter you from the elements or sustain yourself on a personal garden. When it comes to work do not slave over a job that, in the grand scheme of things, isn’t very important. Instead do simple services for others around you and bring in only what you need. By living extravagant lives people lose sight of what is truly important. Simplicity is fleeting and people are becoming more wrapped up in a complicated lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Thoreau’s argument is a valid one, although he takes it to the extreme. According to Thoreau people should have no more than what is necessary. Any more than just what is needed becomes wasteful and selfish. There is a difference between living a selfish lifestyle and a comfortable one. If getting ahead in life is all you are concerned with, then you have a problem. However, if you’re working for the things you have while balancing that work with other things than you are living a good life. To obtain serenity and happiness one does not have to swear off all unnecessary possessions. But at the same time these possessions should not be what our lives revolve around. Life is all about perspective. If money or possessions become more important that family or friends then you have lost sight of what is truly important. As a whole, society has become too wrapped up in frivolous things. The answer to this problem is not to swear off all possessions and live in the woods, but we should not forget the simple things in life. It’s important to find balance.
I think Thoreau’s principal claim is that humans need to take a break from human problems and seek a more thoughtful was of life.. That idea is a bit general, since Thoreau’s time was a little while ago, but the same idea still applies to today. Henry was seeking a deeper meaning to life, something more than just living for the sake of living. There must be more meaning to life when a man has built his house with his own hands and eats the food grown on his own lands, harvested by his own labor. I bet his time was spent in a more purposeful and valuable way.
ReplyDeleteIf you apply it to modern times, we could use the example of technology as a problem that we as humans trry to escape from. Personally, I bet I spend about an hour a day on my phone or computer. Imagine all the things I could be doing instead of wasting time on the funny cat video I found on Facebook. I could learn how to speak Swahili! I could skydive! Maybe even live in the woods! The point is, life is what you make it and Thoreau had the right idea. Only you can make life meaningful
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ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, Henry David Thoreau’s principal claim about human life says that one has the choice of how they live their life. Thoreau believes that the majority of society chooses the “common mode of living,” in which we essentially take the easiest path. That is, we “go with the flow” and trust the idea of conformity. Today, we all believe what our peers believe. Why? It’s because we’re lazy. It’s because we feel a deep need to “fit in.” If we all looked to the simple life - put our phones down and focused on our individual selves, we may be better off. I believe that is a current-day application of Thoreau’s thoughts. We do not think outside the box. We do not question whether to trust what we trust; we just do it. We also depend on money to get us through life, while Thoreau spent his life living off the land, completely content with his way of life. Thoreau questions many common beliefs in society, like how we have a tendency to want to try to make our existence clear and yearn significance. We trust, and even religiously follow, uncertainties. Thoreau is questioning the way we live and concludes there are different ways of living life, and that we should decide what way we live based on thorough exploration, NOT conformity. Essentially, Thoreau concludes that people must explore their experiences in deciding how to live in general, including decision-making. I think he ponders very wise ideas.
ReplyDeleteDavid Henry Thoreau's claim is that the stereotypes world we live in is making it harder for change and new ideas. He tells us that "Catechism is a summary of principles of Christian religion in the form of question and answers, used for the instruction of Christians according to the online dictionary. Thoreau compares the way we live to Catechism and basically says it is the end of our freedom. He believes it is up to others to go their own way. People are able to choose the life they want. Some will choose the stereotyped way of living and act as if it was forced upon them. Alone that made a great point was when Thoreau said,
ReplyDelete"What everybody echoes or in silence passes by as true today may turn out to be falsehood tomorrow, mere smoke of opinion."
What I took out of this was that there is no right or wrong way because the world is constantly changing based on opinions. If you always change becaus of other people you won't be truly happy with yourself. Thoreau includes his opinion on elders. He explains he does not learn from their experiences, but from his own. They push their ideas towards the younger people because that is only what they know. We deny and avoid the possibility of change, we are only focused on what we know.
" To know that we know what we know, and that we do not know what we don't know, that is true knowledge." By Confucius and used by Thoreau.
Thoreau’s principal claim in his speech was about the way people have been living life. He claims that people have lived in such a way of no accomplishment. People have lived the same for years on end and there’s still not much to show from it. He claims the wiser have no good advice for the younger because they did not risk enough or experience anything of great value in their lifetimes. And says the aged have no real accomplishments because they went through their lives day by day, with no set goals to achieve. Thoreau also claims that humans try to avoid living based on faith. He believes that we as humans will “unwillingly...commit ourselves to uncertainties.” We as a race only want to believe what we can see, and we are too stubborn to believe anything beyond that. Through his speech, Thoreau brings up a point that people deny the possibility of change. He believes that we as a race hate the idea of anything different and we will do anything to keep that from happening. By living life the same way for countless years, and denying any change whether it may be good or bad, Thoreau believes that nothing will become accomplished.
