The Art of the Essayist

A detailed Summary of The Art of the Essayist


"Commerce is unexpectedly confident and serene, alert, adventurous and unwearied." (84)

Through the personification of commerce Thoreau is able to show that commerce

fluctuates in the same manner as humanity. The adjectives he uses to describe commerce

show that commerce has some of the same tendencies as humans, and Thoreau believes

that it is these tendencies that make commerce so successful.

"who keeps himself more secret than ever did Goffe or Whalley." (96)

Thoreau is making a historical allusion to William Goffe and Edward Whalley who

were English regicides during the English civil war. They were signers of the death

warrant for Charles I then after his Restoration in 1660 they fled to America for a life of

seclusion in Hadley, Massachusetts. The use of this allusion contributes to Thoreau's style

because it expresses the remarkable secrecy and remoteness of the old settler's life. This

also shows the contrasts in this man because Thoreau says he is "most wise and

humorous" (96) but also discusses his almost anti-social tendencies.

"speech is for the convenience of those who


"the long lost bottom of Walden Pond" (191)

materialistic societies in this paradox. Life has become so trivial that, in effect, any hope

without foundation, like the pond.

animals , in reality, is an absurd suggestion because humans must "live off" eating animals.

a pond without taking the trouble to sound it." (191) Using this metaphor for the pond

improvement to leave off eating animals." (147-148)



Some common words found in the essay are:
Visitors Hyperbole, Walden Pond, Furthermore Thoreau, Laws Pun, Conclusion Paradox, Village Metonymy, Metaphor Suddenly, Personification Commerce, Conclusion Simile, Hadley Massachusetts, eating animals, hard hearing, speech convenience hard, convenience hard hearing, chapter 12, 221 thoreau, thoreau believes, bottomlessness pond, leave eating, pond metaphor, leave eating animals, chapter 19 conclusion, walden pond, word master,

Approximate Word count = 842
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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