What case did you think I was making?

Here I am looking at Thoreau's highly gendered language about newspapers and asking, "Why would he frame his dislike for newspapers in those particular terms?" What I've come up with is one interesting possibility to consider in light of things we already know about Thoreau.

No good intellectual historian would say "the answer is obvious; no further information needed." Every eddy or current of thought adds nuance and depth to the overall picture of the thinking of the time, which is why close reading is a hallmark of intellectual history.