Barry Lopez's Essay 'A Literature Of Place'

520 Words3 Pages

In the essay, A Literature of Place, Barry Lopez discusses the topic of nature and humans. He believes that everyone is shaped by nature. Lopez emphasizes on the intimacy humans need with a place and nature. He believes that the intimacy should be kept by not controlling the physical land and letting it be. To achieve this himself, he travels to remote places and relies on himself and trusts the land. Lopez declares that when you know a place, it will also know you, which makes the intimacy easier.
Lopez has many reason to why humans need a new know of the world. He explains that land keeps you from being lonely. Additionally, he believes that geography is shaping us and our imagination. Lopez also argues that land makes you have a sense of …show more content…

Propose your ideas and impulse but do not be pushy was another tip. Lopez also notes that being silent and just absorbing that land around you will help create this safe place. Lastly, he claims that having a conversation with the land will promote the friendship.
Ultimately, what Lopez is trying to convey through his essay is nature shapes humans and their thoughts, thus helping people's’ imaginations create stories. Barry Lopez's Essay ¨A Literature of Place” is like a walk through nature. His descriptions of activities to do with nature were not like any other I have heard. I could relate to his conversations of special places, which made me think about my grandmas house. These conversations also inspired me. They made me feel like going on a walk in nature and to stop to soak it all in. Also, Lopez had thoughts that confused me. The shifts back and forth from talking about nature to government and nature to imagination tripped me up a few times, but most of it made sense. I believe that the nature and environment that we grow in shapes us. He talked about this and it made me realize how different we are growing up in Alpena compared to someone who grows up in a large city. It also made me realize that we do not just act differently but we think in different way and have different