Nature And Diversity In Gary Snyder's 'Covers The Ground'

Although Leopold’s love of great expanses of wilderness is readily apparent, his book does not cry out in defense of particular tracts of land about to go under the axe or plow, but rather deals with the minutiae, the details, of often unnoticed plants and animals, all the little things that, in our ignorance, we have left out of our managed acreages but which must be present to add up to balanced ecosystems and a sense of quality and wholeness in the landscape.

The garden is the vehicle in which the narrator reveals her reluctance to leave behind the imaginary world of childhood and see the realities of the adult world. The evidence supporting this interpretation is the imagery of hiding. The narrator uses the garden to hide from reality and the

She became accustomed to the perception of a desert being portrayed as dull and lifeless (Being raised in Kentucky) until this trip. Throughout this scene, she expresses her fascination for nature, and uses a tone of awe and allurement while describing the attributes about the land with metaphors. This narration occurred following the first rainfall, when Mattie and Taylor decided to go to the desert. This passage which is distinctive of Kingsolver’s portrayal of the natural landscape shows her sudden awareness diverse atmospheres. By linking to the scenery to “the palm of a human hand”, the author uses the literary device of personification with the mountains and the town. Her phrase “resting in its cradle of mountains” associates the basin to a child, and the phrases “city like a palm”and“life lines and heart lines hints a grown-up. The terrain exemplifies a life from the beginning to end. Taylor describes the land my linking each attribute with lots of metaphors, which then confirms that the tone is “wonder and allurement” because it demonstrates that she is emotionally connected to the

Berry’s mention of the farmer and an understanding of his farm is a constant theme in this essay. Agriculture, a distribution of products born from the earth and its entrance into our bodies as nourishment, describes an interdependence. The development of highways, industry, and daily routine of work and obligation, has caused a romanticization of wilderness. High mountain tops and deep forests are sold as “scenic.” Berry reminds the reader that wilderness had once bred communities and civilization, and that by direct use of the land, we are taught to respect and surrender to it. But by invention of skyscrapers, airplanes, we are able to sit higher than these mountain tops and this is his first representation of disconnect from Creation. Mechanical invention leads one to parallel themselves with godliness, magnifying self worth and a sense of significance. What is misunderstood is that through this magnification, because there is no control or limit, we “raise higher the cloud of megadeath.” Our significance is not proved by the weight of our material wealth, rather

To people foreign to California, the state is boxed into a set of stereotypical characteristics. The Golden State has received labels such as ‘surf nation,’ and ‘liberal land.’ But to those who’ve gotten a chance to live within this great state appreciate the opportunities and ambitions that come with living in California. Furthermore, what truly differentiates California from any other place in the world is the consistent paradoxical environment. This notion is best epitomized by the city of Sacramento and the cultural, economic and social change that the city has undergone. Gary Snyder communicates this theme through building around John Muir’s ideologies in his work of “Covers The Ground.” Snyder’s work exemplifies the contradiction between nature and innovation. It presents the paradoxical state individuals around the world face on whether to accept the innovation and accept the benefits that come with it, or stay true to the roots of nature and the history that accompanies it. This dilemma boils down to whether we as a race embrace the progression of time and the paradoxes that follow, or we find solace in our current state.

Jimmy Carter begins his essay the sentence, “This magnificent area is as vast as it is wild, from windswept coastal plain where polar bears and caribou give birth…” This specific sentence gives way to a wide array of emotions and feelings due to his way of descriptive language. His language and word choice makes you feel as if you are there with him absorbing what it feels like to be there. The way he describes this refuge makes you imagine what “the brilliant mosaic of wildflowers, mosses, and lichens that hugged the tundra.” encompasses and what this mosaic resembles. When Jimmy Carter talks about what saddens him, it makes you think of what this place of grandeur could look

Richard Walker in his California’s Golden Road to Riches, described California’s economic order as “prospector capitalism,” or “resource capitalism.” Walker quotes David and Wright (1997:1) in order to describe this form- “intensity of search; new technologies of extraction, refining and utilization; market development and transportation investments…” (http://geog.berkeley.edu/PeopleHistory/faculty/R_Walker/CaGoldenRoad.html, Walker). This statement has clear comparisons to Takaki’s America Errand as both put a large focus on economic expansion via technology, increased transportation, and market development. Similar to when Takaki’s argument that the land must not go to waste, in the four statements that correspond to the dimensions of the capitalist economy it is written that “nature…converted into ‘resources’ or nature staked, claimed, and commodified”

“Freedom was in the very air Californians breathed, for the country offered a unique and seductive drought of liberty. People were free from censure, from Eastern restrictions, from societal

The first chapter of the book is an introduction to the economy, politics and people of California. It encompasses the economy, politics and demography of the state for the past, present and the future. The edition features updated demographic information of the state from the census that took place in 2010. The chapter explains the state’s transition from colonization to rebellion and statehood. It discusses California’s past, including the great depression, political turmoil, infrastructure, workingmen’s party and World War II. The growth, reform and progressive change of the state to what it is today is also highlighted in the book. California previously faced budget deficits

“The landscape, the whole great circle of it, grassheads, scrub, water, sky, quite took his breath away.” (Pg 17)

It is hard to find California now, unsettling to wonder how much of it was merely imagined or improvised; melancholy to realize how much of anyone’s memory no true memory at all…I have an indelibly vivid ‘memory’, for example, of how Prohibition affected the hop growers around Sacramento… (Didion 57)

California represents is not as easy to attain as they once thought. The characters in The Day of the

My internship took place in the Bay Area in Redwood City, California, which is just south of San Francisco. Before I left the reoccurring theme was others explaining concerns and misconceptions they held about the state of California. All of these ranged from helpful advice such as the use of public transit and limiting my time in the ocean to unhelpful notions of not wearing pink clothing and being wary of marijuana dealers. However upon my arrival California was not so different, people’s perception of the state and its inhabitants were a misconception of its true identity. The best way of explaining it is to compare the Bay Area I experienced to Austin, Texas. What I’m not saying is they’re one in the same but the cultural complexities and social interaction I had were similar to that of Austin. For example, the friends I made and people I acquainted myself with were generally more inclusive and open minded about others beliefs and opening up dialogue to discuss one's reasoning for

The Californian Dream can be regarded as one of the most paradoxical concept in history. The story and paradoxes written by Rawls is strongly supported by the anonymous accounts in many scenarios. Although the anonymous accounts limit itself to only the gold rush era, it still depicts some of the things mentioned in the story written by Rawls. To the weather of California, the reality of the gold rush, and the population growth of California, Both stories compliment each other as they both accurately describe the lifestyle of California in the 1850’s and beyond.

“Imagine life surrounded by sweeping valley views, scenic trails, and working avocado groves. Imagine life in Orchard Hills.”