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Beauties of nature
The impact of human activities on the environment
The impact of human activities on the environment
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Humans have lived on this mass of water and land that we call earth for just over 200,000 years. That number is miniscule compared to how old our Earth is: 4.5 billion years old, 225 times the length that our species has been around. But even in that small amount of time, we have been able to inflict an astounding amount of damage to all the living things around us, whether they be as ancient as the ground we walk on and seas we swim in, or as new as that species that are evolving day after day. It is hard to really comprehend how our species, relatively small and limber, could cause so much destruction. Whole forests have been cut down, thousands of animals have gone extinct, and even more have been killed in mass numbers due to the pesticides …show more content…
In the essay Emerson spends a whole chapter focused primarily on the beauty of nature and how it has the power to “satisfy by its loveliness , without any mixture of corporeal benefiet” (Emerson). For most people it is easy to recall moments like the one Emerson describes; moments where looking out to the sea, down into the mountains, or up at the stars, results in one becoming speechless. Nature alone has the power to captivate us and make us feel this way, whether it be as grandeur as seeing magnificent horizons, or as miniscule as witnessing a flower peek up from the sidewalk cracks in a city. Nature alone has the power to allow us to “get away from it all”, and should therefore be revered for being able to do so. The least we can do for the environment is enjoy its beauty every once in a while. Not only should we be able to enjoy nature's innocent beauty however, we should be able to enjoy it without feeling guilty. This becomes an ever-challenging task with the growing amounts of condos, parking lots, and garbage that obstruct our views of nature filling us “with more trepedition then peace” (Joy). Thus, it is our responsibility to Nature, to keep it beautiful and rever places where nature is kept in its original untouched …show more content…
Unfortunately, however not only do we rely on our environment for nourishment, but we take it for granted, despite the fact that “nature is the ministry of men”, tailored to our every need (Emerson). The ground provides a place to walk and sleep, the trees a source of shelter, and lakes sources of water. How do humans respond to this benevolence? With greed and insolence. Author Joy Williams, describes it accurately when explaining how humans just “want and want and want and want”, consumed with the need for “vanities and a quest of self-fulfillment”. Despite being aggressive in her tone, Williams has a point. Even society tells us to keep working harder and never be satisfied, and through this mentality our species has built massive cities and developed unthought of technologies. What is ignored, however, is the person forced to deal with the repercussions of these wants and vanities; Mother Nature. Releasing the billions, yes billions, tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, is slowly suffocating her, whereas, putting pesticides on our crops to increase their yield is poisoning her and killing ingenious bugs in the process. Making the situation even worse, furthermore, is the fact that all of the pain and damage we have forced onto nature is avoidable. One example, highlighted by Williams in her essay, delves into the life of shrimpers. For every pound of
Humans can not be the only thing that is hurting the Earth. When you really think about it, Earth goes through a lot of natural disasters, which cannot be controlled. According to an activist, Tim Haering, “Tsunamis, floods, volcanoes, earthquakes, tornadoes, wildfires, disease nature kills more than we kill each other.” Earth throws in all of these natural ...
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. “Nature.” The American Experience. Ed. Kate Kinsella. Boston, Massachusetts: Pearson Education, Inc., 2005. 388-390. Print.
In Emerson’s “Nature” nature is referred to as “plantations of god” meaning that nature is sacred. Also mentioned, is that “In the woods is perpetual youth”(#) conveying that nature keeps people young. Therefore, these excerpts show that nature is greatly valued by these transcendentalists. Transcendentalists would likely care significantly about the environment. In contrast, nowadays nature is often and afterthought. Natures’ resources are being depleted for human use, and the beauty of nature is also not as appreciated by modern people as it was by transcendentalists. The threat to nature in modern times contrasts to the great appreciation of nature held by authors like Emerson and
Man has destroyed nature, and for years now, man has not been living in nature. Instead, only little portions of nature are left in the world
From the lone hiker on the Appalachian Trail to the environmental lobby groups in Washington D.C., nature evokes strong feelings in each and every one of us. We often struggle with and are ultimately shaped by our relationship with nature. The relationship we forge with nature reflects our fundamental beliefs about ourselves and the world around us. The works of timeless authors, including Henry David Thoreau and Annie Dillard, are centered around their relationship to nature.
Both Thoreau and Emerson teach us, who live in a more narrowed and often polluted nature, to get rid of our false sense of control and superiority that is influenced by the contemporary trends and culture. They want us to discover our proper ethical and spiritual place in nature. We must remind ourselves now and then that we are not crucial to nature's health, yet our capacity to destroy the nature is growing and becoming more violent. The best of our human tendency, though, depends on our fostering behavior, caring and respectful relationships with the nature that provides us with so many beautiful resources. We are liable to serve the nature for it serves and cater our lives in return. That is wisdom beyond eternity.
