Nature writing revolves around elements of nature with the aim of creating environmental and ecological preservation. It has been a significant method to process scientific information in a skillful and creative way and to persuade people to think from a different angle about problems facing the environment. In the American culture, nature writing has had firm roots. It has worked alongside other literature works such as poems to ensure that people capture environmental issues in a broad way. It has helped in the shaping of American ethics and has influenced public opinion on issues of ecological preservation. The essay analyzes influences of John Muir, Aldo Leopold, and Wendell Berry on the book A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains by Isabella Bird.
The book A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains details a visit by Isabella to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado on a horseback. She writes a book with the aim of describing nature of the Rocky Mountains (Bird 12). She has a goal of passing through the mountains to reach the Estes Park. The book describes her life while in the mountains. Bird describes scenery of the mountains that are snow-capped. During her visit to the mountains, she describes the
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Ground actions of Aldo have showed that the content of Isabella’s book has not been in vain. Through the message in the book, Aldo led wildlife preservation missions. He foresaw preservation of forests in the American West. He ensured that roads were built through the forest for people to see wonders of nature. He was also appointed as the nation’s foremost expert on wildlife management. He urged for the scientific management of wildlife habitat instead of depending on game and hunting laws. Through his expertise works, he influenced Isabella’s book because he performed actions aimed at preservation and valuing of nature that were the epicenter of the message in the Isabella’s book (Bird
The authors Lydia Huntley Sigourney, and Henry David Thoreau, both demonstrate similarities and differences in their works. While comparing both essays, it is evident that both authors share similar views on environmental issues, and at the same time demonstrate great emotional journeys in their works. The extraordinary beauty of nature appears frequently in both pieces. Both authors focus their personal experiences, however, within different subject matters. The way in which the authors express their beliefs and feelings is demonstrated through personal life endeavors. It is apparent that the authors are expressing their perception of the atrocities committed to the environment by humans.
As reading this “journal” the topic that has come to my attention is how a lot of these “nature writers” are looking at nature either as a positive or negative experience. Most of these shorts journals are looking at nature for not only for what it is, but what it offers, for example in the short “The Marginal World written by Rachel Carson she portrays “"The Shore is an ancient world, for as long as there has been an earth and sea there has been this place of the meeting of land and water. Yet it is a world that keeps alive the sense of continuing creation and of the relentless drive for life. Each time that I enter it, I gain some new awareness of its beauty and its deeper meanings, sensing that intricate fabric of life by which one creature is linked with another, and each with its surroundings."(481). Based off this quote, we can see that a lot of these authors did not only see nature as something that could be touched, but rather seen as a spiritual entity.
Everyday people all over the world try to improve the qualities of their lives. Nonetheless, they forget that what they do can have severe harms and damages on the environment and other organisms. In the excerpt “A Fable for Tomorrow” from the book Silent Spring, Rachel Carson describes the disastrous and horrific effects of pesticides on the environment and animals of the town. In the essay “Our Animal Rites” by Anna Quindlen, she shows the inhumanity of animal hunting by human. Furthermore, she argues how human migration is destroying the natural habitats that belong to the animals. In the excerpt “Reading the River” from the autobiographical book Life on Mississippi, Mark Twain describes how he loses the ability to perceive the
At first glance, Henry Thoreau’s, Where I Lived and What I Lived For, and E.B. White’s, Once More to the Lake, have nothing in common. After several readings; however, one can interpret that both authors have the same message. Even though Thoreau and White use extremely different styles, they both portray nature as the simplest way of life. Thoreau writes an argumentative essay in the 1800’s trying to persuade society to “simplify” by going back to relying on nature instead of technology (50 Essays pg. 417). White writes a 1900’s narrative about his visit to his childhood lake where he shockingly discovers how nature reveals the essence of life.
As GaryMcIlroy points out in "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and the Burden of Science," American nature writing used to involve pure
The ways in which people think about, and associate themselves with, the wilderness can strongly influence actions associated with natural areas. Mentalities and attitudes towards nature face residual impacts from the historical spread of colonialism in America. By examining two texts through the lens of the effects of colonization on wilderness mentalities, a specific impact can be examined and unpacked. “The Trouble with Wilderness” by William Cronon is an ecocritical piece which uses the history of American environmentalism to argue against the idealization of a separate nature. Instead, readers are encouraged to take values found in the wilderness and apply them to more humble and commonly encountered environments.
Nature has played an enormous part in our lives. From the childhoods of unwanted or loved trips to the country to the issue of climate change, we have all had our part to play in the matter. And yet it affects us as well. Without the presence of nature, we would not be able to survive. Both Rachel Carson and Henry David Thoreau understand the necessity of nature and humanity's lack of love for it. However, they are not without any dissimilarity. Carson's "A Fable for Tomorrow" and Thoreau's Walden are both serious, persuasive pieces that consider the current habits of the American people to be harmful and use pathos as one of their methods to convey this message. However, the differences in time periods, messages, rhetorical effects, and approaches reveal a clear rift between the two works.
