Overall Literary Devices
Thoreau was a versatile writer and he mostly used metaphors, similes and allegory. For him, the importance of content far over weighed style. When he wrote, he believed that every word held meaning and was extremely meaningful, as he had no interest in decorative writing. Therefore, he would say "As all things are significant, so all words should be significant as well." He also felt that the act of genuine expression elevated the written word "A fact truly and absolutely stated is taken out the the region of common sense and acquires a mythological or universal significance." Although Thoreau avoided obvious artifice, his highly crafted writing anything less artless.