Civil Disobedience

Grade Levels

Excerpt

This activity gives students an opportunity to practice identifying and analyzing allusions. Allusions broaden the scope of a text and imbue passages with deeper meaning by subtly drawing on unexplained references to literature, history, science, geography, philosophy, mythology, or other aspects of a culture. Allusions are thus a powerful tool often employed by writers and are well worth understanding. In completing this activity, students will be able to identify, analyze, and interpret allusions, thereby accessing deeper meanings within the text.

In 1859 Henry David Thoreau wrote “Civil Disobedience,” an essay in which he lays out his political philosophy and deep distrust of government. Thoreau had been motivated to write the piece after spending a night in jail for tax evasion, an event that surely fanned the flames of his noncompliance. As in his other writings, Thoreau makes frequent use of allusion, drawing on texts and events from throughout world history as he crafts his often idiosyncratic arguments. As the essay unfolds, Thoreau extends the Jeffersonian dictum that “that government is best which governs least” to “that government is best which governs not at all.”

Skills: analysis, close reading, drawing inferences from text, interpreting implications of allusions

Learning Objectives:
In completing this activity, students will

• identify different types of allusions and locate examples of allusion within a text;
• analyze examples of allusions to determine their purpose in the context of a passage of text;
• analyze examples of allusions to interpret their meaning and determine how they inform a passage of text.

About

Our eNotes Classroom Activities give students opportunities to practice developing a variety of skills. Whether analyzing literary devices or interpreting connotative language, students will work directly with the text. The main components of our classroom activities include the following:

• A handout defining the literary elements under discussion, complete with examples
• A step-by-step guide to activity procedure
• An answer key or selected examples for reference, depending on the activity

In completing these classroom activities, students will be able to classify and analyze different literary elements, thereby developing close-reading skills and drawing deeper inferences from the text.