Why Geography Matters More Than Ever Analysis

In the chapter “Geography Matters …”,Thomas Foster says geography in literature is usually about people occupying “spaces” and vice versa. It is the environment, but also it can be whatever else that location can establish in the residents there. Geography can be used several ways in a work of literature.

The Five Themes of Geography are: Location – Absolute points on a map or grid or Relative to where something may be; Place – The physical and/or human characteristics of a locations; Human/Environment Interactions – How humans have impacted the landscape or environment; Relationship between places Movement – How humans interact on the earth (i.e. how they communicate over distance (short or long)) and Regions – a unit of space that has commonalities defined by physical, human and environmental geography. The Explorers of the New World may have not known what the Five Themes of Geography were but they quickly learned. Of the five themes the ones that they all took advantage of was the physical Location and Place as they learned to navigate

Harm de Blij’s book, Why Geography Matters poses a central theme, which I have heard discussed multiple times. Blij argues that the American public is the most geographically illiterate society in the world. Blij blames this decline with the poorly formulated curricula in the American school systems, which ultimately originates from Washington D.C. and the people that run this country. If I had never seen this central theme in action in a classroom I would have been dumbfounded.

Out of the five themes of geography, Guns, Germs and Steel shows place, movement and human/environment interaction. The theme of place in this book has to do with the physical characteristics of a place, the climate, bodies of water, vegetation, land formations, and animal life. These are some of the main focuses of my book, especially with it having a strong emphasis on “geographical luck” the different environments that the book talks about are all based around what’s inside the place of the book. Early man wouldn’t have thrived as greatly if they were in a harsh environment or place. The next theme is movement, another important theme in the book. Movement has to do with people communicating, trading, even sharing ideas. In the book, it

A psammosere is a serial community; an ecological succession that began life on newly exposed coastal sand. Most common psammoseres are sand dune systems.

In the book, The Power of Place Harm De Blij makes the reader consider many facets of living on earth that they have most likely never thought about before. Where we are born, where we are from, and where we live have more of an impact on who we are than I have ever considered. Throughout the book De Blij uses each chapter to address a different aspect of geography and the power it has over life.

The textbook includes a reference atlas and a geography handbook which encourages learning geographic lessons in our American History. Reading skills are the main goal of the textbook’s author, which is apparent with the sections Reading Skills Handbook and the section referred to as Be an Active Reader.

Germs, Guns, and Steel is a documentary that exhibiting the research of Jared Diamond in his quest to answer a question that took more than 30 years to answer. In the documentary of Germs, Guns, and Steel, Mr. Diamond was answering the question “Why you white man have so much cargo and we New Guineans have so little?”(“Guns, Germs, and Steel.” PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 27 Aug. 2015.) from a young man named Yali from a trip to New Guinea years ago. Throughout his research, in effort to answer Yali’s question, he ventured to around the globe to a variety of places like New Guinea, Spain, and South Africa. Mr. Diamond began to notice a pattern from each country he visited and concluded that Geography determines how a country strives and survives. Geography

Conflict between nations over territories raises red flags in maps, as maps can “tell a lie”. Maps are sometimes made in a way to make the viewer believe in something else, a side of a story rather than the accurate exhibition of the true state of territories. There are many disputed grounds between nations. China had claimed some of India, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Taiwan’s territories in its 2012 passports which displayed a map of the country. But, maps like those are usually made with intention of showing what a country wants or what it believes it rightfully possesses. In doing this, there is a way to secure the physical implications that a country’s government governs farther out, therefore fabricating its reach of power farther outwards. Although, when the intention is to show possible future implications of near conflict, things change.

De Blij further deliberates the issue of exclusion, but from an alternative viewpoint. De Blij focuses the idea that exclusion is human nature, therefore implying that human nature contributes to the ultra-exclusive nature of “core” nations to some standard. The elite separation of the core and “periphery” will continue to shape multinational relations, as well as domestic cultural and social norms. Though the core aims to be impermeable, many core nations are very diverse on the interior. In fact, racial and cultural diversity, to a degree, actually contributes to the superiority of “global” regions. As stated previously, most core nations have persnickety tendencies, and this is with reason. Throughout Chapter One, de Blij discusses very

This article address two of the major themes of Geography which are the themes of Location and Place. Hurricane Harvey has been the biggest rainstorm in the history of the continental United States.Hurricane Harvey started out as a category 4 hurricane but was then shortly downgrades to a tropical storm which has wreaked havoc in Texas and Louisiana.The theme of place & location relates to houston's because of its site and its unique internal physical characteristics which makes it prone to flooding .City of houston, is situated on a low-lying coastal plain with little topographic relief and the soils beneath it are clay-based, thwarting drainage. According to Texas A&M Professor Samuel Brody interviewed in the article "Instead of water

Geography is an important factor to consider when you look at this worlds past, present, or future. So whether it be the earths physical geographic features, the geopolitics stirring up trouble across the globe, or the economics of growing or shrinking countries; geography plays a major role. In todays society, geographic knowledge is one of the most important and valuable tools to possess. Without it, we are victims of ignorance and endanger ourselves, others, and the world. This ignorance, possessed by many, is posing a great risk of self-destruction. The author of “Why Geography Matters More Than Ever”, Harm de Blij, makes many strong points on this matter, but occasionally makes unsupported and unclear statements which tend to stray off topic.

Geography is not taught [if it is taught at all] as if there are no rivers, mountains, plains, valleys, coasts, seas, or oceans. Cities, towns, villages and the networks that connect them exist in even the most elementary geography lesson. Geographers don’t begin their lessons by ignoring reality. They dive right in and use the real world as the backdrop for teaching the processes and forces that result in what we actually see.

Much of my passion for Geography is derived from the fact that it depicts relevance to all aspects of society. It is dynamic in a sense that my perception and understanding is constantly evolving with the growth in understanding and perception. What intrigues my further pursuit of geography is how Geography unlike other subjects has direct links to both human and physical attributes. By further pursuing geography at a higher education level, I wish to enrich my understanding of the wider significance of issues being faced and how it affects society on a local and global level. It is important to identify and understand the interconnecting aspects of the world around us and apply such knowledge towards a more sustainable future. Geography

This article fits into the broad themes of Geography because this article tells us about the effects that wildfires has had on people in the Interior of BC, and geography includes this. Geography is a study of the physical topographies of the world and its atmosphere, along with this it also includes human activity and how it affects and is affected by these, including the spreading of inhabitants’