What is the author's style in Civil Disobedience, and Other Essays by Henry David Thoreau?

In both subject and point of view, Thoreau casts himself as outside society. His essays and addresses criticize what he feels is mindless conformity among his fellow citizens and he is often entreating them to join him by removing themselves from the social conventions that are inhibiting them.

The tone of Thoreau's essays and addresses is of a person who wants to persuade and motivate his audience. He frequently strikes an indignant stance which sometimes rises to an angry tone on issues he seems passionate about, such as the abolition of slavery.

Many of Thoreau's written essays are originally oral addresses, and his writing is personal in tone. He addresses his listeners or readers directly, asking rhetorical questions of them and calling on their own experiences to make his persuasive points.

The essays are presented in chronological order, with the earliest from 1849 and the latest from 1863. The first three, which precede the Civil War, are largely over the subject of slavery in the United States and Thoreau's home state of Massachusetts' complicity in supporting it. The final two essays in the collection are more general in scope and outline Thoreau's philosophy of living a self-reliant, independent life.

Within each essay, the structure is that of a persuasive address. Thoreau begins each essay by addressing his audience directly and presenting the subject of the piece. He frequently makes reference to actual events both public and in his own life, and structures his essays around these events. He concludes his essays with a summary and a call for his audience to join him in his independent life course.