Opening question: Life is short, so why do people tend to focus on unnecessary details in their lives? Introduction: “Simplicity is the key to brilliance.” This quote from Bruce Lee perfectly follows Henry David Thoreau's argument in his essay titled "Where I Lived and What I Lived For." Thoreau believes that each person should love the individual; to do this, trivial details must be left alone. According to Thoreau, "After a night's sleep news is as indispensable as breakfast... And I am sure I never read any memorable news in a newspaper." As reading or, in the modern era, watching the news has become a habit, many people have incorporated it into their daily routine along with breakfast. Habits are extremely difficult to break. Many people tend to bite their nails when they are nervous; if they are asked why they do it, they will not even realize that they have chewed their nails brutally. It takes time to break a habit and is nearly impossible with all the constant reminders surrounding it, particularly when it comes to doing meaningless tasks. Thoreau believes that it is these tasks that end up taking precedence in a person's life and drain him or her until there is almost no time left for the things that are important to the individual. Fundamental Question 1: Why does Thoreau constantly repeat the word "simplicity" as in paragraph 2, page 277? Body 1: Thoreau states: “Our life is wasted on details. An honest man hardly needs to count more than his ten fingers, or in extreme cases he can add the ten toes and put the rest together. Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!” In these lines, Thoreau states that an excessive amount of detail drains a person's life and makes him wither in the middle of a sheet of paper. There are several rhetorical strategies to convey the idea that people are often in a hurry. through life, making it almost meaningless to the individual. His use of allegory, repetition, and rhetorical questions appear most throughout the entire argument. His fascination through religion also exerts a strong attraction on the public. He states: “In eternity there is truly something true and sublime. But all these times, places and occasions are here and now. God Himself culminates in the present moment, and will never be more divine throughout the ages.” In this line it refers to God's holy ways and the methods in which He is considered divine. This is in direct contrast to Americans' tendency to speed up life. He is bringing all his audience together through this appeal and making his audience find a reason to bring this topic forward.