Chapter Analysis- Introduction
This chapter, or in this case the introduction, is exactly what it is labeled as; an introduction. The main ideas of this introduction are more or less used to explain the goals of this book and also used to familiarize the reader with what is to come. Throughout the introduction, the author, David Quammen refers to a wide variety of unique and unheard of organisms that exist in nature. Not only do these organisms sound weird, but many often behave in unordinary ways. The okapi, the Xylocaris, the chambered nautilus, and the plant that eats frogs are just examples of the many different organisms Quammen talks about. The reason for Quammen’s use of such organisms is not to scare readers away from nature, but to actually lure them in. The main idea of Quammen’s whole introduction is basically to show readers that nature is not a freak show, but to show simply nature itself. At first this whole idea may seem a little cloudy and vague, but as you read on, one will start to understand what Quammen is really striving for. Quammen uses animals and plants as examples to show the very intricacies of nature and the natural world. One example that he uses that has helped my understanding of this idea was the black widow spider. Quammen tells us of his strong fear of spiders and he goes on telling us how the black widow is very poisonous and menacing, yet possesses an undeniable beauty. He also states the black widow as being dangerous but not malicious, and gorgeous or hideous depending upon how we see it. Quammen’s point is that no matter how you see the spider, it is still part of nature.
Adding to this idea that nature and all of its ugliness and abnormalities is still in fact nature, Quammen goes on further by addressing the human attitude towards nature’s intricacies. By this, Quammen refers to the human attitude towards nature as a whole based solely upon his/her opinion of one organism. As textual evidence for this idea, the example of the spider can be used again. Most people associate the black widow as being venomous and deadly, and so they unfairly associate the same characteristics with harmless beneficial house and garden spiders as well. This attitude toward the spiders can also be applied to nature as a whole. Since humans posses this attitude towards nature, a lot of nature’s beauty is often overlooked.
The bond between humans and nature, it is fascinating to see how us has humans and nature interact with each other and in this case the essay The Heart’s Fox by Josephine Johnson is an example of judging the unknown of one's actions. She talks about a fox that had it's life taken as well as many others with it, the respect for nature is something that is precious to most and should not be taken advantage of. Is harming animals or any part of nature always worth it? I see this text as a way of saying that we must be not so terminate the life around us. Today I see us a s experts at destroying most around us and it's sad to see how much we do it and how it's almost as if it's okay to do and sadly is see as it nature itself hurts humans unintentionally
The Saga of the Tigua Indians is an amazing one. By all reasoning they should have been wiped out long ago. There quiet defiance to change, however, has carried them through. From the height of civilization to near extinction the Tigua have remained. They endure imprisonment by the Spanish, oppression and manipulation by everyone that followed. This is the story of a people thought to extinct, that are once again learning to survive.
Throughout the Romanticism period, human’s connection with nature was explored as writers strove to find the benefits that humans receive through such interactions. Without such relationships, these authors found that certain aspects of life were missing or completely different. For example, certain authors found death a very frightening idea, but through the incorporation of man’s relationship with the natural world, readers find the immense utility that nature can potentially provide. Whether it’d be as solace, in the case of death, or as a place where one can find oneself in their own truest form, nature will nevertheless be a place where they themselves were derived from. Nature is where all humans originated,
The story "The Man Who Was Almost a Man" is at first glance a story about childhood disobedience. However, it is much deeper than that the story is about a young boy named Dave who is frustrated with how the other men he works alongside in the field. Dave sees the gun in the story as an easy way to gain the respect of the other men and the fields and an easy way to become man. Dave goes to visit Joe, who is a white man, at the beginning of the story to try and purchase a gun from his Sears catalog that he keeps at his store. When Dave gets home you can see the simple lifestyle they live and how his parents are not considerably kind to him. Dave must beg his mother for the gun and his money to buy the gun. Richard Wright suggests that in this way Dave is very childish and not yet ready to be a man. When Dave accidently kills the mule it shows the responsibility of true manhood that Dave is clearly not ready to take on. The
he concept of nature is elusive, and humans have never had a positive and unified way to name and interact with it. Since the colonizing of America, many leaders have had different definitions of nature, and have held different views on humans’ relationship with nature. These views have often led to destruction masked as “progress” (Marx 14). But not all definitions of nature are so destructive. Ursula Goodenough, a biology professor at Washington University in St. Louis, wrote The Sacred Depths of Nature to create a new religion based in the physical, chemical, and biological laws that govern the universe (Department of Biology). Goodenough’s treatment of “nature” illustrates her unique interpretation of the word. Goodenough understands the word nature to mean life, and life means biology. She uses this definition to inspire humans to care for the world we live in. And while she recognizes that humans can be separate, she also shows how much a part of nature we truly are. Recently, a proposition has been made to define First Nature as biophysical and Second Nature as the artificial (Marx 20).
