Henry David Thoreau, and to a great extent, other Transcendentalists, explored deeply how a person can live a more complete, meaningful, and fulfilling life. Strangely, it seems that Thoreau’s ideas related to the damaging effects of distraction, over-complication, and over-consumption have become MORE relevant rather than LESS relevant in the years since he was alive in the mid-19th century. I have collected dozens of articles written in the past decade that discuss and consider the challenges of living in our modern age and the alienation that many people feel due to many modern elements of our lives. All of these articles relate powerfully to the ideas Thoreau communicates to us in his classic work, Walden.

Your task is to read each of the articles linked below–all five of them. Do the following:

1. Annotate at least one–thoroughly.
2. Create a one page reading log for at least one.
3. Create a SoapsTone for at least one.

So, you might end up annotating two articles, creating logs for two of them, and creating a SoapsTone for one of them. You will turn these in as one assignment in Schoology called “Thoreau Article Assignment.”

Then, you will select ONE of the articles to write a highly polished, professional paragraph that meets these requirements:

1. TS will define one aspect of Thoreau’s philosophy that the article clearly reflects. Be very specific.
a. CD (Quote that shows how the article relates to the TS)
i. CM
ii. CM
b. CD (Quote that shows how the article relates to the TS)
i. CM
ii. CM
c. CD (Quote that shows how the article relates to the TS)
i. CM
ii. CM

● MLA Format
● Highly polished
● Cite each quote with author and page number
● No Works Cited page necessary
● Upload completed final draft only to Schoology under the “Thoreau Paragraph” assignment.

Articles:

1. “Do Not Disturb: How I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain”

2. “The Religion of Workism Is Making Americans Miserable” – The Atlantic
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/02/religion-workism-making-americans-miserable/583441/

3. “We Are All Accumulating Mountains of Things: How online shopping and cheap prices are turning Americans into hoarder”
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/08/online-shopping-and-accumulation-of-junk/567985/

4. “Live Alone and Like It”
Thoreau Articles PDF

5. “Time to do Everything Except Think”
Thoreau Articles PDF