Topic > Persuasive Tactics David Thoreau Uses to Convince Readers in "Economics" and "Conclusion"

Henry David Thoreau's autobiography Walden, or Life in the Woods is a personal account describing how and why he performed his experiment of life at Walden Pond, close to nature. "Economics" describes Thoreau's personal experience at the beginning of his time in Walden, while "Conclusion" summarizes Thoreau's beliefs about how people should live their lives. In the different sections of the essay, Thoreau uses the three basic persuasive tactics to convince readers that his beliefs are correct: ethos, logos, and pathos. Ethics appeals to our logic that people with expertise or personal experience on a topic are more credible than those without. Logos appeals to the rational part of our thinking because by nature we trust data and the idea of ​​cause and effect. Pathos evokes what we think and feel about different topics using word choice (General). Authors try to persuade the reader using these techniques by appealing to various aspects of their thinking. In Walden, the “Economy” section and the “Conclusion” section share a common theme, which is that you can be self-sufficient and live the simplest life possible to pursue your dream and, ultimately, your spiritual freedom. In "Economics", Thoreau uses logos and ethos to develop his theme because he uses personal experience and his own documents as evidence to support his point of view, but in "Conclusion" he uses pathos because he states his opinion and reveals his passions, thereby. appeal to readers' emotions and values. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayAn important element of "Economics" is the use of ethics to establish credibility, since Thoreau is a city man and conducted his experiment to gain some experience living in the desert. Ethics is the main way “Economics” conveys Thoreau's message that one should be self-sufficient and live simply. He tells us that he “[lived] alone, in the woods… [earning] his living only by the work of [his] hands. [He lived there] two years and two months,” and is now “a sojourner in civilian life again” (Thoreau 217). Thoreau begins by purchasing an old, battered shack, and the same morning he moves in, he dismantles “this dwelling…and [moves] it to the side of the pond with small carts” (Thoreau 218). When he builds the house, he carries “in [his] arms two carts loaded with stones up the hill from the pond” (Thoreau 218). To store food for the winter, he digs a cellar “in the side of a hill sloping south…down through sumac and blackberry roots, and the lowest patch of vegetation…to fine sand.” (Thoreau 218). Building a house is probably the hardest part of making an independent living, but Thoreau, a man about town, manages it. To earn money and provide his own support, he plants “about two and a half acres of light, sandy soil near [the house] chiefly in beans, but also a small part in potatoes, corn, peas, and turnips” (Thoreau 219), also if a farmer had previously stated that the land was “good for nothing but raising chittering squirrels” (Thoreau 219). Although the land near Walden is not the most fertile, Thoreau is still able to provide himself with sufficient food. As for fuel and keeping warm, he obtained “several cords of logs while plowing” and the rest of his fuel consisted of “dead and…unmarketable wood behind [his] house” (Thoreau 220 ). The fact that.