Nature is tremendously beautiful in all of its glories and it has unequivocal power to do anything that it wishes. Mary Shelley explores the strength of nature through her horror novel, Frankenstein. Negative effects are introduced throughout her novel that are the result of a catalytic event in the life of Victor Frankenstein. His witnessing of a lightning strike at the age of 15 turned him to science and nature which powered his ambitious life and led to the destruction of it.
The Electoral College is a confusing topic to most people, and its effect on how votes are represented in presidential elections. Essentially people vote and electors, people assigned to vote on the people 's behalf, and the candidate that wins the popular election in that state 's gets the the Electoral College votes for that state. The amount of votes is based on the population and the first candidate to win two hundred and seventy Electoral College votes wins. This system is debated on whether it benefits or hinders the election process, and how it does this is also debated by political experts.
The United States of America is a representative republic. In order to sustain a representative republic, it requires an actively engaged and informed participation from its citizens. The U.S Electoral College is a process in which the president of the United States is chosen. The founders escaped a tyrannical government, installing this system to prevent corruption, and more of a federalist system. This system balances the national governments power, and the states’ power. This system varies state by state. Generally speaking, the people who make up the electoral college is made up by people who are elected by each of the state’s legislature. This federalist system proves that voters cannot simply vote for their favorable presidential candidate; they must also vote in their local elections.
The structure and the foundation of the Electoral College originates from the Constitution. Due to a fear of mob rule, the founders of the United States aspired to acquire a system of political representation. In order to insure checks within the system, elections were derived from representative blocks of votes. In addition, The Framers realized that vast numbers of regional candidates could allure the interests of diverse exclusive factions, allowing for the opportunity for the people to become divided, which could lead to interference in the succession of power. With that in mind The Framers concluded that Congress should be given the power to remedy matters that are not determined in a popular election, which in turn inspired them to fashion
Learning to play an instrument benefits the brain in numerous ways, similarly to physical activity, and it is a significantly safer option. Additionally, except in extreme cases of paralysis, everyone possesses the capability to learn to play an instrument, whether it is something that comes easily to them or not. While some instruments and lessons can be pricy, individuals can choose an instrument to fit their price range and look for good deals online. Also, the lessons will be provided by the school so individuals will not have to pay that expense. Finally, one of the main reasons that we should have every middle school student learn to play an instrument is to increase their neuroplasticity, so they can continue to learn and acquire new skills and information. Whether you are a dancer or football player, handicapped or well equipped, whether you live in a multi-million dollar home or an old shack on the outskirts of town, if you are in middle school, learning to play an instrument is for
What nature does blindly, slowly, and ruthlessly, man may do providently, quickly, and kindly. As it lies within his power, so it becomes his duty to work in that direction.
Dave has an obsession with creating a manly identity within society and believes he can do so with a gun. However, this naïve belief proves to be ironic “when firing the gun knocks him to the ground [causing] his peers to laugh at him, his father to beat him, and Hawkins to claim control over his labor for the next two years” (Short Stories 208). Throughout the plot of the story, Dave is trying to overcome social structure through owning a gun, but fails. This is because of the identity into which he was born, which was reinforced by white supremacy. Wright does an exceptional job of emphasizing to the reader that, because of the lack of opportunities white society allows Dave, he is not content with his identity and cannot create the identity he wants for himself. This identity crisis along with immaturity makes it impossible for him to possess the thought process and capabilities required to make adult decisions. This inability creates conflict and humiliation for
In line with the feeble and vulnerable portrait of human beings, nature is described as dangerous and uncontrollable on the one hand; beautiful on the other. The tone of the waves is "thunderous and mighty" and the gulls are looked upon as "uncanny and sinister.
To understand the nature-society relationship means that humans must also understand the benefits as well as problems that arise within the formation of this relationship. Nature as an essence and natural limits are just two of the ways in which this relationship can be broken down in order to further get an understanding of the ways nature and society both shape one another. These concepts provide useful approaches in defining what nature is and how individuals perceive and treat
...art of life that described what outside looked like. However, if one digs into the meaning of nature, extraordinary symbols arise. Nature affects characters in different ways, and nature does not treat each character in the same way. Overall, the imagery of nature portrayed the personalities of the characters.