Death of a Naturalist

Mother-Daughter Torment In Stephen Crane’s novella “Maggie, A Girl of the Streets”, the abundant examples of situational and dramatic irony highlights the personalities of the characters, characterizes individuals, and contributes to the development of the mother-daughter relationship between Mary and Maggie making it easier to relate to the characters and their problems. Mary develops as an ironic character in her nature as a mother and a drunk alcoholic. On the other hand, Maggie believes that…

Drawing Circles and Conclusions Philosophy is a major part of human development and exploration and has always been fascinating to me personally. I find myself philosophizing many aspects in my life, and I always enjoy reading philosophy. One of America’s most prominent philosophers is Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson has been a very influential philosopher; two important figures he influenced were Martin Luther and George Fox (Buell 60). He is known for his collections of essays that detail his…

It was law at the time of the unethical regime to give death penalties for such crime, but after the state has been overthrown, the wife has been captured for telling on her husband. She argued that she was not guilty as it was law at the time, but was otherwise convicted as the statute that was based under…

The poem “To a Mouse” by Robert Burns clearly reflects the naturalistic themes in John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men”. A naturalist would state that the “struggle against forces beyond an organism’s control”, “survival of the fittest”, and “nothing ever goes as planned” are some naturalistic elements that can be identified both in the poem and the book. In the book, the clash of Lennie's physical strength and mental weakness was beyond his control. This made him struggle throughout the entire…

Mary Anning was considered to be the first female paleontologist and the greatest fossil finder. She overcame a lack of formal education to emerge as one of the foremost authorities on fossils. When she was twelve year old, she found the skeleton of one of the first Ichthyosaurus, a giant marine reptile that lived in the early time of Jurassic period in Asia and Europe. She discovered more Ichthyosaurus fossils and also many other important discoveries as an amateur fossil collector in the…

From studying anatomy to discovering new techniques for painting, Renaissance artwork stemmed from creating masterpieces that encompassed a wide range of topics. The Renaissance paved the way for artists to find new methods which lead to an abundant number of influential pieces. Not solely in one area, but spanning the entire region of Europe, it is obvious that the sculptures were a significant facet of this time period, in particular, depicting historical figures and then displaying them in…

Moral Skepticism is the belief that it is impossible to truly know if morals are absolute and that nobody can have any knowledge of absolute truth at all. Additionally, if evolutionary theory is true, then there are more good reasons to be moral skeptics. This is due to the notion that evolution will pressure all living things to adapt to their territory and environment so that they are fit for survival. In addition, this survival and fitness-enhancing pressures may not be truth-conductive…

known and respected he was. He was buried in Westminster Abbey very close to Sir Isaac Newton and right beside Sir John Herschel, a close friend. The funeral was attended by thousands, many of whom were admirals, philosophers, other scientists, naturalists, and dignitaries. His pall bearers included two dukes, an earl, the queen’s printer, two close friends, the co-founder of natural selection, a baron, he even had the American ambassador to Britain to lay him to…

The Red Pony, by John Steinbeck, includes four short stories. A favorite of mine is the first one, “The Gift”. During this story Carl Tiffen’s family's ranch is described and becomes the setting for all four stories. “The Gift” has three central characters. Carl, who is a stern, unemotional man, Billy Buck who is a warm person and spends most of his time teaching Jody how to take care of the ranch, and Jody who spends most of his time going to school and training his horse. This first story…

Pathetic. Ophiocordyceps unilateralis. Also known as the zombie virus, it was discovered by British Naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace in 1859. It affected ants of the Camponotini tribe. The infected ant would leave its nest and travel to an area with the perfect temperature and humidity for fungal growth, then the ant would use its mandibles to hang on a leaf upside down until the inevitable death that would follow. Over the next one hundred and fifty years the fungi evolved. It became dangerous,…