'When I Heard The Learn D Astronomer'

Arlie Hochschild's story about "Lee Sherman and the Toxic Louisiana Bayou," it shows how Lee Sherman dumps a bunch of waste into the bayou while knowing it would hurt the environment. It would contaminate the bayou and lead to a group of dead fish. When Lee Sherman first applied for the job, he knew there would be situations like this, but he didn't care and wanted the money. This story has reinforced the idea of how people affect the environment more than the environment affects people because Lee Sherman did not care about the bayou and thought nothing of the toxins destroying and impacting the environment horribly, he only did the job for the money, it says, "Sherman would look around, 'to make sure no one saw me' and check if the wind was blowing away from him, to avoid fumes blowing into his face... Sherman waiting until the buggy was drained of the illegal toxic waste" (Pg 15).

An additional technique used by authors to motivate readers to treat the environment well is using fictional works to get their message across. A well-known example of this is The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. When you read this story as a kid, you may not realize that the story intentionally mirrors our world today, but eventually you realize that it isn’t just about truffalump trees being cut down; it’s about real ones: pine trees and oaks and sycamores, to name a few. The humming fish mentioned in the story may not exist in real life, but we are harming actual fish by polluting our rivers with dangerous

Sea stars by Barbara Hurd is a short story about starfish and the injustices played against them many caused by humans. Hope for and animals and their world is about the conservation act of the american burying beetle My life as a bat by margaret Atwood talk about how humans perceive different animals s in negative and positive connotation. Overall humans have a negative relationship with nature but there are some who try to preserve it.

Sabarish, your experiences and views of nature have drastically changed my outlook on the way humans observe and interact with nature. As you stated in your snow example, I never looked at snow or other spectacles of nature that could cause a burden for me through positivity. However, whenever I visit alluring scenes such as the Grand Canyon, I am transported into a world of tranquility and sublimity. Both of these polarized examples provide the way that humans, or at least I, judge the connotation of nature; if nature just exists around me without disturbing me, I view it as positive. Nevertheless, if nature disturbs the peace or hurts anyone, I view it as negative. This exact viewpoint depicts the tendency of humans to think of themselves

Everyday people all over the world try to improve the qualities of their lives. Nonetheless, they forget that what they do can have severe harms and damages on the environment and other organisms. In the excerpt “A Fable for Tomorrow” from the book Silent Spring, Rachel Carson describes the disastrous and horrific effects of pesticides on the environment and animals of the town. In the essay “Our Animal Rites” by Anna Quindlen, she shows the inhumanity of animal hunting by human. Furthermore, she argues how human migration is destroying the natural habitats that belong to the animals. In the excerpt “Reading the River” from the autobiographical book Life on Mississippi, Mark Twain describes how he loses the ability to perceive the

In “Ideals of Human Excellence and Preserving Natural Environments”, Thomas Hill explores the idea that those who would destroy natural environments may lack necessary human virtues. He lays out this idea through these claims:

In the beginning lines of the poem, the speaker begins to tell an anecdote about a time he heard a “learn’d astronomer”. The man is perceived to be highly intelligent and specifically invested in the study of astronomy. However, Whitman contracts the word “learned”, presenting a plain voice that contrasts to the revered sophistication of the astronomer (Whitman 1). This ironic use of tone could be used in order to make fun of the astronomer, despite being a well-educated man and a master of astronomy. Continuing on, the astronomer presents his mathematical “proofs”, “ranged in columns” by using “figures” and the “charts and diagram” (2-3). The speaker at this point hears the lecture as a list of random

Henry Beston in Night on the Great Beach explains how we have destroyed some of the best parts of nature. We really don't appreciate the little things of nature. He goes in to great detail on how we have ruined night and continues to describe the little aspects of nature that we miss. Beston see nature as something that we don't respect anymore, but he has great love for it. It says to me that I don't appreciate nature. I never sit back and just enjoy it.

The poems “Oh Looking up by Chance at the Constellations” by Robert Frost and “When I heard the Learn’d Astronomer” by Walt Whitman have many similarities and differences in their themes and structures. Frost’s and Whitman’s poems are written in free verse which means that there is no defined pattern or rhyme within the poems. The major difference between the poems structure is the use of end stop and enjambment within the poems. Frost’s poem uses both enjambment and end stop throughout the poem. For example, “The sun and moon get crossed, but they never touch,

As the speaker sits in an auditorium, they observe the lecturer’s many notes, “When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me, / When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them,” (lines 2-3). This line provides strong visual imagery of complex investigations in astronomy, and a reader can easily imagine a full lecture room with endless notes and charts which aids in providing the mind-numbing mood of the experience. Moreover, the repetitions of what are essentially synonyms in this context make these lines sound like the rambles of the astronomer, contributing to the tone. As the speaker tires of the lecture, he leaves the room and “In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time, / Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars” (lines 8-9). Here Whitman again employs imagery to make the night seem appealing and

Almost every college student in the world can relate to being bored in a lecture hall. Old professors teaching boring material that does not relate to what you want to be doing with your time. In Walt Whitman's poem, "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer," Whitman’s character is describing just that. The character leaves a lecture and is one within nature. The character uses past tense throughout the entire poem. I believe that this poem is someone reflecting on a moment in life where they made a choice between knowledge and true happiness. The character’s ability to connect with nature helps them make a tough decision about what they want in life.

When taken literally, the warning derived from the book threatens death, misery, and the strangulation of my significant other should I seek glory as a student instead of education. Hopefully this is not the case. I enter Whitman excited to come to learn. I will learn from my teachers, peers, friends, and classes, among other things. I will remain open to new ideas and excited to consider them. I will work hard to empathize with those around me, and remember not to judge a book by its cover. I will not create a

This is another poem that links Whitman to the Romantics. The "birth of the poet" genre was of particular importance to Wordsworth, whose massive Prelude details his artistic coming-of-age in detail. Like Wordsworth, Whitman claims to take his inspiration from nature. Where Wordsworth is inspired by a wordless feeling of awe, though, Whitman finds an opportunity to anthropomorphize, and nature gives him very specific answers to his questions about overarching concepts. Nature is a tabula rasa onto which the poet can project himself. He conquers it, inscribes it. While it may become a part of him that is always present, the fact that it does so seems to be by his permission.

Whitman begins by creating a contradictory image of himself. On one hand he relays an egotistical representation by alluding that he is the center of the universe, "a kosmos, of Manhattan the son," almost a deistic type of character. Whitman also describes himself as not being above any one person, woman or man, an obvious contradiction to his previous representation. His God-like persona is depicted in human terms, physical qualities that all humans possess. Whitman creates this contradiction to show his belief that he is everything, but is only this way because everything is a part of him. He represents himself as part of a whole&emdash;nature, mankind, and the universe are all a part of him. By being everything in nature and nature being a part of him, Whitman has the power to become the voice of nature as a whole. He speaks for nature and mankind when they do not possess the power to do so. Whitman is the voice of all.

The dominant themes that are more pervasive in Whitman’s poetry are democracy, life/death cycles, individualism, and nature. These themes play major roles in some of his more notable poems such as “Songs of Myself” or “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry.” He used democracy as a theme to bring society together, and unite everyone based on their general beliefs. He depicted life and death cycles to merge society together on a spiritual level. Despite his eagerness to unite society he also embraced individualism, and is also a persistent theme in most of his poetry. Nature was an important concept that Whitman used to convince people who there were more important things to life than class structure. He used nature connect us all, and encourage people to