Nature writing is a genre that encompasses a range of works and writers throughout many time periods. This genre is based on the study of nature and frequently discusses the interrelationships between humans, nature, and god. In the nearly 300 year span between the writings of John Smith and Walt Whitman, nature writing had evolved. During the colonialist era, as evidenced by John Smith, nature was seen as given to us by god to be utilized in its full capacity, for resources to survive and profit. By the time of Walt Whitman, nature writing was transitioning from the transcendentalist into the realist movement and nature was viewed not as an extension of god, but as a way to learn about ourselves and the world. opposition to romanticism. Three writers between these two time periods, Jonathan Edwards, Benjamin Franklin and William Cullen Bryant each have a different worldview based on their background and provide a transition between the Puritan and Realism movements. John Smith came to the new world with the Virginia Company in order to colonize the land and to start a new, economically successful life. Although he didn’t find an abundance of gold or silver, he did discover the seemingly endless supply of natural resources that the new world had to offer. Smith viewed these resources as a source of income. Smith wrote “A Description of New-England” as propaganda to persuade others to colonize the new world with the promise of an abundance of resources, which had been
He soon returned to England after being burned and needing to recover. Smith From his departure, Smith was no longer leader of the colony. Despite his efforts to return to America, John turned to writing. He wrote a total of eight books, two of which are autobiographies. His books were published between the years of 1608 – 1631. Smith wrote about his colony, survival, explorations, observations, and discoveries. Johns book “New England’s Trials “discusses a possible new site for colonization. Although it was fairly short, he went in to detail about the benefits the colonists and England would receive if they were to colonize the
Frances Willard and Walt Whitman are two significant nineteenth century American figures. Although Willard and Whitman are famous for different reasons, they do have one characteristic in common: they have both been accused of being homosexuals. However, most people do not know this because it is not put in history textbooks or taught in the classroom, for good reason. Public school students should not learn about Willard and Whitman’s homosexuality through their textbooks and teachers because it does not affect the significance of what these two Americans had accomplished. Not only does it not affect their importance in United States history, but it also cannot be proven. Teaching public school students that Willard and Whitman were homosexuals would be disrespectful to the brave and inspiring acts they have made towards the history of America.
He described these men to future readers as money hungry and horrible (Doc F). Many men traveled to the southern colonies to become rich. However, their destination,Virginia, was not a colony with flourishing gold mines. Many Englishmen would then have to find another way to make money, or return back to England. John Smith was a leader who helped further develop Jamestown, Virginia. This idea proves the economic motives of those who lived in the Chesapeake colonies.
In the beginning the men if the boats had different theories what they will find in the new world mostly they wanted a new place where they can build a new life but john smith was looking for adventure and was experience with unfamiliar land that’s why he was on the ship he also was captain of the ship and the voyage leader and who’s only concerned was the riches of the new world was Governor Ratcliffe thinking he will get position at the British court.
Smith was badly burned in 1606 from a gunpowder explosion and forced to return back to England. In 1614 he returned with an expedition to map the New England coastline. He would never return to Virginia again after this. He would from then on only promote colonizing the New England area. His efforts to promote colonizing were blocked by weather, pirates and lack of funding. He then resorted to writing about colonization. In his writing he elaborated about how wonderful it was in the new world. He would say that the fish practically jump into your boat when you go fishing and things such as that. He made the new world seem better than it really was so people would want to travel here and settle in it. His plan worked because year after year more and more people flocked to the New England hoping to colonize and not have to worry about running out
On his travels to the “New World” and his encounters with the Native Americans John Smith wrote in third person “The History of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Islands.” This book is considered one of the earliest histories written for this region of the Americas and what is to be known as the Virginia Company (Smith). These two joint stock companies were originally established to settle North America in the two general regions of the north and south. London Company was given a charter to establish in north while the Plymouth Company was chartered for the south. These companies originally instituted settlements but later uninhibited the regions. Plymouth
These men were looking for profits, sent by England. John Smith, who took part in the founding of Jamestown, Virginia led explorations throughout Virginia with one goal in mind, wealth. After defeating the Powhatan Confederacy, efforts for economic gain were in full force. John Smith once said, “He who shall not work not eat”. The harshness and brutal attitude of English leaders shows how the value of the Chesapeake region was aimed towards wealth rather than making a place for its people. According to Captain John Smith, “There was no talk…but dig gold, wash gold, refine gold, load gold” (Doc 5). The historical context of Document 5 is to create a vivid image of what it was like to live in Virginia. Clearly, it was drastically different than New England’s way of life. In Virginia, the focus was on wealth leaving individuals with discontent. Based on the lack of settlement, the Chesapeake region was a place for the rich to become richer. Not only were the Jamestown settlers looking for gold but fertile land. They found it in the Carolinas, known as the “Bread Colonies”. The lands were perfect for tobacco growing which lead to more economic growth as seen in the nickname “cash crop”. John Rolfe, the father of the tobacco industry perfected methods of growing the crop which lead to further advances in the search for land. Unlike New England, it was a ground for profit not
