I'm working on an essay about Henry David Thoreau's "Life without Principle." The assignment asks for me to "reflect on, discuss, analyze and evaluate one of the significant themes from the essay." My professor told us he doesn't want a summary of Thoreau's work. I'm having a really hard time even getting started with this paper. I was thinking of writing about "the question concerning how we spend our lives" that Thoreau points out. There's a handful of other themes I've picked out from what I read, but I'm still having a very hard time finding a starting point.

Question

I'm working on an essay about Henry David Thoreau's "Life without Principle."  The assignment asks for me to "reflect on, discuss, analyze and evaluate one of the significant themes from the essay."  My professor told us he doesn't want a summary of Thoreau's work.  I'm having a really hard time even getting started with this paper.  I was thinking of writing about "the question concerning how we spend our lives" that Thoreau points out.  There's a handful of other themes I've picked out from what I read, but I'm still having a very hard time finding a starting point.

anonymous · Answer

Really not sure. Kind of stumped on your question as well.