These are sample replies to question II on the final exam for English 380--Ecolit:Reading and Writing the Landscape.
Essay by John Paolini for English 380, Spring 2002
Alvar Aalto, a Swedish architect, contradicted the popular idiom "The devil is in the details" by saying that "God is in the details." What Aalto meant was that there is a whole world to be discovered in the small things in life, things that we might otherwise overlook. In those details, one may see a microcosm of the world’s beauty. Thoreau, Mary Austin, Baxter Trautman, and even I myself have reflected the world’s natural beauty through scientific observation.
Thoreau had a penchant for naming things; he preferred to name places according to their own natural beauty rather than according to who simply owned the deed. When describing a particular farm, Thoreau recounts a long list of various natural farm smells, from sweet buttermilk to odorous manure. These vivid sensory descriptions help to put the reader right there, in the middle of the farm. It helps them appreciate that one singular place out of all others as unique and beautiful. Thoreau also relates the natural history of a favorite lake; noting the long cycle of its level fluctuations; theorizing from where its shoreline rocks come; and relating its rich relationship with native Americans. Through the use of scientific observation and historical analysis, Thoreau presents the audience with vivid, dramatic and beautiful places — places where one can begin to understand their own rightful place in the universe.
Mary Austin, in Rural Hours, writes of birds on a number of occasions. First she speaks of how the return of robins in spring has rejuvenated the town. Later she describes in detail the nesting, singing and parenting habits of the birds. She notes that the female birds are more diligent than their male counterparts and that should a calamity befall the couple’s babies, she will become despondent — forgetting even to eat. Birds, by their physical nature, exist in a small world, small but dramatic nonetheless. Such insightful scientific observation only succeeds with prudence and dedication. Through these small birds Austin presents the reader with a world few of us would ever see otherwise, a small world, scientifically accurate filled with everything from parental dedication to build a homestead to the despondence of a parent who has lost a child. Are they human like or are we bird like? What is the difference, I asked myself, at the closing.
Ms. Trautman wins the day in the "revealing a new world" department. In her chapter on the mistletoe pod she presents a deep multi-layered world all contained within a mistletoe pod. Her dog finds the pod on the ground and she opens it, unsure of what it is at first, to discover that at one time it contained life. From this point she describes the reproductive process of the wasp, how it lays its eggs within the pod and as the baby wasps grow and mature they slowly consume the pod. She compares the North American species of pod to that of Europe. These are all fairly straightforward scientific observations about a natural process, but they reveal a dramatic world of natural inter-relationships that stretch back literally millions of years. At the end of the chapter, I was amazed to have seen just how much life the scientist could read in that little pod while the poet could reveal so much beauty in those natural processes.
For my personal essay on my family’s cabin and the nature that surrounds it I researched redwood trees. Before the essay I knew redwoods needed lots of water and grew to be big, really big. However the research, (in place of direct scientific observation) taught me much about redwoods. A few things I learned were that redwoods rarely grow more than about 30 miles inland; they are considered very shade tolerant. 90% of redwood have roots no deeper than 3 meters. Well watered saplings may grow up to 6’ in a season. More than just Jeopardy! trivia fodder, this new knowledge increased the cabin’s sense of place.
The cabin, for example, is more than 160 miles from the coast, yet there are redwoods — they are fed by the area’s frequent summer fog. My grandfather has always been worried that one of the trees may blow down onto the house in a windstorm. With roots no deeper that 3 meters, now I understand his concern. The knowledge, specific, detail oriented, I gained from scientific observation has made me appreciate the cabin even more as a unique and beautiful place here on earth.
Thoreau, Austin, Baxter and myself have all used scientific observations to create moving, vivid descriptions of the natural world. These descriptions can help us understand our own role in the world by shifting our focus from what our lives may be to finding a place to "rest in the grace of the world." (Wendell Berry)
Essay by Ronya Shatila for English 380, Spring 2002
Every nature writer has some environment that has special meaning. These surroundings allow the writer to obtain a sense of mental serenity. When they are there, an unexplainable and inspirational force allows them to write extraordinarily.
Thoreau’s well-known special place was Walden Pond. His self-imposed exile at Walden helped Thoreau to write about and understand everything around him. He realized that nature has something special to offer that cities don’t. Huckleberries always tasted sweeter when they were picked right off the vine. Thoreau also found value in the vast Pond. The Pond had stories to tell and historical and inspirational value to offer. The soul of Walden helped Thoreau to find his own soul and the meaning of his life. Thoreau discovered that the best way to experience Walden was by walking. He described walking as an underestimated grandeur with endless mental and physical benefits. By walking at Walden Pond, Thoreau developed a deeply moving relationship with his "special place."
