Uneven Ground: Appalachia Since 1945, by Ronald Eller explores the devastation of traditional culture and land use in the Appalachian region at the hands of the coal industry and local, state, and federal leaders and policy makers. His perspective comes from one that separates growth from development and is highly critical of efforts to force Appalachia into a national economic model that is not aligned with the regions unique historical situations. After briefly setting the stage in the Civil War and the immediate years following, Eller focuses on modernization efforts preceding the 1930s depression and revitalization efforts that began during World War II. Eller makes the argument that industrialization and an expanding market economy altered Appalachian land use and social relations as early as the Civil War.…
Once nature is no longer equated with untouched wilderness, Marris claims that humans can begin to “make more nature” (Marris 56). Before evaluating how Marris envisions this “more” nature, one can see that she makes the case against the pristine wilderness well. Marris seems to draw heavily from the work of environmental historian William Cronon, whom she cites, as he famously argued for an end to the wilderness myth in his “The Trouble with Wilderness: Or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature.” At first glance, Marris almost seems to parrot Cronon’s points verbatim as her chapter “The Yellowstone Model” moves through the same points as Cronon’s essay. However, Marris moves beyond Cronon’s analysis as she places a clearer focus on ecology’s focus on pristine wilderness than Cronon, and, of course, she explicitly extends the end of the myth to impact the field of restoration ecology.…
The Book of Yaak by Rick Bass I hate “The Book of Yaak”. This book should not have been written. The fault, however, does not lie with author Rick Bass. Bass’ style is clear and poetic, intermingling of his not-quite-stream-of-consciousness prose seamlessly with the scientific data and information that illustrates the dire situation for his place, the Yaak Valley of Northern Montana, and all of his fellow citizens, lynx, deer, wolves, wood thrush, owls, and grizzlies.…
These stories highlight some of the most important issues of the current era, both in different ways. In Eisenberg’s book The Carnivore Way, a more modern take on the current state of the ecological system. Eisenberg presents lots of logical facts and scientific statistics that are used to prove her point. In the other spectrum, Faulkner’s Big Woods collection tells a more narrative approach to telling the reader. He uses fictional characters to invoke emotions from the readers and insight his own messages to the reader, all while keeping the messages ambiguous to the reader.…
From bluegrass, folk and Native American music in the mountains, to beach music on the coast, North Carolina is a state that has an extensive variety of traditional music. The main research focus is on the historic, geographic and musical aspects of the North Carolina Appalachian Mountains. The Appalachian Trail passes through western North Carolina, and the Blue Ridge Mountains are part of the Appalachian Mountain range. Throughout the section of Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina, there have been “trails” made, one highlighting the music of that region, and another, the heritage. The heritage sites not only represent the history of living but also the music history.…
Wallace Stegner’s “Wilderness Letter” portrays the importance of wilderness. Wilderness has always held a different meaning as a child for me it held another world. Playing outside, going to wildlife reserves, and watching shows like “Zoboomafoo” that taught about different animals and their habitat all played a part in my love for it. Experiencing the outdoors should be something that is dome willingly to detach and refresh. The Internet has slowly taken that away from children because instead of going outdoors time is spent staring at screens.…
The Oregon Trail was the next big part of the westward expansion. In the mid-19th century the Oregon Trail was the main pathway for American emigrants searching for new lands and opportunity on the frontier. From its main departure points in Missouri, the grueling overland route stretched 2,170 miles over the Great Plains and the Continental Divide, finally ending in the fertile Willamette Valley or the goldfields of California. More than 400,000 pioneers traveled its trails in the boom years between 1840 and 1860, braving everything from disease outbreaks and wagon accidents to arid deserts and rushing river crossings.…
It is no secret that the idea of wilderness grips every American citizen. Some authors including, William Cronon, have gone to great lengths to explain American infatuation with the wild. Cronon in his article The Trouble with Wilderness, Or Getting Back to the Wrong Nature, presents the sublime nature of wilderness as one of the reasons Americans imagine nature. I believe both I, Krakauer and Chris McCandless disagree with William’s Cronon’s assessment of the American psyche. Rather than seeing the wilderness as, “rare places on earth where one had more chance than elsewhere to glimpse the face of God” (Cronon), Krakauer, McCandless and most Americans believe wilderness is a place to find yourself.…
Did you know that over 500,000 people traveled the Oregon Trail? The Oregon trail had a effected America in many ways, including the population change, manifest destiny and the beginning of land expansion. The Oregon Trail was an insanely hard Trail to complete. About 20,000 people died trying to complete it.…
Rash throughout his poems reviles many aspects of what life was like in the Appalachian world. The writer shows the different hardships that were faced and the values that were taught in the Appalachian. The hardships from the farmland to timberland to mill work have a large impact on the members of the Appalachian and not in a positive way. Rash sets up a common theme through his poems that indicates that life was not easy in his world. These themes are most vividly expressed in, “Spring Fever” where the writer talks about how six weeks of work could easily be destroyed in minutes.…
In his essay, “Walking,” Henry David Thoreau discusses a number of ideas on wilderness and society, and makes several bold claims about society’s detrimental effect on the “wild.” He begins by expressing his affinity for taking long walks on which he “saunters” outdoors. Thoreau explains that not everyone is equipped with the necessary disposition for these types of journeys and says, “no wealth can buy the requisite leisure, freedom, and independence which are the capital in this profession.” He doesn’t appreciate the fast pace and development of society, but rather prefers the world in its natural state.…
In the novel, “The Republic of Nature” by Mark Fiege, Fiege analyzes nature and its impact on American history. In every chapter Fiege first explains in detail about the environment Americans lived in and the hardships they faced from nature. He then applied the effects of nature as motivation and reasons as to why Americans during a certain period acted the way they did and how political changes occurred. The use of nature as a lens to analyze American history is exceptionally useful because humans…
The Second World War, American society became more aware of the environmental issues. Environmentalists soon turned to taking political action to protect the Earth. Legislative enivronmentialixm soon became not just a kdjsafk issue put a political one. HOW AMERICAN FELT AFTER WW1 + THE DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL PARKS ((Modern environmentalism arose not out of a productionist concern for managing natural resources for future development, but as a consumer movement that demanded a clean, safe, and beautiful environment as part of a higher standard of living.)…
His work for land preservation and outdoor advocacy made him a hero to many and as such he is the namesake of a long, winding, highly esteemed trail through the Sierra Nevada mountains. His poems are commonly known even today and evoke a sense of wonder in not only those with…
On March 24th I taught a social studies lesson to a 4th grade class. The lesson started out well with me telling the students at the beginning of the lesson what we would be doing during our social studies lesson. However, I noticed I did not elaborate on my expectations for learning, so it wasn’t clear what the students were expected to know by the end of the lesson. For example, I said, "Today we are going to talk about the pioneers’ last trail decision as you head west."…