Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay. 

Scaffolded/Short-Answer Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the below bulleted outlines. Cite details from Walden over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Choose one of the recurring themes in Walden: anti-capitalism, self-reliance, the value of simplicity, change/progress, or spiritual renewal. Then choose one of the elements of Thoreau’s nature writing to discuss this theme (personal experiences in nature; the social experience of nature; a philosophy of nature; an ecological perspective of nature; language, knowledge and their relationship to the natural world; philosophy of the human; eco-social philosophy; praxis; or spirituality).

• Which theme carries the strongest message of the book, from your standpoint? (topic sentence)
• How does Thoreau use the selected nature writing element to address the theme? Provide specific examples from the text to support your ideas.  
• Finally, describe in your concluding sentence or sentences how Thoreau’s use of the nature writing element moves Walden beyond just a descriptive account of nature at Walden Pond.

2. Over the course of Walden, Thoreau treats Walden Pond as a metaphor for a) the ever-changing human spirit, and b) the co-mingling of human civilization and the natural world.