Read the following paragraph from "resistance to civil government' by henry david
thoreau:
nis american government.-what is it but a tradition, though a recent
one, endeavoring to transmit itself unimpaired to posterity, but each
instant losing some of its integrity? it has not the vitality and force of a
single living man, for a single man can bend it to his will. it is a sort of
wooden gun to the people themselves. but it is not the less necessary for
this; for the people must have some complicated machinery or other, and
hear its din, to satisfy that idea of government which they have.
governments show thus how successfully men can be imposed upon,
even impose on themselves, for their own advantage. it is excellent, we
must all allow. yet this government never of itself furthered any
enterprise, but by the alacrity with which it got out of its way. it does not
keep the country free. it does not settle the west. it does not educate. the
character inherent in the american people has done all that has been
accomplished, and it would have done somewhat more, if the government
had not sometimes got in its way for government is an expedient, by
which men would fain succeed in letting one another alone, and, as has
been said, when it is most expedient, the governed are most let alone by it
analyze the rhetorical style of this paragraph. how does the style contribute to the essay's
power? in particular, consider its parallelism and figurative language in formulating your
resnanse be sure to include specific details from the text to support your answer. (10 points)