Following in the tradition of many another story, a young man leaves behind the things he knows and goes into the woods to test who he is and how he should live.At its simplest, this is the plot of Henry David Thoreau's 1845 work Walden. The book is both the record and the fruit of this quest.

INTRODUCTION

CHRONOLOGY OF HENRY DAVID THOREAU"S

  LIFE AND WORK

HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF Walden and

 On the Duty of Civil Disobedience

          WALDEN

       OR, LIFE IN THE WOODS

1. ECONOMY

2. WHERE I LIVED, AND WHAT I LIVED FOR

3. READING

4. SOUNDS

5. SOLITUDE

6. VISITORS

7. THE BEAN-FIELD

8. THE VILLAGE

9. THE PONDS

1O. BAKER FARM

11. HIGHER LAWS

12. BRUTE NEIGHBORS

13. HOUSE-WARMING

14. FORMER INHABITANTS; AND WINTER VISITORs

I5. WINTER ANIMALS

16. THE POND IN WINTER

17. SPRING

18. CONCLUSION

 ON THE DUTY OF CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

           POEMS

SIC VITA

WINTER MEMORIES

TO THE MAIDEN IN THE EAST

SMOKE

MIST

INSPIRATION

NOTES

INTERPRETIVE NOTES

CRITICAL EXCERPTS

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

SUGGESTIONS FOR THE INTERESTED READER