OUTLINE AND COMMENTARY The Journal

In first paragraph, we have to make an introduction of the fragment: from the work it belongs to
(The Journal), author (David Henry Thoreau), date of writing and publication (1852), and the
introduction of the work within a historical context (the californian gold rush) and the cultural one
(the trascentalist idea of nature)

In second paragraph, the life of author and his relevance during the historical context has to be
explained (American essayist, poet, and practical philosopher, Henry David Thoreau was a New
England Transcendentalist and author of the book Walden. Thoreau was a very popular figure of the
19th century; he was a transcendentalist philosopher and a radical thinker of politics. He was part of
a group concerned with moral values. He was disciple of the influential transcendentalist Emerson.)

In third paragraph, we have to establish a structure of the text: in 'The Journal', the fragment can be
divided in three parts:
PART I (from lines 1 to 9): From the very beginning of the fragment, Thoreau specifies his clear
idea against the Californian Gold Rush.
PART II (from lines 9 to 28): He is explaining the situation of the '