Bryson creates figurative language in the form of personification to describe the majesty of the Appalachian Mountains and support his argument that nature is underappreciated. By personifying the formation of the continents, Bryson highlights the alluring geological cycles of the Appalachians. “The continents didn’t just move in and out…but spun in lazy circles, changed their orientation, went on cruises to the tropics and poles, made friends with smaller land masses and brought them home” (272). Bryson uses phrases like “spun in lazy circles,” “went on cruises,” and “made friends…and brought them home,” to make the process more relatable. These expressions are easily recognized and allow the reader to imagine this complex scene in simple
terms. The shear age and magnitude of this formation story is persuasive and humbling to the audience. Through hypothesizing that certain places have been untouched by humans, Bryson also argues that the woods are becoming an unfamiliar and unused place. He writes, “Many of the lakes were immense, and nearly all of them had probably never felt so much as a human toe” (366). This personification of the lakes reveals an astounding fact to the reader, especially in this extremely commercialized world. Visiting a pure, unexplored place is an opportunity that most will only read about. Bryson elicits emotions of imagination, discovery, and wonder in the minds of the audience when talking about these unique locations. By describing this extraordinary event, Bryson creates interest in the Appalachian Trail and nature.
Have you ever struggle to get out of a bad situation? In Buried Onions by Gary Soto, the main character is being pressured into avenging his cousin's death but the main character is just trying to let it go and move on with his life. Throughout the book, figurative language has become vital since it is constantly used in every chapter. Figurative language helps the book because it makes the book come alive, gives the reader a point of view of Eddie, the main character, and gives the reader a visual.
In Mark Fiege’s book “The Republic of Nature,” the author embarks on an elaborate, yet eloquent quest to chronicle pivotal points in American history from an environmental perspective. This scholarly work composed by Fiege details the environmental perspective of American history by focusing on nine key moments showing how nature is very much entrenched in the fibers that manifested this great nation. The author sheds light on the forces that shape the lands of America and humanities desire to master and manipulate nature, while the human individual experience is dictated by the cycles that govern nature. The story of the human experience unfolds in Mark Fiege’s book through history’s actors and their challenges amongst an array of environmental possibilities, which led to nature being the deciding factor on how
"Terrain as Narrative Lens in All the Pretty Horses." 2012 Brennan Prize Winning Essay // // University of Notre Dame. University of Notre Dame, 2012. Web. 02 May 2016. . Mexican wilderness comes to reflect John Grady Cole’s internal processes in its role as a vast tract of fenceless space, a canvas upon which McCarthy renders his main character’s experiences as they shape his identity. Meanwhile, the tightness of a Texan terrain scarred and lotted by barbed wire boundaries recognizes the restlessness that drives John Grady’s transience. The effect is a realization of the rapport between
The places in which we live are an integral and inescapable aspect of who we are, as they largely determine culture, community, and determine the outlook that one has on the rest of the world. In the American South, physical and cultural geography has played a particularly important role in the historical and modern contexts of racial relations. The dynamic between enslaved peoples and the natural landscape is a complex one that offers innumerable interpretations, but inarguably serves as a marker of the wounds created by institutional racism and human enslavement. In her collection of poems entitled Native Guard, Natasha Trethewey utilizes external features of the natural environment in the South in order to communicate the repressed grief, both personal and collective, which can arise as a result of inflicted systemic violence. Through comparing part one of Native Guard, which focuses on
The main theme in Rising from the Plains is the formation of the Rocky Mountains. “Topography grows, shrinks, compresses, spreads, disintegrates, and disappears” (McPhee 27). The physical features of the Earth are temporary and are always changing. The
The life of Eustace Conway has been one, large Transcendental experience. From an early age, he has expressed a great admiration for the wilderness. At only twelve years old, Eustace ventured into the woods where he lived for a week by himself. And then at seventeen, he moved out and into the wild, where he lied in a teepee for seventeen years. He has not only hiked the entire, 2,000 mile appalachian trail, but he has paddled 1,000 miles down the Mississippi River. He has rode a horse across America, and kayaked in Alaska. By living this life, Eustace faces the hard truths of nature, as explained by Eustace himself, “...only those who
I enjoyed reading Willoughby’s Across the Everglades, and I enjoyed actually experiencing the Everglades even more. I can not wait to go canoeing again, dodging spider webs by ducking in the canoe, and fighting mangroves that refuse to let us through. I can not wait to sit back, relax, and enjoy laughing with everyone else in the poetic romance that is found… Across the Everglades.
