1. ASManager2_6.zip Driver
2. g_threau.txt File Contents

g_threau.txt Driver File Contents (ASManager2_6.zip)

Name: <  >
Class: <  >
Date: <  >

Walden Pond

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live completely alone, in the woods, away from human contact and civilization?

Henry David Thoreau was an American original of the mid-nineteenth century -- a man who challenged everyday ways of life and sought to find truth from living with nature. In Walden, he reports his daily experiences living alone at Walden Pond near Concord, Massachusetts. In the passage below, he explains why he went to Walden in the first place.

As you read, notice Thoreau's sentence style. He uses many connecting words to combine sentences. He links ideas together and makes sentences flow so that you hardly realize how long they are. His connecting words are in capital letters. Notice how they are used.

From Walden:

I went to the woods BECAUSE I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, AND see IF I could not learn what it had to teach, AND not, WHEN I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; NOR did I wish to practice resignation, UNLESS it was quite necessary. I wanted TO live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, TO live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, TO cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, AND, IF it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, AND publish its meanness to the world; OR IF it were sublime, TO know it by experience, AND be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion.

First, to assure yourself that you understand Thoreau's overall message, try to put it into your own words by paraphrasing. Try to summarize in just a sentence or two. Collaborate with your writing partner or group.

Your Paraphrase:

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Name and save this file now. (Press ctrl+S, type a name for the file, and press enter.)

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This passage has a number of because words in it. (A grammar book calls them subordinating conjunctions.) These connecting words -- such as because, when, if, etc. -- behave in the same way; They combine two complete sentences. 

Practice writing your own sentences by using the connecting words given to you. Let each partner take a turn. Please notice which sentences have commas.

Because <  >, <  >.

<  > because <  >.

When <  >, <  >.

<  > when <  >.

Unless <  >, <  >.

<  > unless <  >.

Whenever <  >, <  >.

<  > whenever <  >.


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Another combining style Thoreau uses is to list a series of related ideas by putting to before the verb. Here are some skinny sentences that combine to form Thoreau's ideas:

I wanted to do these things.
I wanted to live deep.
I wanted to suck out all the marrow of life.
I wanted to live very sturdily.
I wanted to live very Spartan-like.
I wanted to reveal all that was not life.
I wanted to cut a broad swath and shave close.
I wanted to drive life into a corner.
I wanted to reduce life to its lowest term.

See if you can combine these sentences, which appear again on-screen below, into one sentence -- almost the way Thoreau did. Delete repetitious words. Replace periods with commas. Then go to the next screen and compare your version with the original.

Sentences to Combine

I wanted to do these things.
I wanted to live deep.
I wanted to suck out all the marrow of life.
I wanted to live very sturdily.
I wanted to live very Spartan-like.
I wanted to reveal all that was not life.
I wanted to cut a broad swath and shave close.
I wanted to drive life into a corner.
I wanted to reduce life to its lowest term.


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I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms.

This is a useful combining idea to use in your own writing.


If you haven't done so already, name and save this file now. (Press ctrl+S, type a name for the file, and press enter.)

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end of activity
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