"Civil Disobedience" by Henry David Thoreau
Lesson plans and teaching materials
"Civil Disobedience" at the Thoreau Reader
E-texts and related links to
Walden
, "Civil Disobedience," and others. An excellent resource.
"Civil Disobedience" Vocabulary
91 words presented in context and with definitions. Click on a word for pronunciation, examples of recent use, more.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Study guide questions for "Letter from Birmingham Jail," a good companion piece to "Civil Disobedience."
How to be a Nonconformist
This tongue-in-cheek guide was written and illustrated by a high school student in 1968. What tips might students write after reading about Thoreau's "majority of one"?
Seminar questions for "Civil Disobedience"
Excellent discussion points organized as "opening," "core," and "closing" questions.
Study Questions for "Civil Disobedience"
Ten questions for writing/discussion with model answers for the first 3.
Thoreaus Critique of Democracy in "Civil Disobedience"
While most people recognize that in "Civil Disobedience" Thoreau argues against submission to government policies that individuals deem immoral, few note that he also issues a sharp critique of representative democracy. This lesson focuses on that critique. The first interactive exercise concentrates on vocabulary building. The second, recommended for use after you have conducted the close reading, reviews the central points of the textual analysis. The third interactive exercise asks students to write a contrast paragraph. It also encourages vocabulary building and calls upon students to draw an inference.
Just for fun:
