Where+I+Lived

I found this passage to be a little confusing. Half the time I don’t get what he is trying to say, but there are a few good lines. In those lines if I understood them correctly talked of stuff that I look to be as being a good person, a man with a good head on his shoulders. “I sold him the farm for just what I gave for it, and, as he was not a rich man, made him a present of ten dollars, and still had my ten cents, and seeds, and materials for a wheelbarrow left. I found thus that I had been a rich man without any damage to my poverty.” These lines tell me that man believes that to be rich isn’t to have money but to be happy perhaps. Otherwise these lines could literally mean he was rich and he didn’t care I don’t know which to choose. “I have no doubt that time discriminates between the good and the bad; and when at last I shall plant, I shall be less likely to be disappointed. But I would say to my fellows, once for all, As long as possible live free and uncommitted. It makes but little difference whether you are committed to a farm or the county jail.”I liked these lines in the passage the most. I like how he says that time can be against us or with us. He also says something that I like, “live free and uncommitted” I believe in this sentence he’s saying to be of course be free but be uncommitted as in to a spouse, a job or whatever. It depends how you look at it though, is being committed doing something you don’t like and being stuck with it? 1201727856

I also agree with Bst. This passage was a little redundent and confusing. I felt like he was repeating the same message over and over again. The lines were hard to comprehend but once i read it over again i understood some of the things he was saying. I think this writer has a creative way of wording his feelings. He is not forward with it. He makes the reader "read between the lines" or search for a deeper meaning than the words on the paper. I also think Thoreau is a great writer, being unique and insightful is what makes a writer great. He has all of those qualities. I think that he has good morals and writes as though he is a good person with good intentions to help other people. When he says that being rich doesn't have anything to do with money but more about happiness. Maybe he is trying to tell us that the true wealth is in our hearts not our wallet. 1201731165

I have to agree with both BST and SSa. This passage gets boring and redundant quickly, so a good portion of readers would stop reading this passage right after the first few paragraphs. Thoreau does make some good points, however. For example, in this excerpt, he tells us not to be greedy:

" 'When you think of getting a farm turn it thus in your mind, not to buy greedily; nor spare your pains to look at it, and do not think it enough to go round it once. The oftener you go there the more it will please you, if it is good.' I think I shall not buy greedily, but go round and round it as long as I live, and be buried in it first, that it may please me the more at last."

This is a good point to make because most people in the modern world only care about making themselves happy. For example, a student who does not care about their grades will not do their homework, but they will instead play video games because doing so is a lot more entertaing then the assignments given to them by their teachers. Thoreau is actually using this passage to tell people that they should not devote themselves to making a profit by buying land to grow extra crops. In his time, the Industrial Revolution was just beginning, so being farimg was the big moneymaker. Overall, I though that this passage was OK. It gets boring and redundant, but Thoreau makes some good points.1201820664

This essay by Thoreau really shows how much he cherishes independency. He talked about things that society cared about at that time and how much he was opposed to it.

One passage where he expresses his uniqueness is: "I never got my fingers burned by actual possession"

Thoreau felt satisfied enough simply by the beauty of a farm landscape and didn't want to maintain it or own it for commercial reasons. I think by using the word "burned" it was more expressive because it shows how against the profit-making/working aspect he was.

Overall this poem wasn't really pleasing to read but it had a good behind-the-scenes message to it.1201839903

I thought that this essay had to deal with the topic of independence too. I also agree with the fact the this essay does a get a little boring. Thoreau states examples throught out the poem how he was a rebel type and what other people would do he would express his own opinion about the topic. Thoreau was a person who didn't exactaly need all the money in the world to be pleased. He liked what his surroundings were like for example farms. When Thoreau just imagined what it would be like to own this farm and what he would do to it to fit him, it really reminded me of an architect because they have to have the same kind of thought process to see the finished project before it has begun the building process. This essay may not have been one of my favorites of all time but you just had to do a little digging to find what you wanted to. 1202072316

I found this essay by Thoreau to be absolutely boring and in no way it should be allowed to be read in a class that is as much fun as ours. He is just describing the way the things around him make him feel and that his life is like nothing compared to a bigger thing. He is very good at expressing his oppinion about the topics he mentions and seems to have knowledge of what he talks about. He loved being in the outdoors i guess and for him there is no such thing as to much of the nature that is around him. He talks in a weird sence when he comments about his own farm and how he would do if he had one. But like br. Tom said, he only wanted to have a farm and a country side in his imagination not for real. he would not like to have to take care of the cattle or having to feed the pigs. As long as he could think that he could do it would be enough for him. I think that if this guy serously didnt get his head straight he would have ended up in the streets with out any money because it seems like he didnt know how to do anything. in Conclusion i think that we should skip the boring parts of this book because there are some writters that may have some preaty good ideas but then mess it up by making it into a huge poem. 1202170737Hre

I find the idea of living self sufficiently in the wilderness to be very liberating. Even though you may work hard for somethings that normally come much more easily, you are directly wreaking the fruits of your labor. In many cases, people have to work all day to feed themselves, but in this case, you can go to a stream, fish for your own meal and then immediately cook it. I find that to be much more satisfying than in many cases. 1202785646

When I started reading this poem, I expected it to be very intersting. I had read most of Thoreau work while discussing his reading's in class and most of his writings were nothing but satisfactory. Once I started reading this poem I noticed it was not only boring but it didn't make any sense. No matter how many times I tried to attempted to read it and reflect on the whole story, itself, I couldn't make out this peice of work at all. All I know is that it had to do with a selling of a barn and perhaps labor on a farm. Everything else just seemed quite confusing which got me so frustrated to a point where I wasn't sure If I should've continued reading or stopped. We discussed the story a little bit in class, but even after that I still don't see how this poem made sense and It seems as if I'm not the only one who was bewildered becuase of it. Overall, this story was boring and unintersting and I wouldn't recommend it to many people to read. 1203096505

i really dont tink that living by yourself in the wilderness is a good idea. I feel that if everyone lived in the wilderness and became one with nature and everything than there would be no wilderness. I do however believe that evryone should be independent though. I feel this poem also dealt with independence and showed that people should be able to take care of themselves, and not rely on others to take care of them. This poem was very hard to understand too. It was very out there and a bit redundant. It was confusing when he was talking about the farms and how he paid for them, but he really didn't. it also got boring fast. but that could be because i didn't understand much of it. he is also telling us kind of not to be ungrateful for what we have is what i kind of get from Where I Lived.

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