The Will of the River -Alfredo Gonzales Jr.; Sonia Francisco Icasiano;

When dawn broke, he had a clear view of the river, which was a good hundred fifty feet from his back porch doorsteps. Even in the worst of rainy seasons, he 'd never had to worry about the rise of the river; the gentle slope of the land raised the cabin well above flood level. In the nearly thirty years he 'd lived there, river water had never risen high enough to reach the 160-year-old cabin that once housed the overseer of the old Caledonia Plantation.

By the late nineteen-forties, when Rabalais was in his teens, the volume approached one-third. Before long, it would take all of the Mississippi, and itself become the master stream. Rabalais said,” They used to teach us in high school that one day there was going to be structures up there to control the flow of that water, but I never dreamed I was going to be on one. Somebody way back yonder which is dead to be gone now visualized it. We had some pretty sharp teachers.”

In this passage, Prose gives the reader his feelings and attitude towards nature. Giving off the impression that she has respect and dedication for it. She releases a positive message towards the subject and believes that it is a necessity for life. Throughout this passage the author uses effective figurative language and imagery. Nature can only be seen and felt by certain people. And when they are able to see nature it is a blissful and tranquil image. The wilderness has much more to offer than is the streets.

But the love of the wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyond reach; it is also an expression of loyalty to the earth, the earth which bore us and sustains us, the only paradise we ever need--if only we had the eyes to see. Original sin, the true original sin, is the blind destruction for the sake of greed of this natural

Rivers is also a natural protection from enemies. The location provides basic needs to the people.

Annie Dillard’s “Seeing” discusses the two possible ways to properly see things and relates them to light versus darkness in nature and upstream versus downstream of a river. The essay explains that there are two ways to see things in the world; to look for something specifically or to let go of the desire to see something. Both types of seeing are also combined with either brightness or darkness and with either upstream or downstream. Dillard has trouble seeing anything in the upstream of the river because that part of the river is always dark or cloudy. On the other hand, she can see the animals in the downstream of the river, where everything is bright and lively. The river is split in two different symbols which help show the best way that one should view nature. The downstream and the upstream of the river have unique characteristics because they also compare to being darkness and light. By using powerful imagery and word choice, Dillard is able to compare the two types of seeing and explain why letting go of the want to see is the best way to look at things.

examples of how water gives and takes life in the book The Ocean at the end of the Lane.

meandering stream became a torrential river, and all at once, the sun wasn’t quite as

A few miles northeast of Afton, the Neosho river runs long, and deep. There is a path that runs along the river bank that has been beaten hard by the ranchers coming down from the ranches transporting their goods. The path is wide, and covered with grinded up gravel caused by the many trucks, and trailers that drive across it. The Neosho river is long, and green; home to many critters that scurry throughout the river’s surface. Beneath the surface is another world that is inhabited by creatures, who thrive on the very little food that the Neosho river produces. On the muddy river bank, tree leaves lie deep within the sandy shore, engulfed by clay like sand. Then from the direction of the gravel path came the sound of footsteps on the loose

It swirled against the log spiles of the bridge. Nick looked down into the clear, brown water, colored from the pebbly bottom and watched the trout keeping themselves steady in the current with wavering fins. As he watched them they changed their position by quick angles, only to hold steady in the fast water again. (Hemingway 177)

“Before us the thick dark current runs. It talks up to us in a murmur become ceaseless and myriad, the yellow surface dimpled monstrously into fading swirls travelling along the surface for an instant, silent, impermanent and profoundly significant, as though just beneath the surface something huge and alive waked for a moment of lazy alertness out of and into light slumber again.” This quote said by Darl describes how the once calm river grew into a more intimidating “alive” being. Nature here uses its element of water to show it no mercy towards the Bundren family, for being impatient. Later in the chapter, the current of the river carries a log which does much damage to the Bundrens including destroying the Bundrens wagon, killing the mule team, scattering Cash’s tools, and almost losing Addie’s coffin. The destruction caused by the river’s current can is comparable to nature’s way of cleansing the the the

River, land and natural resources are important parts for people’s daily lives, and its configurations represent how people affected the environment over 150 years. With the improvement of technology, people are able to utilize these technologies to remold the river levee; however, the impacts that came from people also brought some significant changes to the area.

In Colorado, a city called Pagosa Springs is captured by a skyline of mountains. The mountains reach so high into the sky that snow remains on its peak into the summer months. Snow drapes the landscape for as far as the eye can see, and when the sun peeks out from behind the mountains on the fresh snowfall in the endless field, a peace is draped across the city. While the snow covered mountains sparkle in the sunny day, the snow is discovered to have another use. Once the sun starts making the mountains cry in May, the rivers provide a net for the creation of the rapids which are much enjoyed during the summer months. The rushing frigid water provides relief and entertainment in the hot days of June and July. The river bed is compiled of jagged stones lying among their ancestors waiting to be molded into the weathered rocks. These rocks, while they may be wanted when they are silky smooth, are dangerous when compiled of knifes and sharp edges. This becomes a problem when little kids play in the river and jump around and even fall.

This love for water deepened as our family sojourned from one Naval base to another. Before my eighteenth birthday, I had dipped my toes in the waves at least eleven beaches, from the island of Saipan to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. This mobile childhood sparked a lifelong passion to travel the world, seeking the natural beauty of God’s magnificent creation. Water covers nearly three-quarters of the earth, therefore the opportunities to nourish my soul are more than abundant.

The first humans lived near rivers because they were the main source of food and travel. Many fish lived in the waters. Humans used to travel and explore long distances on water. Ships traveling the waterways is still a huge part of our lives today. This is how a lot of people travel and how many products that we need and use everyday get to the stores, and eventually to us. Because water is required for so many of the things that humans do regularly, such as drinking and cleaning, without it, our lives as we know them would be impossible. (Ashley Wong) http://ezinarticles.com/?The-Importance-of-Water&id=326117