Barry Lopez's A Literature Of Place

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Barry Lopez on A Literature of Place
In Barry Lopez’s story “A Literature of Place” he talks about how literature is affected by your surroundings. Lopez attempts to explain about him growing up in California and traveling around the world seeing indigenous people, specifically talking about his different experiences. Lopezs ideas of how place affects you and your imagination also is presenting in Jack London’s “To Build A Fire.” His use of voice, emotion, and logic he bring to his story gives you a better understanding and better relationship with the text. Frist of all, Lopez brings about many reasons literature and place have a common connection. He says in the novel “I want to talk about geography as a shaping force, not a subject. “ Meaning that geography around us is more than just our surroundings it is us and that's what he wants to explain in his story. It creates our morals, our culture, and our imperfections. Much more than you might realize to be true. Furthermore, these ideas are present in Jack London’s story “To Build A Fire.” The man in London’s story was not able to stay alive because a lack of understanding the harsh land the Yukon territory really is, being new to it. With geography it’s not only a subject in class, it makes our point of view on different matters. Lopez also mentions in the text “I would say a sense of place is …show more content…

“My imagination was shaped by the exotic nature of water in a dry southern California valley,” a quote from the book “A Literature of Place.” When Lopez talks about imagination he comes about how where we are from affects it. Which, in London’s story the man lacks imagination likely to be because he his not from the area he is in. The man has no way to live in the yukon because he was not born and raised there he is not familiar with the lifestyle or the difficulties he will come acrossed. No sense of imagination leads him to