1. Bell Ringer: Friday, March 9th
Reflect on Wednesday’s survival activity...
Do you think that you would survive in such a situation?
Would things have been different if you got to make the decisions alone? Would you have been better off? Worse off? Why?
Does facing the elements in Wednesday’s activity (ala Chris McCandless, Bear Grylls, etc.) appeal to you? Why or why not? If not, why do you think it appeals to some people? 1

2. Questions for Discussion…
How are you affected by nature?
Do you find comfort in it?
Do you see the moods of nature?
What is the role of nature in your life?
What is meant by an individual’s spiritual side?
How would you define it?
Is there a connection between the individual’s spirit and nature?
What is the connection?
What does it mean to know something intuitively?

3. “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation
“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation... I see young men, my townsmen, whose misfortune it is to have inherited farms, houses, barns, cattle and farming tools...for these are more easily acquired than got rid of...” 3

4. “Why should they begin digging their graves as soon as they are born?”4

5. “But men labor under a mistake
“But men labor under a mistake...they honestly think that there is no choice left... It would be some advantage to live a primitive and frontier life, though in the midst of an outward civilization...if only to learn what are the gross necessaries of life and what methods have been taken to obtain them...” 5

6. “Shall we always study to obtain more of these things
“Shall we always study to obtain more of these things... and not sometimes to be content with less?” 6

17. “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately. . .” (490)

18. “Still we live meanly, like ants
“Still we live meanly, like ants and reduce other things in proportion” ( )

19. “Why should we live with such hurry and waste of life?” (491-492)

20. “For my part, I could easily do without the post office . . .” (492)

21. Questions to Consider
Why, according to Powers, did Thoreau go to the woods?
What, according to Powers, can we glean from Thoreau’s experience? How can Thoreau connect to our lives?
What do you think of the passage?