David Baron’s “The Beast in the Garden” primarily follows the life of Michael Sanders, a biologist working mainly in Boulder, Colorado. Michael’s mission throughout the story is the study and prediction of the dangers of urban cougars. Living in a city of staunch environmentalists, Michael’s attempts to sway public opinion is a daunting task. As it would seem, the majority of Boulder environmentalists value cougar’s lives over human lives. Michael Sanders is a middle aged biologist, originally from a small town in Tennessee.
The poem “Woodchucks” by Maxine Kuman and the poem “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop give the reader two examples about how man interacts with nature. Charles Darwin wrote “the love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man”; it is clear that the narrator of one of the poems is much more noble than that of the narrator in the other poem. Not only do the narrators contrast each other in the two poems, the poems also differ in the theme, tone, and situation (Citr). The theme of the poem “Woodchucks” is no regard for the life of living creatures and death.
Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer, tells the story of a young man named Christopher McCandless who decided to go and survive in the wilderness of Alaska without correct preparation. McCandless was a man with as transcendentalist-like mindset, an adventurer, an explorer, and a hiker. He migrated away from civilization and society with the goal of living in solitude and living his life to the fullest through nature. The audience was introduced to McCandless’ views towards society through McCandless’ journey through Alaska, and the depressing yet inspiring events that led up to his death. Krakauer creates emotional appeals to connect him with McCandless to credit himself as a writer, as well as to develop the audiences’ feelings of McCandless.
Nicholas Kristof, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, in his editorial, “For Environmental Balance, Pick Up a Rifle”, argues that people need to bring back hunting of the exceedingly population of deer in the United States and suggests the restoration of the environmental balance will return after doing so. The author backs up this claim by doing the following: first, he provides statistics about the current deer population; next, he presents examples of past cases involving deer interactions; lastly, he cites knowledgeable experts in the field. Kristof appears to write in hopes of bringing back the concept of hunting over-populated deer in order to make his readers aware of the present hazards deer bring to the environment and people. The author’s
In his passage from “Last Child in the Woods,” Richard Louv uses various rhetorical strategies in order to make his audience more supportive of his argument. The passage discusses the connection, or really the separation, between people and nature. On this subject, Louv argues the necessity for people to redevelop their connection with nature. His use of tone, anecdotes, rhetorical questions, and factual examples all help develop the pathos and logos of his piece.
Our beliefs, culture, and needs as humans influence our relationships with wildlife and how we view each individual species as well as how we treat/preserve them. After reading Wild Ones, it is obvious that the author Jon Mooallem and the others mentioned in the book believe that polar bears, birds and bees are specific animals that deem worthy of protection. Mooallem provides many examples of people who give reasoning as to why we should help preserve these animals. Mooallem uses the specific people’s backgrounds to show the difference of opinions in someone who has knowledge of the animal versus someone that only adores the animal because of the animals looks.
Possessed. Helpers. Spirits. That is what animals were being called in 1692, the year of the Salem Witch Trials. Animals were as guilty as the witches that everyone was hunting for.
Former US president, Jimmy Carter, gives us a taste of his own knowledge by keeping us intrigued to the story he tells on his thoughts about the wildlife. Carters purpose is to let people know that they need to have an open eye in what we do around us, we are ruining nature. He creates an appalled tone to make the reader intrigued in a topic we might not all care about. Carter begins to use imagery in his saying to give the reader more than just a read, he wants to make sure we capture all the goodness he has to tell. " Tundra before us became flooded with life with the sounds of grunting animals and clicking hooves filing the air."
Maxine Kumin began publishing her first works in the second half if the 20th century. Of all her works, the narrative about human emotion and nature titled “Woodchucks” stands out among the rest. While normally writing with subtlety regarding her opinions regarding life and nature, in “Woodchucks,” Kumin makes it abundantly clear how she views all life. As a poem, “Woodchucks” clearly illustrates Maxine Kumin’s love for life and nature and her belief that all life holds the same sacredness and deserves such due respect. Maxine Kumin wrote “Woodchucks” in 1972, after she had already made a name for herself through many other published works.
In his 1995 essay “The Trouble with Wilderness,” William Cronon declares that “the time has come to rethink wilderness” (69). From the practice of agriculture to masculine frontier fantasies, Cronon argues that Americans have historically defined wilderness as an “island,” separate from their polluted urban industrial homes (69). He traces the idea of wilderness throughout American history, asserting that the idea of untouched, pristine wilderness is a harmful fantasy. By idealizing wilderness from a distance, he argues that people justify the destruction of less sublime landscapes and aggravate environmental conflict.
The frontier ideology is defined as an allure of nature that is culturally spread and shaped by people’s ideals of how the wilderness should truly be. The problematic effects resulted by McCandless’ journey into the undomesticated land of Alaska are analogous to the quandaries that the frontier ideology creates for our environmental. Just as the ideology is embedded in his mind; it is also embedded in the minds of many others. However, McCandless story can actually teach us about the plights with our culture and in doing so, allows us to move forward. This has turned into a myth in which many believe that the most important parts of nature are areas that have been untouched by human hands.
In the poems William Stafford’s “Traveling Through the Dark” and Rod Mckuen’s “Thoughts on Capital Punishment” differ in their usage about the environment. In many situations animal cruelty can differ if it is wrong or right like in “Traveling Through the Dark” it includes a situation where killing an animal is the best option but “Thoughts on Capital Punishment” argues that you shouldn’t kill an innocent animal. Stafford gives a better word usage with more remorse and imagery than Mckuen did when sharing their thoughts. Both poems included killing of animals from the roads and man vs nature. “Traveling Through the Dark” and “Thoughts on Capital Punishment" had different aspects on how we play a role in our environment.
Richard Louv, a novelist, in Last Child in the Woods (2008) illustrates the separation between humans and nature. His purpose to the general audience involves exposing how the separation of man from nature is consequential. Louv adopts a sentimental tone throughout the rhetorical piece to elaborate on the growing separation in modern times. Louv utilizes pathos, ethos and logos to argue that the separation between man and nature is detrimental.
“Solitary the thrush, the hermit withdrawn to himself, avoiding the settlements, sings by himself a song,” (Lilacs, stanza 4, line 3-5). The author creates an image of being in solitude usually occur when someone purposely wants to be left alone, or at times when it is unintentional. Throughout Whitman’s poems, a different tone is depicted, but in some, they share the similarity in tone. Walt Whitman uses the symbolism of nature to depict his loneliness.
“Report to Wordsworth” by Boey Kim Cheng and “Lament” by Gillian Clarke are the two poems I am exploring in this essay, specifically on how the common theme of human destruction of nature is presented. In “Report to Wordsworth”, Cheng explores the damage of nature caused by humans and man’s reckless attitude towards this. In “Lament”, the idea of the damage of oceans from the Gulf War is explored. In “Report to Wordsworth”, Boey Kim Cheng explores the theme of human destruction of nature as a response to William Wordsworth, an romantic poet who celebrated nature’s beauty in his poetry.