Through this quote Ralph Waldo Emerson was trying to prove that the understanding of nature in human is very little, as all humans do is view nature as something that is materialistic. In the first chapter of his essay, "Nature", Emerson says that if humans were to let go of all the materialistic views they have and interact with nature and observe it beyond the items they would understand the true meaning of nature and its value. His theme through this passage is to show that every single object that humans see before their eyes is not nature. The objects that humans see is a piece of art that humans can easily change to become something different. When he describes the farms he sees, Emerson says that no one owns the farms because as a whole the farms are nothing but of the same, meaning they are a whole piece not individual pieces that are scattered. That is the theme that he is trying to portray through this quote and just like stars, though they are always there, everyone just views them as they are always there "for" the humans, but Emerson
Emerson starts with a description of one who has the ideal relationship with nature, "The lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted to each other; who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood." Emerson is saying that man needs to retain wonder of nature, a quality often lost as a person ages. People become too distracted by petty conflicts that in Emerson's eyes, are ultimately insignificant.
It is intriguing how Emerson determines the purpose of natural beauty he does this by writing “The health of the eye seems to demand a horizon. We are never tired so long as we can see far enough” (945). We depend on nature to balance out our lives. Nature gives us the views necessary to achieve
In the opening paragraphs of his first chapter, Emerson finds that nature, like stars is always present and creates a reverence in the observer, but is also always inaccessible (14). Emerson also brings forth the idea that not everyone can really observe nature, but one must have the correct mental/spiritual state, as a child might. He discusses the improving aspects one can find in nature - youth, reason, and faith. Intrigued by visual perceptions, he claims that he looses contact with everything but nature becomes a 'transparent eye-ball' and feels that "I am part or parcel of God" (16). Emerson's emphatic words are perhaps the best description of the enthralling emotions of a 'sublime' experience as possible.
...ble in the world and all the objects in nature requires such an impression of wisdom, happiness and simplicity to survive. He urges people to use the pleasure of nature with some self-control because nature always has the colors of the spirit and says that the nature is the component of universe. According to Thoreau, Emersosn and Transcendentalism Emerson’s “Nature” summary and analysis Emerson states that “a man may grasp the underlying meaning of the physical world by living harmoniously with nature, and by loving truth and virtue”
Nature is an essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson where he discusses the symbolism that exists in nature, its manifestations, and the ongoing development of nature toward higher forms. According to Emerson, nature itself can be considered as an experience of solitude (“man needs to retire as much from his chamber as from society”). It is his belief that when the individual desires to be alone, he shall look into the immensity of the sky, as it inspires a feeling of awe and respect. To Emerson everything in nature is a source of wisdom, simplicity, and fulfillment (“flowers, the animals, the mountains, reflected the wisdom of his best hour”). He further believes on the importance of the relationship between man and nature. This relationship between
Humans are destructive. Not a lot of us think about how what we do affects the world around us. We almost act like we are the only ones on this planet. We go around polluting and destroying our world with no regard for our actions. The things that live out in the wild are paying the price for it. Every day that passes there is another animal or plant that is placed on an endangered list. This is happening at an alarming rate. Because of man’s desire to expand and conquer their surroundings, there are animals and plants that are on the brink of extinction that will not be around for our kids and future generations to enjoy if something is not done about it now. This problem has been going on for hundreds of years. There are animals and plants that can only been seen in paintings or early photography. It is because of our early ancestors that we have this problem today and we have to do more to prevent more animals and plants from disappearing forever.
Ralph Waldo Emerson in his speech which he delivered at Cambridge in 1837 mostly talks about American Independence however, he also talks about America still is under the influence of Europe. In the very first line “Mr. President and gentlemen, I greet you on the recommencement of our literary year” (Emerson, R.W. 1907); here Emerson is talking about the hope for staying independent and the value of the independence. After America got their independence Emerson delivered the speech and offered a declaration of his own arguing Americans to stop being “parrots of other men’s thinking”. While saying this Emerson is showing that American though they got their independence but the way in which they think is still like the European who once invaded America. Now, so that America is independent American people should be thinking on their own not depending on others thinking. The ‘American scholar’ reflects the value of the Declaration of Independence and the American Constitution to an extent by relating the idea of man thinking and the mere thinker and how these two ideas can bring about the change in the life of Americans.
Ralph Waldo Emerson(1803-1882), the leader of the Transcendentalism in New England, is the first American who wrote prose and poem on nature and the relationship between nature and man Emerson's philosophy of Transcendentalism concerning nature is that nature is only another side of God "the gigantic shadow of God cast our senses." Every law in nature has a counterpart in the intellect. There is a perfect parallel between the laws of nature and the laws of thought. Material elements simply represent an inferior plane: wherever you enumerate a physical law, I hear in it a moral rule. His poem The Rhodora is a typical instance to illustrate his above-mentioned ideas on nature. At the very beginning of the poem, the poet found the fresh rhodora in the woods, spreading its leafless blooms in a deep rock, to please the desert and the sluggish brook, while sea-winds pieced their solitudes in May. It is right because of the rhodora that the desert and the sluggish brook are no longer solitudes. Then the poem goes to develop by comparison between the plumes of the redbird and the rhodora . Although the bird is elegant and brilliant, the flower is much more beautiful than the bird. So the sages can not helping asking why this charm is wasted on the earth and sky. The poet answers beauty is its own cause for being just as eyes are made for seeing. There is no other reason but beauty itsel...