Oeschlaeger’s “Henry David Thoreau: Philosopher of the Wilderness”, “John Muir: Wilderness Sage”, and “Aldo Leopold and the Age of Ecology” from The Idea of Wilderness: From Prehistory to the Age of Ecology focuses on the main American wilderness writers. Henry David Thoreau’s wilderness writing branches away from transcendentalism and into true appreciation of the glory of nature. His ideas evolved through his experiences with nature over the years (136). For instance, his negative or frightening experience on Ktaadn marked his divorce from transcendentalism (149). Thoreau was also a supporter of environmental protection, which would continue on to influence John Muir and Aldo Leopold. John Muir also began his wilderness writing career with
Nature and wilderness were very important ideas to some extant for St. John de Crevecoeur and Ralph Waldo Emerson, each had their own opinions and ideas that contrasted against each other and were somewhat similar to each other. Emerson who valued it and looked at the nature as something to proud of had used it many times in his works as examples and that we are part of nature as well and make whatever choices from it as it can from us. While Crevecoeur believes that in every land it has its own form of culture as it does its own kind of nature, and describes how the land and nature was then and how it will be giving details of it in his pieces of work. How they use and see nature is described equally important in both their works “the American Scholar” and “What is an American” but shows how different their views really are in them.
As human beings we’re all affluent to live on this fascinating place called earth. We live everyday normally just as every other human, animal or insect. But we eradicate insects and animals as if they aren’t as important as we are. Nature is being inherently demolished by humans who are oblivious to know that all living things on the earth have a purpose . However, Annie Dillard, well-known for her ambiguous nonfiction books help support the importance of nature and why we shouldn't intrude upon it. For example, Dillard’s excerpt from “The Fixed” about a Polyphemus Moth uses countless rhetorical strategies to construct a compelling message about the peace and beauty of nature, but it also illustrates how easily mankind can destroy it. Therefore, a part of nature is to be naturally
The beauty and wonders of nature are inexplicably alluring. In the nonfiction essay “Down The River”, Edward Abbey successfully conveys this attitude in his description of his time in the Aravaipa Canyon. By observing his surroundings and comparing nature to human life, Abbey expresses a peaceful admiration, blended with a mystical attitude and respect toward nature. Abbey’s awe and fascination for nature is prominent throughout his essay. For him, nature can never fully be understood, and man will never be able to comprehend the complexity of the universe. Abby's attitude toward nature is one of peacefulness and respect, made evident by his constant admiration and appreciation towards it.
As a child, I unraveled nature’s beauty and existence. Each new experience brought me feelings of excitement and joy, sparkling my imagination and igniting my curiosity. It all seemed so large back then. Oceans appeared endless as they reached towards the horizon. Treetops seemed to make friends with the puffy-looking clouds as they soared to the sky. Over the years however, as I have grown older and life has become more complex, I am beginning to think less and less about the natural world around me. I glimpse sunset stuck in rush-hour traffic trying to return school after debate practices and only listen to the pitter-patter of the rain when there’s a storm outside. Forests and oceans seemed less appealing as they became intertwined with the urban development. In a way, I was becoming more and more distanced from the so-called nature. So, with an overwhelming desire for adventure and to escape the masses, my family and I drove to Big Bend National Park in Southwest Texas last summer.
“Nature” is an essay written by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and published by James Munroe and Company in 1836. [1] “Nature” has a total of 41 pages. The essay consists of eight parts: Nature, Commodity, Beauty, Language, Discipline, Idealism, Spirit and Prospects. Each part takes a different perspective on the relationship between humans and nature. In this essay, Emerson emphasizes the foundation of transcendentalism, “a religious and philosophical movement that developed during the late 1820s and 30s in the Eastern region of the United States as protest against the general state of spirituality and, in particular, the state of intellectualism.” [2] “Transcendentalism suggests that the divine, or God, suffuses nature, and suggests that reality can be understood by studying nature.” [3] “Transcendentalism is closely related to Unitarianism, the dominant religious movement in Boston at the early nineteenth century. Transcendentalism evolved as an organic consequence of the Unitarian emphasis on free conscience and the value of intellectual reason.” [4] Emerson divides nature into four stages: commodity, beauty, language, and discipline. These define the ways by which humans use nature for their basic needs. The historical significance of “Nature” was that transcendentalism club led the celebration of the American experiment as one of the individualism and self-reliance. [5]
Author, Henry David Thoreau and Mary Oliver are both very passionate about nature and what it has to offer in life, as well as the symbolism behind nature and its creatures in their works of literature, in “Walden”, and “The House of Light”, Both authors discuss their views of nature and the beauty of the world that they want to make familiar to their audience. In this essay, I’ll provide my reasoning behind this statement.
In this novel written by Aldo Leopold, he brings in a dreamy imagery ridden writing that entices the reader. Along with photographs that go along with his journey and conservation. The book goes in order of months starting with January and once it hits December, instead of months they are replaced with locations. Leopold takes his stance to talk about conservation, but not only that he goes on to make the point of the importance of trying to maintain harmony through what Leopold termed as land ethics. Leopold takes a different route of explain things that are constructed in this novel, in every observation he so vividly describes for the reader. Leopold takes his love and respect for land and heartfully writes this novel to inform others about the beauty of land as well. Although, Leopold’s novel was in three sections, each serving its own purpose. Nevertheless, each still all came together to connect with the same theme, which was to have harmony between nature and humanity.