Characters
A Sonya Sonya is a pathetic figure, always in love but too meek to do anything about it. She is a cousin of and lives […]
Month: January 2009
Construction
A Structure Since War and Peace was first published, critics have discussed the ambiguous structure of the novel. Some contend that Tolstoy raced through the […]
Historical Perspective
A The Napoleonic Wars In 1789 the French Revolution swept through France, marking one of the true turning points in Western civilization. In part, this […]
Questions
Find out about the music that would have been played at Russian society gatherings in the 1800s and 1810s. Play some samples for your class. […]
Compare and Contrast
1805: America is still developing an identity after winning its independence from England in 1783. A second war against England will be fought from 1812-1814. […]
About the Author
Henry David Thoreau was born in Concord, Massachusetts, on July 12, 1817. His grandfather, Jean, a French Huguenot, had come to Boston in 1773, taken […]
Themes and Characters
Since Walden is, on one hand, a sort of spiritual autobiography, Thoreau himself is its central character. The narrator of Walden resembles Thoreau in many […]
Overview and Setting
Overview In Walden Thoreau records both his experiment in self-sufficient natural living and his ideas about nature, human society, and the proper way for people […]
Literary Qualities
Unlike his mentor, Emerson, Thoreau has a sense of organic form, and as a result Walden-in contrast to many of Emerson’s essays-is more than a […]