Lesson on Reflection
For Nonfiction
Following a Thought
William Hazlitt, “On Going a Journey” · Henry David Thoreau, “Walking”
Lessons in Nonfiction
Questions on the Classic Readings
William Hazlitt, “On Going a Journey”
- Hazlitt begins, “One of the pleasantest things in the world is going a journey; but I like to go by myself.” How does the rest of the essay test that claim?
- Find a place where the essay seems to wander from its subject. How does Hazlitt bring it back?
Henry David Thoreau, “Walking”
- Thoreau opens, “I wish to speak a word for Nature, for absolute Freedom and Wildness.” Where does the subject of walking turn into a larger argument?
- What does his sentence “in Wildness is the preservation of the World” mean by the time he reaches it?
A reflective essay follows a mind as it thinks. Hazlitt begins with the pleasure of walking alone and moves, by association, through talk, memory and solitude; Thoreau starts with walking and arrives at an argument for wildness. Each seems to digress, and each returns.
Activities
These draw on the classic readings on this page.
- A walk on paper. Take a short walk, then write a page that follows the order of your thoughts rather than the order of the streets.
- Begin with a claim. Open a page with a confident sentence like Hazlitt’s, then spend the rest testing, qualifying or reversing it.
—Silver Current Press