Okefenokee Swamp Analysis

As decades continued to pass by the wetlands change. "People have begun to realize that wetlands are valuable and productive ecosystems that fulfill an essential function for both humans and wildlife. Due to their unique characteristics, wetlands can support a wide diversity of plants, mammals, reptiles, birds and fish. They also control floodwaters and protect us from storms and hurricanes. Wetlands also improve water quality by filtering, cleaning and storing water. Lastly, many people rely on wetlands for their livelihood, as they are important centers for hunting, fishing and recreation." Referring to this from "Wetlands and Habitat Loss", we now see how wetlands are valuable and helpful to the ecosystem. The wetlands are known for our water source. Many people depend on the Everglades for a water source. We also use the Everglades for activities. These activities include fishing, recreation, and

In the poem crossing the swamp the relationship between the speaker and the swamp is that the swamp is what the author puts in as her problem. She’s trying to compare the swamp to her problem, “here is the endless wet think cosmos” both of the speaker and the swamp share fear “I feel not wet as much as paintable and glittered.”

The speaker also chooses her diction precisely, so that there is clear contribution to the overall idea that the poem is indeed about the quest for change and longing from escape from the swamp. Two very different forms of description are used to represent this source of dread: once by the simple name, swamp, and

Throughout “Crossing the Swamp”, Mary Oliver compares life’s obstacles and hardships with the conditions of a swamp. She eventually displays that success and elation could not occur if not for hardships. Oliver tries to bridge the gap between the idea of crossing a swamp and the journey of life itself. She skillfully utilizes a fractured and varied structure, swamp-like imagery, and a change in tone to reveal that without hardship, success would not be possible.

By the end of this report you should have a better perception on the geological landscape of Silver Creek Wetland Complex, and further in-depth knowledge on what stewardship responsibilities fall on you and your relationship with the land you use.

Oliver starts off by using imagery to describe the struggle with the swamp as a sense of hardship, and challenge. Her descriptions utilizes dark diction such as “endless,” “wet,” “dark,” “pale,” “black,” “slack,” “pathless,” “seamless,” and ‘peerless”, which gives the reader a sense of hopelessness and despair. Oliver also uses enjambment to emphasize the swamp as a never ending trail and symbolize

According to the speaker, the swamp is “endless wet thick cosmos, the center of everything,” (line 1). The implication that this swamp is the center of everything can allude to how long the speaker may have been engulfed within it. It seems as if he/she has reached a point in which the swamp is infecting his/her mind as much as it is taking over the body. The speaker even begins to compare him/herself to “a poor dry stick given one more chance by the whims of the swamp water.” (line 28). This person, in beginning to view him/herself as part of the swamp, communicates to the reader effectively describing the direness of the situation, and the point of return that seems to be slipping away.

The writer wields literary devices such as figurative language to establish an earthy connection between the swamp and mankind. Then, he uses personification to coalesce life within the swamp and relate the harsh environs of the swamp to the struggles we encounter in life as human beings. Finally, the author uses a shifting tone to enlighten both the harsh swamp and struggling speaker with a sense of optimism. After all, even in the darkest times and in the darkest swamps, we can take a mere stick, nurture it, and "make its life a breathing palace of leaves"

In Mary Oliver’s “Crossing the Swamp”, the speaker compares a swamp to the struggles and hardships in life that fight against her. The speaker repeatedly contrasts herself to the swamp to emphasize the vastness of the swamp, conveying how the speaker understands the hardships that come with life.

The speaker marks the poem with “here” to illustrate her spatial position to the swamp. She overlooks the vast and “endless” space that represents an ambiguously arduous distance she is surrounded by has yet to confront the swamp. As she looks outwards to the swamp, alliterative plosives such as “branching,” “burred,” “bogs,” paint the thick texture of the mud and the physical characteristics of her vulgar environment. Sharp “b” sounds

The swamp serves as a symbol to represent how greed and selfishness corrupt Tom Walker’s morals. Being a man who likes to take the easy road, “One day that Tom Walker had been to a distant part of the neighborhood, he took what he considered a shortcut homeward, through the swamp” (204). The narrator says that Tom is one of the only people who would walk through the swamp because he is cold-hearted and does not mind the dangers of the eerie swamp. However, the swamp has a deeper meaning. Shortcuts typically are ways to cut corners, but for Tom Walker, he cuts them all throughout the story because he is full of greed. Whenever he takes shortcuts, it is because he wants to get ahead of others so he can benefits himself, even if others are harmed.

In Crossing the Swamp, Mary Oliver exposes human nature to its simplest state; the passion for life present in the natural world transforms the individual by bringing one closer to the sublime. The spirituality teeming in Oliver’s swamp metaphorically represents hidden beauty within the mundane, as a call for shifted perspective and dignified appreciation permeates the passage.

In this poetic memoir, Engle shares her memories of her childhood in meticulous detail. She is a person who comes from two different cultures -- Cuba and California. In the quote below, Engle describes how she falls in love with the Cuba farm and how much the farm means to her. Writing in the “Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Win”, Engle said: “ I fall in love with the farm where my abuelita and her ancient mother were born. My dazzled eyes absorb the lush beauty of a land so wild and green that the rippling river on my great-uncle’s farm shimmers like a hummingbird, all the dangerous crocodiles and gentle manatees deeply hidden beneath quiet waters. Surely there must be mermaids here, and talking animals, the pale, humpbacked Zebu cows and graceful horse that roam peaceful hillsides, moving as mysteriously as floating clouds in the stormy tropical sky.” (Engle, 9) This quote shows Engle falls in love with the Cuba farm because she extols beautiful farm landscape, quiet countryside, and untrammeled animals. At first, Engle describes the green river, crocodiles, manatees, Zebu cows and horse with five different adjectives -- “rippling”, “dangerous”, “gentle”, “humpbacked” and “graceful”. Five different adjectives show the characteristics of these five things and show the first reason to fall in love with the farm -- Engle loves this beautiful and harmonious Cuba farm. The benefit of using adjectives is that the readers can easier to imagine a vivid picture of the beautiful riverside scenery. The second reason to fall in love with the farm is Engle loves mysteriously things on the farm.

From the age of stage to the end of the steamboat era, the Valley would be a tourist stop for famous writers and poets; Noll mentions Sidney Lanier, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and William Cullen Bryant as timely visitors. The natural landscape provided a draw for those from the North and in Europe. There was also a material attraction, not just for smuggling during the American Civil War but also for the cypress that made for excellent lumber. The latter would come to an end during the Second World War. Tourism from nearby Palatka via steamboat would find its own end around the time of the First World War. As Noll concludes his article, the Ocklawaha would only come back into “national consciousness,” no longer “bypassed as irrelevant,” in the 20th century over “Barge canal

This excerpt of Swamplandia, a novel by Karen Russell focuses on Hilola Bigtree, a performer who races alligators as she is watched by an audience and her family. It is in the point of view of the performer’s daughter, who has seen her mother perform before and is newly captivated each time. Since it is in her point of view, she is able to create an atmosphere where she can elevate her mother as an exquisite being. She has an admiration for her mother, both as a performer and in general, that is extremely clear. The tense narrative in the excerpt contributes to Hilola’s portrayal as indestructible. Russell portrays the narrator’s exaltation of her mother through the combination of generated and real tension by use of dark imagery and the contrast between her and the audience through sublime diction.