Abstract

Henry David Thoreau, an important writer in American literature in the 19th century, was also a representative of nature writing. He advocated that people should disentangle themselves from the complicated life and return to nature.

     Thoreau put all his love for nature and his thinking about life into his masterpiece Walden. Its unique linguistic style attracts many readers. Walden is abundant with rhetorical devices including analogy, personification, satire and humor, symbolism etc. The employment of rhetoric makes the work not only more outstanding in its word style, but also more precious in the literary value.

     This paper elaborates on the unique meanings of the rhetorical devices employed in this great prose by means of example interpretation, combined with the creating background of Walden. By doing so, we can have a thorough knowledge of Thoreau’s viewpoints about simple living.

Key words: Walden; Thoreau; rhetorical devices; simple living

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction-1

2. Literature Review-1

2.1 A brief review of the former and current study-1

2.2 The necessity of interpreting the rhetorical devices in Walden-2

3. Examples and Analysis-3

3.1 Analogy-3

3.2 Personification-5

3.3 Satire and humor-7

3.4 Symbolism-10

4. A Brief Summary of Thoreau’s Thoughts-12

5. Conclusion-13

Works Cited-14