Chapter XI: Higher Laws Practice Quiz — Walden Pond
by Henry David Thoreau — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Chapter XI: Higher Laws
What animal does Thoreau encounter at the start of "Higher Laws" that fills him with savage delight?
A woodchuck crossing his path. He feels tempted to seize and devour it raw, not from hunger but from a craving for wildness.
What is Thoreau carrying when he encounters the woodchuck?
A string of fish and a fishing pole, returning home through the woods at dusk.
What does Thoreau say he did with his gun before going to live at Walden Pond?
He sold it. He had already felt differently about fowling (bird hunting) for some time.
What does Thoreau advise parents who ask whether they should let their boys hunt?
He says yes, make them hunters, remembering it was one of the best parts of his own education, trusting they will soon outgrow it.
What does Thoreau say happens when he fishes?
He cannot fish without falling a little in self-respect. Each time he finishes, he feels it would have been better if he had not fished.
What does Thoreau prefer to drink, and why?
Water, because he prefers the natural sky to an opium-eater's heaven. He believes water is the only drink for a wise man.
What happens to John Farmer at the end of the chapter?
He hears a flute playing on a September evening, which awakens slumbering faculties in him and inspires him to practice new austerity and let his mind descend into his body to redeem it.
Who is John Farmer in "Higher Laws"?
A fictional everyman figure in the closing parable who, after a hard day's work, hears a flute and is called to a higher, more glorious existence.
What Chaucer character does Thoreau reference in discussing hunting?
Chaucer's nun (the Prioress), who "yave not of the text a pulled hen / That saith that hunters ben not holy men."
Which Chinese philosopher does Thoreau quote about what distinguishes humans from beasts?
Mencius, who said that what men differ from brute beasts is "a thing very inconsiderable; the common herd lose it very soon; superior men preserve it carefully."
Which Chinese sage does Thoreau quote about eating without knowing the savor of food?
Thseng-tseu (Zengzi), who said "The soul not being mistress of herself, one looks, and one does not see; one listens, and one does not hear; one eats, and one does not know the savor of food."
What two opposing instincts does Thoreau say he finds in himself?
An instinct toward a higher, spiritual life and another toward a primitive, rank, and savage one. He says he reverences them both.
What does Thoreau predict about humanity's future relationship with eating animals?
He predicts humanity will leave off eating animals as surely as savage tribes left off eating each other when they came in contact with more civilized peoples.
What does Thoreau mean by "the body as temple"?
Every man is the builder of a temple called his body, to the god he worships; nobleness refines a man's features while meanness or sensuality imbrutes them.
How does Thoreau connect chastity to human achievement?
He calls chastity "the flowering of man" and says Genius, Heroism, and Holiness are "but various fruits which succeed it." Purity opens the channel to God.
What extended metaphor does Thoreau use to describe spiritual development?
Insect metamorphosis: the gross feeder is a man in the larva state, while the spiritually refined person is like a butterfly that needs only a drop of honey.
What literary device does Thoreau use when he says "Goodness is the only investment that never fails"?
An aphorism (concise moral statement) that uses financial metaphor to express the idea that moral virtue always yields returns.
What literary form does the John Farmer passage at the end of the chapter take?
A parable — a brief allegorical narrative that illustrates the chapter's themes of awakening to higher life through a fictional character's experience.
What does Thoreau mean by "ebriosity"?
Habitual drunkenness or intoxication. He uses it to argue that all forms of intoxication — alcohol, coffee, tea, even music — can degrade the spirit.
What does the word "imbrute" mean in the context of this chapter?
To make brutal or beastly. Thoreau says meanness or sensuality "imbrutes" a man's features, while nobleness refines them.
What does "moiling" mean when Thoreau's voice asks John Farmer about his "mean moiling life"?
Drudging or toiling. The phrase suggests a life of hard, unrewarding labor without spiritual purpose.
Complete the Thoreau quote: "I love the wild not less than ___."
"the good." This encapsulates Thoreau's refusal to reject either side of human nature — savage instinct or moral aspiration.
What does Thoreau mean when he writes, "The true harvest of my daily life is somewhat as intangible and indescribable as the tints of morning or evening"?
The most valuable gains of living deliberately — spiritual insight, inner peace, connection with nature — cannot be measured or communicated, only experienced.
What quote does Thoreau use to describe the relationship between morality and the universe?
"Our whole life is startlingly moral. There is never an instant's truce between virtue and vice. Goodness is the only investment that never fails."