ReplyDeleteI agree with many of the points Thoreau made in his speech. The idea that people try to stay the same is very true. If you look at society today, the media is trying to keep the common people conformed to one type of person. They let models and movie stars form the ideas of what people should be like, and thus implant ideas in our minds of how we should all be. These images we see through media and everyday living take away our desire to be different. Everyone is too scared to stand out and change the ways we live that we are all forced to be the same. And those who feel brave enough to stand out from the crowd and make a change are shut down by society and the public. They are thrown to the side and seen as crazy or desperate for attention. The sad truth is, however hard some may try to change the way we live, they will never succeed in their fight against society.
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ReplyDeleteOut of the many inspiring aspects and claims that Henry David Thoreau capitalized on his speech, his main claim was to keep a much more simpler life, and learn from life itself. Thoreau claims that living a more modest, down to earth, lifestyle is more valuable to someone rather than being told what to do or doing what society thinks is right. Thoreau states “One may almost doubt if the wisest man has learned anything of absolute value by living.” Thoreau is trying to say that if you pay attention to the meaning of life, you could learn something very valuable. Also, Thoreau states that “Practically, the old have no very important advice to give to the young, their own experience has been so partial, and their lives have been such miserable failures...” Thoreau suggests that even older people that are filled with life experiences can not be trusted due to the fact that they are bias, and incomplete, and that people themselves should rely on life itself to get the full experience. In conclusion, Thoreau reflects on his own experiences that he believes is valuable, and stated that his Mentors never mentioned, “If I have any experiences which I think valuable, I am sure to reflect that this is my Mentors said nothing about.”
ReplyDeleteReflecting on Thoreau's speech, I personally believe that he is correct. I feel that one will never know how to value their lives if they have no experience. If people just go by what society tells people to do, then no one will know what is really “out there” in the world. We would all live by what other people tell us, and live by their experiences rather than living by our own. I feel that if Thoreau lived in our generation, he would bring up the overuse of technology and laziness that is so dominant in our generation. It would be very interesting to know what Thoreau would think about in our generation if he was still alive.
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ReplyDeleteWhat I think Henry David Thoreau’s principal claim is that why live your life so bland just because of the view of society and what the people surround life there life. What he is trying to get across is you should want to do what you think would make your life most enjoyable. Henry mentions how “ They honestly think there is no choice left” meaning that there's only one way to live life. Henry is trying to get across also that we “should give up our prejudices” meaning who cares about the traditional or easy way everyone takes in life. In this speech Henry mentions that life is sort of like a wheel now instead of branching off and doing different things. Henry in this speech mentions about many things that are in people's life such as religion and relying on people for religion he states that you can't always believe what is not certain. Parents or elders are a big part of your life but Thoreau mentions you can't always rely on them because there could be a time where they have no answer.In my opinion Thoreau is right people are too traditional but if this is what they want to do they should not be forced to change their ways. This lesson did teach some lessons that seem to be useful for the future growing up. The presentation of this speech by Henry David Thoreau was interesting and inspirational.
I like it
DeleteHenry David Thoreau’s principal claim was that people had to stop wanting to take the common route or “common mode” of living as he said and pioneer into a different lifestyle and value life. No one wanted to take a different route other than the route most taken. People wanted to live easy and efficient. Henry went out and lived in the woods, he found a way to make the absolute minimum for a living and enjoy life to the fullest he possibly could and value it which a lot of other people had failed to do. Henry makes his principal claim stand out when he said “it appears as if men had deliberately chosen the common mode of living because they preferred it to any other. Yet they honestly think there is no choice left.” Henry wants people to be different from the rest and make their own choices. Thoreau in his speech made a point talking about the old and the youth. Henry’s idea was that old cannot teach the youth. He brings up the point of value and talks about how old people do not understand value because they are not part of the new generation, the new youth, and new way of living. The youth look at the old and see their lives as “partial, and their lives have been such miserable failures,” Henry never learned from seniors, or the old, he said “I have yet to hear the first syllable of valuable or even earnest advice from my seniors.” Thoreau wrapped up what he was saying coming to the conclusion that if he has any experience which he thinks is valuable he will reflect that it is something the old would of told him nothing about. Henry implied that the only thing valuable is change and being new, changing tradition, and not denying the possibility of change.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Henry David Thoreau’s ideas. Henry’s ideas on being different than the cultural norm is what the world needs and has become a new trend with so many entrepreneurs in so many different fields in the modern world. New things wouldn’t be created if people were afraid of making change. My favorite part about Thoreau’s speech was when he said “So thoroughly and sincerely are we compelled to live, reverencing our life, and denying the possibility of change.” The quote is a mindset that if everyone abided by would create a world of variety.
