My First Summer in the Sierra

I liked John Muir's writing a lot more in this piece that I did from the last one we read. It made more sense to me. The point he was making is that the world is a beautiful place and you can see almost all aspects of it in the sierras. There is plenty of diverse wildlife and different climates throughout the mountains.
I specifically like how Muir described the encounters with the bear and grasshopper. To him, they were both beautiful to the world. They both seemed to enjoy life and live in a fun, relaxing environment. Muir grabbed my attention more during this writing. I guess I'm not sure why, but it could be because I like to enjoy life also and this whole writing was about him talking about how great the world is.

A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf

I understand what John Muir was trying to say during this piece of writing. The point that he was trying to get across was that this world was meant for all organisms and objects. It is not only just for man-kind. I agree with his argument. Humans are "taking over the world," and other creatures can do nothing to stop us. They just want to mind their own business and feel just as important as every other animal is to the world.
Muir's writing was very thought out, but for me, it was almost too much. It seemed like he dragged on sentences forever and it began to lose my attention. Also, the way he worded many things were hard for me to understand, along with some of his vocabulary. But, after reading this piece, I think it is a good model of what our world is coming to.

Polemic: Industrial Tourism and the National Parks

For me, this reading has been one of the most interesting pieces we've looked over so far. I agree with just about everything said by Edward Abbey. National Parks are becoming more and more humanized. They are turning into urban areas and have people that visit that don't treat the land with great respect. Edward Abbey talks about Industrial Tourism as the killer of National Parks. I agree completely. Society's innovations and technologies are becoming ever more apparent in National Parks. So much of what is done in National Parks is un-needed, and so much money is going to waste. If we would stop industrializing National Parks, the environment would become cleanlier and survive much longer. Also, I think if we carry out the ideas that Abbey proposed, people would be healthier. They would be forced to get out and exercise and explore by themselves, instead of being lazy and just looking out from a vehicle.

A First American Views His Land

I really enjoyed this piece of writing. I think N. Scott Momaday did a great job portraying what things were like in the history of the land in which we live in now. You could really tell how much he loves the environment. He shows how people that lived long ago, lived alongside the land. These people knew the land was powerful and therefore they did not harm it. They absorbed its beauty and used its resources cautiously. Resources such as food, water, and shelter are all available. The Indians that lived in this time period understood the importance of the land and held it sacred. Also, within the writing, I liked how Momaday inserted parts of one of his poems throughout the piece. It kind of gave me a moment to reflect on what he had previously said in his writing, yet it leads you to the next section of his writing.

Walden; or Life in the Woods

I believe that this piece was well written, but it didn't seem very appealing to me. I do think it was interesting finding out how Walden adapted to the environment he was living in, but I feel like he went off on too many tangents. Throughout the piece, he would start talking about random things in life when all I really was looking for to reading was how life was living in the forest. I know that most of the things he talked about did relate to living in the woods, but I really wasn't looking for comparisons or contrasts. I just wanted to know exactly what it was like living by yourself and with nature in the woods. Also, his writing was different; he jumped around all the time and carried on sentences forever it seemed. It kind of lost my interest because I just wanted to know what would happen next, but he just dragged certain topics out. Lastly, I do think it is interesting and cool how he even attempted to do this. I just wish he would have talked more about what it was like living like that, rather than talking about everything he was thinking about.

Symposium "Snapshot" #2

The Symposium

The Memorial Union looked almost empty at first. Nobody would have ever thought that great, thoughtful writers were present. But, back in the Sun Room, the commotion became more noticeable. The MU became alive and an energetic and excited crowd grew as the time neared for each of the writers to speak. Many different people attended. People of all ages and races were there to listen to the beauty that these writers had to offer.

Symposium "Snapshot" #1

Patricia Smith

The room sat quiet. Listening to her voice made everything seem real. Her voice carried the lines of each of her poems beautifully. The words came deep from within her. As she spoke, a few clicks could be heard as a few people took pictures. The atmosphere had a depressed kind of mood in it. No one moved nor talked. The words made you think and appreciate what you have. Many of us are truly blessed to live such good lives, but numerous people, not only in New Orleans, live in what they can say feels like hell.