I was excited to read Thoreau as he is so often quoted though I've actually read very little of his works. I've read more of Emerson's than his. I was excited to find the "suck all the marrow out of life" quote in context to see how it fits into the larger picture. Bottom line, really, is that I'm excited for this unit.
Admittedly, though, I got a bit impatient with Thoreau after the first couple pages were all descriptions of scenery and farms. I was tempted to fast forward through the "where I lived" part and get to the part I was really intrigued by. I resisted the temptation though I still see only a little substance in the Where I Lived section.
The part I connect with is the purpose of life stuff. Particularly I was intrigued by his extremely long paragraph about mornings and throwing off intellectual sleepiness. I completely agree with his points about Genius and the imagery of being one with nature. I disagree that it HAS to happen in the morning however. He writes, "Morning is when I am awake and there is dawn in me." Morning is not at all the time I am most awake; there is an individual difference in that idea. Though, I understand if he simply choose morning because it fit within the metaphor of dawn and wakefulness.
My point is that I do believe we should all strive for moments like Thoreau describes in this paragraph, but perhaps those moments do actually have to take place in the morning as he argues. Without using the word "transcendental" he is describing a moment of transcending the daily routine and finding a time of awareness and spirituality (not religiousness). I find those moments when I stare at the stars at night, not when I stumble around my bedroom, bleary eyed, trying to find clothes.
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