Henry David Thoreau’s principal claim is that we cannot deny “the possibility of change” within our lives. He states, “it appears as if men had deliberately chosen the common mode of living because they preferred it to any other. Yet they honestly think there is no choice left.” Our elders have taught us the ancient and comfortable way of living simply because that is what they know best. However, Thoreau wants us to know that even if they tell us we can’t do something, we are capable of proving them wrong. They have not provided us with proof stating that there is only one way of living. To prove this, Thoreau decides to conduct an experiment. For two years he lives at Walden Pond with nature and complete self reliance. While there, he realizes that there are very few necessities in life, and that the competition for these few necessities is lessened in the woods, far away from civilization. He writes, “This is the only way, we say; but there are many ways as there can be drawn radii from one centre.” Thoreau’s experiment proved that he is just one of those radii. There are many ways of living, and it is true that his way may not work for everyone. It may not even work for him. However, the important part is that he tried and did not deny “the possibility of change.”
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Thoreau’s claim. I respect him for wanting to break free from conformity and live life to its fullest extent. You can’t stay the same forever, or life would get boring. I may not agree with his theory of isolation and simple living, but that was his whole point. Live your life so you have stories to tell younger people. Things may go drastically wrong, but that’s okay. You can’t just take the same path as everyone else. Do what works for you. Be different.
Henry David Thoreau believes that people should not take life for granted but instead cherish it. Men chose the way of life they had because they prefer it to another. Thoreau’s principal claim is a person gets to choose how they live their life. “It appears as if men had deliberately chosen the common mode of living because they preferred it to any other.” This means that people choose the easy way around and dont challenge themselves in life's hard situations. Thoreau felt that there was a deeper meaning to life and the common man did not try to live life to the fullest.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Henry David Thoreau because people don’t challenge themselves in life. They stick with what everyone else is doing because they are too afraid to break away and be different. You can’t follow other people, you have to do your own thing or you will not know what to do when the time comes to make your own choices.
Henry David Thoreau was a man of wisdom and in his lecture of argumentation, his principal claim was about peoples choice on living their life. He believed that people could take their lives and live it which ever way they want. Henry describes “the common mode of living” as “lives of quiet desperation”. He describes the mass of men leading this life of desperation because they follow everyone else's desperate lives. The claim Thoreau makes explains that people believe they have no other choice than to continue to lead their lives the same as everyone else in their cultures or communities. He explains that what he feels like people should see is that they can live however they like. They should not be simply told something and believe it. “What old people say you cannot do, you try and find that you can.” This statement strikes the listener, because it claims that not everything an elder, experienced person tells you is something you should believe. There are many other ways to express your way of living.
ReplyDeleteThe lecture expresses how inconsistently people welcome change. Humans think they are doing a great deal more than we actually do. “we may safely trust a good deal more than we do.” explains how unadaptive people are and how they are choosing to live instead of expand upon change. The main claim expressed in this speech was that there are many options in living and people should take advantage of change and expand their lives to something new.
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ReplyDeleteThoreau’s principal claim was that life is something that needs to be enjoyed because you only live once. Thoreau strived to lived life to the fullest, something that most humans don’t do because it is hard to embrace life when you’re used to just living it. Thoreau talked a lot about how men were born into labor that was already created for them. The way he discussed it clearly demonstrated his opinion that a labor-filled life was not a deeply satisfying one.
ReplyDeleteHowever, going out and abandoning civilization is not the only way to live a meaningful life. Maybe for Thoreau, it was, but I find that false. In order to have a meaningful life, thus an enjoyable one, it is more important to be thankful and live with gratitude. With gratitude comes level headedness and a logical brain. Being thankful for the little things keeps a person practical.
Thoreau's principal was that you need to get the best out of the life you have. Try new things and never regret anything. Thoreau thought you should live each day like your last, most people tend to forget to take advantage of the beauty around them, something Thoreau took complete advantage of. Thoreau took advantage of the beauty around him by using his natural resourses and becoming one with nature. During the presentation, Thoreau spoke about how difficult it was to live with no one around but how much he enjoyed it. There was a lot of work to be done to survive, but Thoreau did all that was needed.
ReplyDeleteThoreau abandoned the world we are all used to. He learned to live in the wilderness and that is what he liked. In my opinion I dont think it was nessesary to leave civilization to prove you can live with out the resources given to you. I think that if youu want to live without any civilization around then you should, experience it and have fun because thats what life is all about.