Thoreau: The Man of Many Hats
Beverly Hart
Flanagan High School

Subject Matter Emphasis and Level:  American Literature, Grade 11

Brief Description of the Unit:
Students explore Henry David Thoreau from several different perspectives:
surveyor, naturalist, teacher, social critic, writer/poet, environmentalist.

Goals:
Students will achieve the Illinois Learning Standards for English Language Arts
goals and standards:

State Goal 1: Read with understanding and fluency.
Apply word analysis and vocabulary skills to comprehend selections.
Apply reading strategies to improve understanding and fluency.
Comprehend a broad range of reading materials.

State Goal 2: Read and understand literature representative of various societies,
eras and ideas.
Understand how literary elements and techniques are used to convey meaning.
B. Read and interpret a variety of literary works.

State Goal 3: Write to communicate for a variety of purposes.
Use correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization and structure.
Compose well-organized and coherent writing for specific purposes and audiences.
Communicate ideas in writing to accomplish a variety of purposes.

State Goal 4: Listen and speak effectively in a variety of situations.
Listen effectively in formal and informal situations.
Speak effectively using language appropriate to the situation and audience.

State Goal 5: Use the language arts to acquire, assess and communicate
information.
Locate, organize, and use information from various sources to answer questions, solve problems and communicate ideas.
Analyze and evaluate information acquired from various sources.
Apply acquired information, concepts and ideas to communicate in a variety of formats.

Students will also achieve the following Applications of Learning:

Solving Problems, Communicating, Using Technology, Working on Teams,Making Connections.

Students will learn about the many facets of Henry David Thoreau, his ideas, and his legacy for us today.

Content:

Students will read and discuss the following primary sources:

Walden – excerpts from the following: Economy, Where I Lived and What ILived For, Solitude, The Bean-Field, Brute Neighbor, Conclusion

Resistance to Civil Government – excerpts

Walking – excerpts

Journals – excerpts

 

Students will read and discuss the following secondary sources:

The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail – drama by Jerome Lawrence & Robert E. Lee

Walden 1939 – essay by E.B. White

 

Prior Learning, Interests, Misconceptions, and Conceptual Difficulties:

Students will already have studied Ralph Waldo Emerson and Transcendentalism so that they have some background to bring to the study of Thoreau.

Major Learning Activities:

Students will read the above-listed material. In addition to the reading and discussing, students will do a variety of writing activities:

• Keep a journal for reflection on their reading
• Choose a favorite quotation from Thoreau’s work and explicate it
• Describe in a short essay their own Walden

Write a letter to Thoreau in which students react to his ideas

Group Project:

Students will choose to work in a group of 4-5 students and select one "hat" to explore: surveyor, naturalist, teacher, social critic, writer/poet, environmentalist.

They will research by exploring a variety of sources and collaborate to produce an oral presentation, as well as a hard-copy version and also an on-line version to be posted on our web site. One person from each group will become Thoreau in a dramatic monologue. The group will decide on dialogue, setting, costume, musical background, etc. An appropriate broad-brimmed straw hat will be worn, the unifying symbol of the project. A video will be made, and these video vignettes will give us a full interpretation of Thoreau: The Man of Many Hats.

 

Materials and Resources:

Books and pamphlets:

Anderson, Peter. Henry David Thoreau: American Naturalist. 1995.

Cobblestone Magazine. "The Transcendentalists and Their Message." June 1987.

Harding, Walter. The Days of Henry Thoreau. 1992 Printing.

Henley, Don and Dave Marsh, eds. Heaven Is Under Our Feet. 1991.

McGregor, Robert Kuhn. A Wider View of the Universe: Henry Thoreau’s Study of Nature. 1997.

Meltzer, Milton and Walter Harding. A Thoreau Profile. 1998 Reprint.

Moore, Alex W., Jr. Concord Authors: Biographical Notes. 1994.

Nordblom, Roger and Mary. Concord: Its Poets and Its Places. 1996.

Richardson, Robert D., Jr. Henry Thoreau: A Life of the Mind. 1986.

Ring, Elizabeth. Henry David Thoreau: In Step with Nature. 1993.

Schofield, Edmund A. and Robert C. Baron. Thoreau’s World and Ours. 1993.

Sherwood, Mary. Henry D. Thoreau: How Great a Son of Concord. n.d.

Smith, David C. The Transcendental Saunterer: Thoreau and the Search For Self. 1997.

Thoreau, Henry D. Faith in a Seed. 1993.

______. The Heart of Thoreau’s Journal. Edited by Odell Shepard. 1961.

______. Simplify, Simplify and Other Quotations. Edited by K.P. Van Anglen. 1996.

______. Walden. An annotated edition by Walter Harding. 1995.

______. A Year in Thoreau’s Journal 1851. Introduction by H. Daniel Peck. 1993.

Materials and Resources:

Technology resources:

Videos:

Neighbors in Eden: The Lives, Works, Homes and Hometowns of Four Great American Writers. Jack Hussey, Ph.D. 1992.

Thoreau’s Walden: A Video Portrait. Photovision, Inc. 1996.

Walden. Great Books.

Web sites:

www.walden.org
www.concordmuseum.org
www.concordma.com
www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/1653/index.html
www.geocities.com/~freereligion/1thoreau.html
www.concord.org/~kathy/walden/WaldenPond.html

Assessment:

Both teacher and students will participate in assessment. Rubrics will be created by students and the teacher to evaluate written products, oral presentations, and group projects. Students will also seek and obtain feedback from individuals via our web site as well as through e-mail. All students will assess themselves on how well personal goals were met.

Management:

Students, when necessary, will work in groups. Students will work in the classroom with 16 computers, all linked to the Internet. All books will be available in the classroom. A SMARTBoard (interactive electronic whiteboard) with LCD projector, scanner, digital camera, flex-cam for videoconferencing, and laser printer will be available for student use in the classroom.