“Entrance to the Woods” is about a man who goes camping in the wilderness one weekend to take a needed vacation from his hectic urban lifestyle. On the trip, the narrator realizes his symbolic place in the woods, as well as the place that mankind has made in the world. He struggles with the negative effects that come from urbanization and the relentless progress for both mankind and nature. Berry’s genius lies in his use of diction to seamlessly use both the natural and activist personas, creating a stance and an image that leads the reader to his own thoughts, which have been manipulated by his perspective. While settling into the woods, his pace gets slower and he becomes aware of his surroundings. The natural world around him helps him realize that man must slow down and pay attention to the harmful effects of quick actions, such as rushing into a war or tearing up precious land for harmful coal mining. As he is able to fully stop and look around, he’s able to think clearly. The distractions of his hectic life are swallowed up by the peaceful calmness of the woods. Berry stat...
It was Ernest Hemingway’s belief that “for a true writer each book should be a new beginning where he tries again for something that is beyond attainment” (Nobel Prize Speech). This means that each time someone puts pen to paper, he should strive for such realness that it seems unreal. Rhetoric, or use of language, is the most critical aspect of writing. This is because a skilled use of rhetoric not only allows the writer to convey his ideas to an audience, but also manipulate the way the audience perceives them. Hemingway is extremely well-known for his use of rhetoric, which includes his figurative language, syntax, and other types of literary devices. Hemingway uses syntax, figurative language, and the placement of his stories and chapters
Though the idea of nature holding life’s answers isn’t a concept that hasn’t been previously discovered and developed by other intellectuals, Dillard builds this tangible connectivity and trust with the readers through her narrative, story-telling voice. The readers never feels as though he or she is distanced from Dillard, but more-so, she forms her personal experiences in a way tha...
In “The Mountain”, Robert Frost uses analogies to convey his message. The mountain is really the center of the town. Frost’s analogies are used in the themes of personification, nature, and metaphors. He also incorporates imagery along with the themes he uses. His comparisons allows the reader to observe how the mountain plays a tremendous role not only in the town but throughout the poem.
Robert Frost engages the reader in a tension driven metaphor which relates the phenomena of natural processes to what can be regarded as the metaphysical transcendence of ones imagination though time. In this exploration, he reveals the conflict of ones volition against the natural, opposing forces. In the first three lines, the poet sees birch trees swaying in the wind, and likens the movement to young boy swinging on the branches.
The mid 1800’s was a time of continued physical exploration of the landscape of America, and an era of opportunity for an intimate inspection of the land; areas sometimes found by the traveler with the assistance of Travel Journals and maps. These detailed records, reflected a destination, and also allowed an intellectual travel of the mind. In Margaret Fuller’s, “Summer on the Lake,” and Henry David Thoreau, “Cape Cod,” we experience both their physical, and internal travels, and how each author relates, both physically and mentally, to the natural landscape; the similarities, the differences, and what elucidated each, to seek their journeys. The observed, physical differences of the natural landscapes will be compared, followed by a deeper encounter with Thoreau, as to why, and to whom, his more desolate and dark descriptions of the natural landscape, reached a distinctive, psychological appeal, and how these two views relate to contemporary America.
The setting constitutes for a key element and important role in the story, as it is carefully aligned with the main character. It is noteworthy to know that the Kaatskill Mountains are part of the Appalachian chain, which run through a series of states in the in the mid eastern section of the United States. Yet, the Kaatskills are not an immediate link to the rest of the chain. Instead they stand apart, ostracized by the natural terrain of the land, instantaneously suggesting that they encompass a greater status than anything else within their surroundings. Their reverence continues, as Irving describes these mountains as being noble and lording; having "magical hues and shapes, [and are] regarded by all the good wives, far and near, as perfect barometers," (Irving 702). The language used in these opening paragraphs emphasizes the setting with an easily recognizable connotation, which compares the mountains to a god of sorts, ruling over the land. This attention that Irving ...
Sanderson told Miller, "I 'd like every New Yorker to know that they live in a place that had this fabulous ecology. That New York isn 't just a place of fabulous art, music, culture, and communications, but also a place of amazing natural potential--even if you have to look a little harder here" (6). The audience does not have to focus on New York’s natural potential, it could be anywhere. This allows the audience to relate by using their own imaginations. Miller uses phenomenal imagery to compliment his writing. A photo of a beaver and elk naturally spending their time beside a creek, long before the same spot transformed into Times Square, shocks the audience into realizing that this chaotic metropolitan was once a peaceful home to