Natural Components In Ted Kooser's So This Is Nebraska

“Perhaps an individual must consider his own death to be the final phenomenon of nature.” In this small excerpt from his short story “The Open Boat” one can clearly see that Stephen Crane was a firm believer in the concepts of naturalism. After the harsh and violent Civil War the United States was no longer the nation it had been before. Previously, Americans had focused on the positive or romantic side of their surroundings and had written in a romantic style, glorifying man’s communion with nature. However, after the civil war that wasn’t the case. Some American’s had now experienced the harsh reality that nature was completely unbothered by the events that occurred to man. They realized

Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, creates a thought-provoking idea of the separation between people and nature in this excerpt from his book. His opinionated tone forces the reader to be concerned for the future generations by including ironic hyperboles and sarcastic diction, which appeal to the readers’ pathos. He uses these rhetorical strategies to indirectly state his opinions.

Throughout history, humans have had a strong reliance on nature and their environment. As far back as historians can look, people have depended on elements of nature for their survival. In the past few decades, the increased advancement of technology has led to an unfortunate division between humans and nature, and this lack of respect is becoming a flaw in current day society. In Last Child in the Woods, Louv criticizes modern culture by arguing that humans increasing reliance on technology has led to their decreasing connection with nature through the use of relevant anecdotes, rhetorical questions and powerful imagery to appeal to ethos.

How much power does Nature have? In the article, “The Politics of the Natural in the U.S History and Popular Culture” Noel Sturgeon analyzes several points in how nature is being used to make certain aspects “natural” and create a distinction in social identities. He gives a emphasizes in Nature being a tool of power for the reason people create laws or “natural laws” that create a separation

Since the beginning of time, man relied on nature for everything- food, shelter, clothing, etc. Today, technology runs rampant, even though we use it to our advantage, it cuts humanity’s tie with nature. Richard Louv invokes the sad truth that we are beginning to lose our relationship with nature. In Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv uses anecdotes, hyperboles, hypothetical situations, rhetorical questions, and imagery to argue against the separation of man and Mother Nature.

Similar to the ideas of Evernden and Cronon that are discussed above, Hinchliffe attempts to define, or redefine, the term “nature.” The author begins by identifying and defining three possible concepts of the term: nature as an independent state; nature as a dependent colony; and as a co-production. The first idea, nature as an independent state, means nature is something that is separate and in danger. The second, nature as a dependent colony, defines nature as an idea. The final concept, nature as a co-production, describes nature and society as intertwined.

Consequences of nature in the Interlopers For the two hundred thousand years that humans have been around, we have never managed to control and fully ignore the force of nature. After reading the short story “The Interlopers” by Saki, this becomes more evident to the reader. The theme “no one has true ownership over nature” is well presented in “The Interlopers” through the usage of story structure, character development and point of view.

The poem describes a Sunday afternoon in July in Nebraska and this is mentioned in the third stanza of the poem all the other descriptive language in the poem is used to explain this setting.

American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau is a diverse yet interconnected collection of essays by renowned environmentalist authors who have been influential in literature, religion, science, and politics. Each piece has a specific purpose and role that it plays in conveying ideas and themes. Many authors share their personal opinions on issues such as the world’s declining forests, the extinction of species, as well their intimate experiences with nature. However, the most influential essay in this book is “The Tragedy of the Commons” by Garrett Hardin (438). A multitude of pieces in this book tie into the tragedy of the commons and support its ideas in one way or another.

E.F. Schumacher once said that: “Man talks of a battle with nature, forgetting that if he won the battle, he would find himself on the losing side.” Nature is

Through removal and technology, humans have started to become isolated from the wilderness and the nature around them. This view distinctly contrasts with Thoreau’s perspective. “Though he [Thoreau] never put humans on the same moral level as animals or trees, for example, he does see them all linked as the expression of Spirit, which may only be described in terms of natural laws and unified fluid processes. The self is both humbled and empowered in its cosmic perspective,” states Ann Woodlief. The technologies that distract and consume us, and separate us from the natural world are apparent. Many people and children ins cities have seen little to no natural-grown things such as grass and trees. Even these things are often domesticated and tamed. Many people who have never been to a National Park or gone hiking through the wilderness do not understand its unruly, unforgiving, wild nature. These aspects, thought terrifying to many, are much of why the wilderness is so beautiful and striking to the human heart. “Thoreau builds a critique of American culture upon his conviction that ‘the mind can be permanently profaned by the habit of attending to trivial things, so that all our thoughts shall be tinged with triviality,’” pronounces Rick Furtak, quoting Thoreau’s Life

Nature being a refuge can be interpreted in many different ways. One of the interpretations is seeing where civilization and the frontier meet. In the film, “The Last of the Mohicans”, the Cameron family lives in between two worlds, the world of civilization and the frontier that the Indians call home. This family lives in harmony of both worlds, having the pleasures of civilization as well as the struggles of the frontier. For example, the Cameron family is able to have a log cabin to live in and plates; a pleasure of the civilized world. On the other hand, the Cameron family -living on the frontier- struggles with the outside dangers such as attacks from enemy Indians in war parties. While the Cameron family lives in both of these words, more often than not does nature reclaim what civilization once had.

There are many authors who write poems, stories, and books about the relationship with nature and mankind, a bond that needs to be molded once again. The relationship with nature that mankind has is sad, for we have a forsaken it. We destroy nature and don't care, in fact, we are trying to leave it, this planet. To proudly survive in this world, the human race needs to reconnect with nature, otherwise it'll strike back on humanity for its destruction of the world. Authors like Ralph W. Emerson and Jack London wrote stories of nature and of their beliefs about it and what mankind should do to reconnect with it. I will give quotes on to those stories, their ideas, and what I think about nature and mankind together.

Throughout history, humanities encounters with ‘the other’ inhabitants of our planet have provoked many questions and assumptions about the ‘natural’ state of our being and our relationship with the the world in which we live. A reflection from Sahlins on this relationship poses that ‘Nature is to culture as the constituted is to the constituting’ (1976: 209). Whereby nature as it exists in itself is the raw material provided by the hand of God, waiting to be given meaningful shape and content by the mind of man, culture provides a building plan for society with nature as the building materials (ibid:210). The fate of nature once culturalized is its new mode of existence is then bound by the benefits of exploitation by strongest of men.

Throughout many works of literature there is a conflict between man and nature. There are classics such as The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway and Lord of the Flies by William Golding, that show a very clear line that divides man from nature, and how nature is for the most part the enemy. However, in other stories, the line between civilization and nature is blurred. Stories such as True West by Sam Shepard, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, and “The Rememberer” by Aimee Bender display examples of how the two distinct world of the civilized and the wild can cross into one another.