AnswersHLHS EnglishLanguage Arts 3AThe Declaration of Independence

Henry David Thoreau - Walden Answers

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Read the excerpt from Walden.Why should we live with such hurry and waste of life? We are determined to be starved before we are hungry. Men say that a stitch in time saves nine, and so they take a thousand stitches today to save nine tomorrow.How does the excerpt relate to today’s culture?

A
It supports the idea that people move too quickly and forget to experience the present moment.
B
It supports the idea that care and caution have become increasingly important in modern society.
C
It supports the notion that we are perpetually finding new ways to make progress.
D
It supports the notion that survival depends on our own determination.
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Read the excerpt from Walden.This is a delicious evening, when the whole body is one sense, and imbibes delight through every pore. I go and come with a strange liberty in Nature, a part of herself. As I walk along the stony shore of the pond in my shirt-sleeves, though it is cool as well as cloudy and windy, and I see nothing special to attract me, all the elements are unusually congenial to me.Which best states what the imagery in the excerpt suggests?

A
Thoreau believes he is the only one to ever experience this type of night.
B
Thoreau believes he is experiencing a perfect night that will never happen again.
C
Thoreau feels like an outsider as he observes the objects in his environment.
D
Thoreau feels as if he is in harmony with the aspects of his environment.
3

Read the excerpt from the “Conclusion” of Walden.I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings.What belief about life is being described in this excerpt?

A
Individuals eventually learn to appreciate their surroundings.
B
Individuals who follow their dreams eventually attain them.
C
Cultures have a tendency to force their values on individuals.
D
As cultures change, individuals change along with them.
4

Read the excerpt from Walden.Hardly a man takes a half-hour’s nap after dinner, but when he wakes he holds up his head and asks, “What’s the news?” as if the rest of mankind had stood his sentinels [soldiers].Which best describes the “man” Thoreau refers to in the excerpt?

A
He expects others to attend to his needs when he wakes up.
B
He is under constant protection by soldiers.
C
He naps often and is always sleepy.
D
He must have the most up-to-date news at all times.
5

In paragraphs three and four of “Where I Lived and What I Lived For” in Walden, how does Thoreau contrast the way he lives with the way others live?

A
He believes that his life will last long, whereas he believes others’ lives will be quite brief.
B
He considers his life extremely odd and unusual, and he considers others’ lives far more sensible.
C
He believes his life to be extremely simple, and he believes others’ lives to be needlessly complicated.
D
He considers his way of life easy for him but perhaps too difficult and harsh for other people.
6

In the second paragraph of “Spring” in Walden, how does the contrast of two time periods aid the development of a theme?

A
Thoreau’s description of a burst of light on a winter day resembles his own enlightenment.
B
The introduction of light into a cold, dark setting reflects Thoreau’s happiness at being separate from society.
C
Thoreau is surprised by the appearance of spring sunlight, just as he is surprised at the discoveries he makes about nature during the course of his time in the woods.
D
The feeling of happiness Thoreau describes at the changing of the seasons parallels his contentment as his self-knowledge grows.
7

Which best states the overall structure of Walden?

A
The work describes the effect spending time in nature has on Thoreau, and then explains why it has that effect.
B
The work describes Thoreau’s thoughts over the course of a year spent immersed in the natural world.
C
The work compares Thoreau’s thoughts before coming to Walden to his thoughts afterward.
D
The work shows how various problems Thoreau had before he came to Walden are solved by his retreat.
8

Read the excerpt from Walden.[A]s the sun arose, I saw it [the pond] throwing off its nightly clothing of mist, and here and there, by degrees, its soft ripples or its smooth reflecting surface was revealed, while the mists, like ghosts, were stealthily withdrawing in every direction into the woods, as at the breaking up of some nocturnal conventicle [secret meeting].In the excerpt, Thoreau uses imagery to describe

A
fog slowly rising from the surface of the pond.
B
a fierce wind blowing water across the pond.
C
insects floating peacefully above the pond.
D
a soft, warm light shining on the pond.
9

Based on the ideas in Walden, how would Thoreau most likely feel about recent advances in technology, such as cell phones and handheld computers?

A
He would feel they were important for the public good.
B
He would believe they were beneficial to providing solitude.
C
He would believe they were destructive to a person’s thinking ability.
D
He would feel they were impractical compared to earlier inventions.
10

How does the progress of the last paragraph of “Where I Lived and What I Lived For” communicate the main idea of Walden?

A
Just as the paragraph moves from images of the water to those of the earth, Thoreau moves from emotional subjects to more practical subjects.
B
Thoreau moves from gazing at the water to burrowing into the earth, just as the excerpt shows a progress from observation to contemplation.
C
The progress of the paragraph reinforces the increasing comfort Thoreau felt in the natural world.
D
Just as the paragraph moves from gazing at water to digging in the earth, the excerpt moves from minimal knowledge of nature to more in-depth knowledge.

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