Having outlined the philosophy of Emerson and Thoreau yesterday, today we studied an excerpt from Thoreau's famous book, "Walden". Before reading ,I placed on the whiteboard a brief summary of the main points of the reading- Nature as a portal to spirituality, society's wasteful fixation on material wealth as a distraction, and the positive aspects of "poverty". Matthew placed these ideas in his notebook . As we read the opening portions of the lyrical and philosophical text, I explained and elaborated on Thoreau's belief that owning property and a house was no different than being in a prison. Matthew questioned this proposition, and we discussed how sometimes time and financial burdens accompanying the ownership of property and of too many things in general can take away focus from what Thoreau would consider more meaningful pursuits. In this regard, we examined Thoreau's motto "Simplify ,Simplify ,Simplify". We last discussed Thoreau as an early conservationist and noted the contrast between Thoreau's and Jack London's view of Nature. For HW complete reading excerpt for Monday; answer 3 questions.