The Ponds

Start with Walden Pond

The mind maps on this page offer different ways into The Ponds, a section of the Walden unit in Literature. A useful starting point is the map on Walden Pond’s color, depth and purity. It describes the pond as sometimes blue and sometimes green, and includes animals such as ducks, frogs, muskrats and turtles.

Another map describes the pond’s color and its fish, including pickerel. Looking at both can help you practice finding details that the maps share and details that appear in only one.

Follow Thoreau’s observations

After looking at the pond itself, move to the maps about Thoreau’s time around it. One describes walks into the woods and his enjoyment of the ponds. Another covers fishing, including a fishing companion who could not hear and a horned pout caught at night.

The map titled Walden - The Ponds includes Thoreau’s ideas about naming ponds after the animals that inhabit them. It also mentions tracks around Walden Pond. Use these branches to gather examples of what he notices and thinks about the places he visits.

Connect the maps

A map about solitude links Thoreau and the pond through their separate solitudes and a harmonious bond. Compare that idea with the maps describing the pond’s appearance and Thoreau’s activities. Consider which details each map brings together and how they relate to its main idea.

There are no quizzes on this page, so the maps are the place to begin. You can also use their branches to make your own questions about the details and connections you have studied.

Place the topic in the unit

The Ponds is part of the Walden unit in Literature. These maps let you focus on this section while keeping its place in the unit in view. Choose a detail from one map, then trace how another map presents it.