I am very fond of Susan Fenimore Cooper’s work, Rural Hours. I can relate to her observational style of journal writing. Her work reveals her truly caring attitude to her upstate New York environment. Cooper is in tune with every type of seasonal change. She readily identifies all the vegetation and animals she comes across. When Cooper is describing the days in early March, she demonstrates her delightfully tedious observations of the upcoming springtime. She takes note of the temperature, the wind, the sky and the breaking up of the lake. I loved her descriptions of the dogs that cautiously and nervously cross the partially frozen pond. Cooper’s journal entries clearly demonstrate her fondness and attachment to her special place in New York.
Mary Austin’s work, The Land of Little Rain, beautifully describes the wonders that can be found in the desert. I had never realized the beauty that the desert has to offer. Austin is very knowledgeable of all the desert’s flora, animals and geographical wonders.
Austin’s work conveys confidence, respect and intelligence. Her fondness and study of the desert has allowed her to create literature that is rich in historical, mythical and descriptive value. I admire her extensive observational writing style. Her description of the Clark’s crow or the "camp robber" delighted me. She truly has an unusual connection with a drastic but gorgeous environment.
I have gained much knowledge from taking an ecoliterature class (not just GWR credit!). I have developed a newfound respect and admiration for Cal Poly land. From listening to lectures and studying the Cal Poly Land website I have learned a lot about the varied vegetation, rock formations and wildlife that inhabit Cal Poly’s hills. I often find myself telling (or bragging) about the unique history of the land. Often I find myself venturing into Horse canyon or up Poly mountain. These excursions allow me to think clearly and establish a balance in my busy life. When I am writing in my nature journal, I obtain a level of writing I never realized I was capable of. The majestic golden hills that engulf Cal Poly allow me to appreciate every aspect of my life. This powerful force will never be taken for granted.
Essay by Adrian Foster for English 380, Spring 2002
Subtly, most of the writers have given nature a greater value than humanity. They have given nature a meaning of sustainability, power and supremacy.
Thoreau preaches to us about his reverent view of nature. His neighbors are "brute neighbors," a title for one of his chapters. In Walden, the red and black ant fighting, though small and seemingly inconsequential, are symbolic of humans: fighting like animals over something that probably doesn’t matter. He is only happy after walking alone for four hours at least. He’s tried walking with others, but that didn’t work, so he stopped. His water (from the bottom of the pond) was better because it was half a degree cooler than the city water. He wanted things to be named after himself instead of his farmer/rancher who raped the land for money. This thinking could only happen to a loner who has become enraptured in himself. The meaning of nature for him was something sublime, transcendental and superior. Its value was above all else. His reverence influences me in that I would not dump even a drop of oil into Walden pond. It is sacred.
Austin, in her description of the New Mexico landscape dispenses with the loving, excellent straightforward meaning of nature by focusing on the animalistic struggles and harsh climate. She describes carrion birds waiting for dehydrated, dying prey. The imagery is of death. However, in spite of this dark tone, she still elevates nature above man. Nature is a self-sustaining system, though harsh. Not one part of that dead cow is wasted. She contrasts this to humans, who are very wasteful. An excellent though tangential example of this is the wholesale slaughter of buffalo in America by non-natives. The natives, in contrast, killed buffalo in a managed way that allowed their survival. They used every part, just like the carrion birds. Austin thus twists the violent, uninviting aspect of nature into a social jab at wastefully destructive humans! So, the place of the desert is didactic, with a moral message.
Wendell Berry takes a more balanced yet still subtle view of nature by focusing on the beauty of nature and life in an urban environment. Though trapped in the city, he can escape by going outside with the wood drake, or by hearing a red colored bird in a vacant lot. I must agree with him and Emerson in "Beauty." Nature is beautiful. The underlying message in Berry is that the only noteworthy thing in a city is the free animals. True, they provide an escape to, but a dependency on nature for escape is pathetic. One can get the same soothing effect by altering negative thought patterns into positive ones.
The message with the selections from these three authors shows that Nature is superior. From Thoreau, it is sacred. From Austin, it is more self-sustaining than the suicidal human race. From Berry it is the only escape. It is a subtle message . Parts are true. However, nature itself is not salvation. No more than are self-reliance, capitalism, modernism, and urbanism.
Where are the reading selections for the time-honored theme, "Man vs. Nature?"
For me, Cal Poly land is a nice place to be. It is an escape, but only because I usually go there in times of leisure or recreation. When there for class, I have nothing else to do, so I have no stress. However, I can bring stress up Kestral Crest with me if I so choose. I can also get rid of stress without nature, when I’m at my apartment with the blinds closed. Nature is not my God, but I have respect for it. I won’t drive my car off road, or pour gas into lakes, or leave my aluminum can on Kestral Crest, or dump my hazardous waste there, or bulldoze the hillside or saw down oak trees.
I value the land. It is instructive. I wish I knew how it all worked, like the scientist in Baxter Trautman. I wish others to share it and invite them on hikes just as Thoreau invites people to taste nature in his persuasive writings. Yet, I lack his fanaticism. It’s just plants, animals, dirt and rocks. Let it be, but don’t make a god of it.