Drawing of Thoreau's cabin by his sister Sophia

Home

Lesson 1: The life and times of Thoreau

Lesson 2: Thoreau's philosophy of government

Lesson 3: Thoreau's writing style

Lesson 4: Imprisonment and individuality

Resources

Lesson 2:  What is H. D. Thoreau’s philosophy of government?

Instructional Objectives:  Students will be able to read with understanding part of the essay “On Civil Disobedience” that deals with Thoreau’s philosophy of government.  They will be able to work in groups to paraphrase two of Thoreau’s criteria for his beliefs.  Individually they will be able to write a persuasive argument defending their own opinion on Thoreau’s beliefs. They will use technology to organize their writing and survey the opinions of their peers.

Time:  One forty minute class (Allot more time for extension activities).

Motivation:  The teacher dictates the following types of protest techniques and asks the students to write them in the first column of this worksheet:

Marching

Boycotting

Legal action, e.g., lawsuit

Striking

Breaking the law, e.g., defacing property

  

The students are directed to define these words and phrases in the second column in terms of how they are used in protests and to give an actual example if they know one in the third column.  In the fourth and fifth columns, the students indicate if they would be willing to participate in such a protest for a cause they believe in, both as part of a group and individually.

The answers are examined in a brief class discussion.  Here is an example of how a completed worksheet might look.

Development:

  1. A student is asked to read the introduction aloud.
  1.  Then the vocabulary is reviewed.

Expedient:  a means to an end

Inexpedient:  of no use in bringing about a desired result

Objection:  an argument in opposition

Prevail:  to triumph

 

  1. The teacher reads the following part of the essay as students read along.  Note: the entire essay may be read at http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Literature/Thoreau/CivilDisobedience.html

 

  1. The teacher lets the students know that the opening motto “That government is best which governs least.” is often quoted and used to defend the principles of individual rights and government conservatism.  The students are directed to review the third paragraph in pairs and note the two major arguments Thoreau uses to defend this position.

 

  1. The two reasons for minimal government rule are reviewed.

 

Homework: Read this passage and write a paragraph answering this question: Do you agree with Thoreau that, “Such command no more respect than men of straw or a lump of dirt.”  Explain your answer.

Extension:  The results of the "motivation" may be polled, tallied, and graphed to report the results of students’ reactions to protesting in a group and individually.       

- To quickly create a free online poll, try HTML gear from Lycos:

http://htmlgear.lycos.com/specs/poll.html 

- Or, take a hand count of the class answers and have students enter data in either an Excel spreadsheet or using an online graphing center such as the National Center for Education Statistics "Create a Graph" site:

http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/Graphing/