A Note on Titles

I always underscore the importance of titles for my literature and composition courses. Titles immediately attract (or repel) readers, and in professional academic writing, titles alone can dictate whether or not somebody will read an essay—this is certainly the case for me. Don't call an essay "Final Paper" (that gives no relevant information); don't give it the name of the work you're writing about; and avoid sweeping titles like "Thoreau" or "Man's Place in Nature." Aim for an unpretentious but descriptive title, e.g., "The Subjection of Objects in Henry David Thoreau's Walden" or "Obsession and Possession: Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Birth-Mark'." Adjust your title to the actual paper that gets written—just as you will need to adjust your opening paragraph. Titles and openings are best written last.

Reading & Comprehension

Read Henry David Thoreau's "Resistance to Civil Government" (1857) and the second chapter, "Where I Lived, and What I Lived for," of Walden (1914).

Read Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" (1289) and "The Birth-Mark" (1320).

Here is a hypertextual annotated version of "Civil Disobedience" and Walden online at the American Transcendentalism Web.

Discussion Questions & Topics

Read the following passages from "Civil Disobedience" and Walden:

“I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterwards" ("CD" 1858).

“The mass of men serve the state thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with their bodies" ("CD" 1859).

“There is but little virtue in the action of masses of men. When the majority shall at length vote for the abolition of slavery, it will be because they are indifferent to slavery, or because there is but little slavery left to be abolished by their vote. They will then be the only slaves. Only his vote can hasten the abolition of slavery who asserts his own freedom by his vote" ("CD" 1861).

“Most men ... [have] no time to be any thing but a machine … The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation" (Walden).

What are the common threads in these passages? Discuss the characteristics of “subjects” and the Thoreauesque “man.”

Read the passage in "Civil Disobedience" on pg. 1864 regarding taxes. Is Thoreau’s argument valid? Might we consider the fact that citizens like Thoreau do not have to “meet” the government more than once a year a good thing? Or a bad thing (paying dues for freedom)?

What is civil disobedience? Is Thoreau's act of civil disobedience (incl. both not paying taxes and retreating from society to live at Walden pond) a meaningless protest or is something accomplished by it? Do you think Thoreau is a "maniac and disturber of the peace" or a "well-disposed man"?

Read the passage on pg. 1872. For Thoreau, what constitutes “purity”?

Are there circumstances that would prompt you to commit an act of civil disobedience?

Why did Thoreau write Walden? Read passages on pgs. 1916, & 1919-20.

Note the sleeper theme (1919, 1921).

“The greater part of what my neighbors call good I believe in my soul to be bad, and if I repent of any thing, it is very likely to be my good behavior. What demon possessed me that I behaved so well?” In this context, what constitutes “good” behavior? What constitutes “bad” behavior?

What is the American Dream? What is ironic about Thoreau in terms of the American Dream?

Based on the above readings, are Thoreau and Hawthorne's ideologies and messages in line with one another? Or do they diverge? Are they mere propogandists?

Assignments

Minitheme #4: Write a minitheme on Hawthorne's "The Birth-Mark" and submit via WebCT. DUE DATE: Monday, Oct. 12, 9 a.m.

Discussion #5: Why is it important that most of the action in "Young Goodman Brown" takes place in the forest? Re-read the story and isolate particular words that are associated with the woods. Consider the passage on pg. 1294 that begins: “And maddened with despair ...” List the characteristics of forests that are responsible for this long literary tradition. Consider, too, whether the idea of wilderness remains static throughout history. In the late 19th century, with industrialization such a potent force, would people have conceived of the forest in the same way the early settlers did? Why or why not? 500-750 words. DUE DATE: Monday, Oct. 12, 9 a.m.