I was introduced to Henry David Thoreau my junior year of high school through Walden as a summer reading assignment. It was dry at first…really dry and frustrating and over explained and, I felt, over-done. My teacher asked us ridiculously detailed questions on symbolism and things I had no idea existed within the essays. It was exponentially difficult since he wasn’t there to help me understand. We were reading it and forming our own opinions and ideas about it outside the classroom all summer. There was little discipline in me to go back and truly try to understand it when I could much more easily just go swimming. Now that I am reading his works again within the classroom I had a lot more understanding as well as will to understand him. However, I do agree with what we were talking about in class about how he is describing things I’ve seen all while I was growing up. I have never been a huge fan of description of places or things in texts. That is one thing I’ve always had trouble focusing on without skipping it completely. In shorter texts like this composition of essays I find it much easier for me to appreciate the imagery. Thoreau has a way with words and a talent in making you think differently about things you thought you knew. Like dead bodies and how you might think they’re beautiful if they’re washed up on shore after a shipwreck. I’m still not Thoreau’s biggest fan but I have more positive feelings after this collection of essays.