An Analysis Of Barry Lopez's Landscape And Narrative Shape

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Barry Lopez’s "Landscape & Narrative" piece was phenomenal. It had me ponder about my own personal experiences growing up. One of the words that I learned from this piece was the noun “Arroyo”. According to oxford dictionary, the definition of arroyo is, “a steep-sided gully cut by running water in an arid or semiarid region”. I remembered seeing this kind of landscape three years ago when I went to visit Europe. Especially, when I went to Holland, I was mesmerized by the features of the landscape. It was very beautiful and eye catching. Now that I think more critically, I feel like the cut can be analyzed and seen as a symbol for the division within the society. I noticed while I was in Europe, that there was a tension between some elements of new world old world. Some places were highly industrialized, while other places were farm like. For instance, one time my sister told me a very unique story about her house. She said that she could not renew her house because they were not allowed to modernize it. The only …show more content…

I grew up in Kenya until I was about eleven years old. Kenya was very beautiful and amusing. The weather was nice; the people were kind, generous, and helpful. I rarely felt like an outsider or an outcast. Like they saying goes, “It takes a village to raise a child”. In Kenya, the entire neighborhood was my parents, siblings, etc. If I did anything naughty, then the nearest adult would sort that out. Everywhere I went, I felt like I was at my house. I miss the feeling of knowing everyone around you genuinely cares about you and your success. Since I came here to the U of M, I felt distanced from the people. Hardly anyone speaks to anyone. The population is so large that it is almost like living in an academic city. I miss everything about the country that I was raised in. In particular, I miss my childhood because Kenya was the place that I spend most of my childhood, therefore, it will forever be special to

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