After Nature: A Literary Analysis

One hundred years have passed since the Progressive Era of 1900-1916 and although the world has seen remarkable “progress” for a variety causes since then, there are numerous issues that still have not been addressed. Change is not immediate and the Progressive Era’s successes were manifestations of problems first addressed years before gaining wide public attention. Similar to the dilemmas faced one hundred years ago, we now face a quandary that has been discussed for around two decades: climate change. By taking a closer look at the successes and failures, the methods and techniques, of the Progressive Era, and especially the rise of feminism, we can determine a better approach to managing

Within the broader American environmental movement that began in the late 19th century, two main groups emerged, conservationists and preservationists, which had fundamentally different views on how the United States ought to manage the country’s wild lands. Although conservationists like Gifford Pinchot advocated for the sustainable use of natural resources and preservationists like John Muir promoted the protection of national lands from the influence of man, both groups were exclusionary and classist. This class discrimination within American environmentalism continues today and presents an ethical conflict for a movement which promotes itself as working for the common good. The dilemma largely stems from the concept of wilderness which prevents access of what is

As the world went into Anthropocene, the disscussion of the relationship between human and natural became more frequnt than in before. Human being and the inviroment are not isolation based on the theory of Anthropocene, ont he opposite, they art related and effect each other.

Naomi Klein's novel, This Changes Everything highlights the most imperative actions that need to be taken towards climate change. Klein discusses that as a society we overlook the causes and the changes that need to happen to the systems that are making the crisis inevitable. She encourages formulating a mass movement for climate change that supports changes in the economic system. Klein’s main argument is that, most people think that climate change is a threat, “we have not done the things that are necessary to lower emissions because those things fundamentally conflict with deregulated capitalism” which is the “reigning ideology” of our time (p.18). The purpose of the book is that Klein is supplying society with a challenge: are we on the right path, are we doing the right things for ourselves and for the future, or is this the best we can be? Arguably her core message is one of social and environmental justice: “the solution to global warming is not to fix the world, but to fix ourselves” (p.279).

Aristotle has a firm belief that human being’s actions need to be aimed at and end with some sort of good. With this is mind, he further explains that happiness is the end result of our actions. Thomas Hill, although similar in view, advocates for the importance to not only preserve our environment but connects how the preservation of nature directly relates to human virtue. In this essay, I will argue that Thomas Hill’s beliefs on human virtue along side with the preservation of our environment goes hand in hand with Aristotle’s views of the development of human virtue. Both Aristotle and Thomas Hill believe that human virtue not only has the power to control our actions positively or negatively but can also influence whether human beings

Walking into graduation, every graduate expects to hear the same speech with little variance about reaching an important milestone in life but still having many more milestones. Paul Hawken delivered a different message with his commencement address, You Are Brilliant and the Earth Is Hiring. His message was filled with hope for the future since people are working together to build a better world for all.

Richard Louv, a novelist, in Last Child in the Woods (2008) illustrates the separation between humans and nature. His purpose to the general audience involves exposing how the separation of man from nature is consequential. Louv adopts a sentimental tone throughout the rhetorical piece to elaborate on the growing separation in modern times. Louv utilizes pathos, ethos and logos to argue that the separation between man and nature is detrimental.

In his passage from “Last Child in the Woods,” Richard Louv uses various rhetorical strategies in order to make his audience more supportive of his argument. The passage discusses the connection, or really the separation, between people and nature. On this subject, Louv argues the necessity for people to redevelop their connection with nature. His use of tone, anecdotes, rhetorical questions, and factual examples all help develop the pathos and logos of his piece.

The Earth is a beautiful place, there is no doubt about that. Now the future is questionable due to all the manufacturing and oil drilling we’ve done. However, not only those actions are to blame, we have all played our part. Humans have created a new world, the Anthropocene. The Anthropocene is defined as the idea that we have entered a new epoch in Earth’s geological history. A new world that we were not designed to live in. In a way you can think of it as Earth slowly dying and witnessing and feeling everything as it happens. Eventually we would have to adapt to finish our lives out in this new world, which we are not prepared to do. As a potential environmental science major I am highly motivated by this serious topic. As you can tell

Richard Louv, author of the novel Last Child in the Woods, delivers his message by stating that the modern world is progressing so rapidly, that people, especially the youth, nowadays don’t seem to appreciate nature and argues against man’s increasing separation between nature. He acknowledges the seemingly endless ads plastered all over nature by stamping and pining their ads on trees, public beaches, and park benches as an opportunity to promote nature yet their company as well. Although advertisers state that they respect the “cultural importance”, of nature by plastering their company logo onto nature, it makes it seems as it’s not worth looking at if their brand is not being promoted. He introduces an anecdote along with several reasonable

Fierce Climate Sacred Ground is a study conducted by Elizabeth Marino about the effects climate change has had on residents in Shishmaref, Alaska. Within this short text, Marino manages to utilize personal narratives (from Shishmaref citizens) as well as revelations of her own to demonstrate how environmental problems are the product of an ecological, social, and political processes. With this ethnographic study, the author intended to address the issue of climate change and related issues such as flooding in Shishmaref while touching on what can be done about the vulnerability its residents face. The book also illuminates the outcome of political and social decisions regarding climate change so that future responses can be done with a deeper

Many people who go into nature always see it as something beautiful and aesthetic, but they never see the other side to nature. Humankind’s connection with nature isn’t a real one. They always look at the bright side of nature but are blind to the true dark side of nature. JB MacKinnon’s article “False Idyll” (2012), reveals that nature is not just flowers in a field but can also be the survival of the fittest. He backs up his claim by talking about nature through anecdotes and expert’s research. MacKinnon’s purpose to have people open their eyes and not be closed minded towards nature. The author's intention is to have environmental experts and college educated people interested in the wildlife read his article on the different perspectives

The belief that human beings are permanently changing planet Earth has made an impact on what the time period we currently live in should be called. In Joseph Stromberg’s article, What is the Anthropocene and Are We in It? , he notes that experts claim, “…human kind have caused mass extinctions of plant and animal species, polluted the oceans and altered the atmosphere, among other lasting impacts.”(Stromberg, 1) The Anthropocene is the name of the geological time period that geologists and environmental advocates have dubbed us to currently be in. The term combines the root Anthropo, which means “man” and the root cene, which means “new”. Nobel Prize winning scientist Paul Crutzen proposed the term, Anthropocene, after

During the Cold War era from 1945-1980, the environment took priority in American society. Awareness about the need to preserve the planet culminated in a nationwide Earth Day which proved the growing worry about the lack of sustainability found on Earth. Other environmental factors required immediate action to be taken before the detrimental effects of humans and their role in society would be too much for this world to handle. Although there are a variety of factors that raised awareness about the dangerous environment on earth, it was ultimately the implementation of the first Earth Day, tempting climate in the Sun Belt, and the environmental movement by Rachel Carson that brought the awareness to harsh environmental factors in the late

Climate change is the most rising issue of the modern world that is threatening our planet from the last few decades. In the simplest definition, the term climate change refers to the rising of the planet’s temperature, particularly an increase in the average atmospheric temperature. It should be noted that in the last few decades, many scientists and ecologists has discovered the Earth temperature is increasing at an alarming rate and has affected the planet in numerous of way. The constant change in the climate due to various causes is threatening the preservation of the Earth and its human life. It should be noted that the climate change is linked with several of the human activities that are further directed towards the global warming.