John Smith believed that success in such adventures requires individual initiative and commitment. His journey began working with his dad in his shop up until the age of 16. After his father had passed, he attempted to run it on his own, but that didn’t last long; so he joined the French Army. After a while he started exploring the new world which included Virginia, New England and Summer Isles. Smith had a very prestigious and independent outlook on life and throughout his journey it had brought him misfortune for much of his explorations, but with the misfortune came a bundles of successes. One incident which played a significant role in his journey was being captured by Powhatan; and Pocahontas, herself, helped free him. John Smith was an
During the 1600s England was sending many adventurers and colonists to the new world to settle it. One famous colonist was John Smith. Smith was a leader in the Jamestown settlement in 1606, where he encountered natives, and survived being captured and imprisoned by them. Also notable among the famous colonists was William Bradford. Bradford led the Plymouth colony, which was founded in 1620. The colony survived major sickness and lack of food but the natives were sympathetic with the Plymouth colonist and taught them how to live off the land. Both Smith and Bradford wrote of their adventures in the new world, but they both had very different reasons for being there which it’s evident in their writings.
When I think of John Smith, the first thing that comes to mind is, that he is the English man Pocahontas falls for. These stories were definitely not like the Pocahontas I remember watching as a kid. I didn't really picture him as the epic hero he seems to portray himself as. He sorts of advertises himself to his readers. I guess you could say that is his first use of propaganda. He boasts about his voyages, adventures and being captured. He talks about how he was captured, but with his bravery and intelligence he manages to keep from getting killed. Smith uses a lot of propaganda in these works. The abundant in raw materials like gold, silver and lead, how healthy the people are, which is probably a result of the fish.(124-125) This would attract the people that wanted to one day invest in this new territory. This new territory brings vast amounts of land. His overall goal is to bring people to
Whitman is able to traverse both time and distance and connect with his readers, through the use of simple diction, as so few other poets can. His mastery of verbiage draws readers into the poem, and creates a poetic experience like no other. In “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry,” Whitman creates a vignette into the Brooklyn of the past, as he connects it to the present, in surprising ways. Omnipresence allows the reader to envision themselves in the settings created and to interpret them into modern language. Whitman connects with his readers in a fascinating and deeply personal ways, by creating a path through the cities of the past to the people of the present.
Introduction: In the world of literature, poetry is among one of the best writings in which people can express their emotions in both a negative or positive attitude. Poetry tells a past, a present, and a future on how the mind perceives it. Poetry is very famous worldwide in talent. In different times poetry is expressed depending on any situation given.
During the 1800’s, the period of the life of Walt Whitman, there were several notable writers who felt strong ties to the natural world and allowed their work to reflect this. These included Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emily Dickinson and John Muir and they were all players in the Transcendentalism movement that was coming to life. That theory – that people found their own version of spirituality, often through a connection to nature – is one that all of these great minds espoused in one way or another. But, perhaps Ralph Waldo Emerson had the most influence over Walt Whitman. Their views of nature were closely matched and Emerson, already being an admired writer, was someone Whitman looked up to.
Nature has an undefinable meaning as the theme is utilised in literature, and it has been a topic of reflection within the Romanticists since the beginning of the era. Romanticism and nature and inextricably linked ideas. Poets; Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman wrote during the romantic era, and both drew heavily from aspects of nature in their work. Nature can be paralleled against several things, including humanity and the idea of life and death. The contrast between the natural world and the artificial world, and what this means for society, is also strongly eluded to in Dickinson and Whitman’s poems. Each poet uses nature as the backbone to their poetry in several instances. Dickinson’s, “Hope is the Thing with Feathers”, (Dickinson, 19) and “My Life Has Stood A Loaded Gun”, (Dickinson, 69) are strong examples of this. Whitman’s, “Song of Myself”, (Whitman, 29) and, “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d”, (Whitman, 255) are also poems that show the connection between nature and romanticism. Poets, Dickinson and Whitman engage with romanticism in a creative and constructive manner through the utilisation of the natural world.
John Smith was selected because he was a Colonizer, soldier and an author as he wrote his first book in English in the New World called “A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Hath Happened in Virginia since the First Planting of that Colony (1608)”. While he was only in America for two years, Smith was in charge of the survival of England's first English colony in the New World. He is best known for being in