Jack Pierce- Carson's Confrontation and Muir's Meekness by Jack Pierce https://padlet.com/johnapierce/rtn3u4ueq0hn03it en-us 2023-10-11 15:03:32 UTC 2023-10-14 03:59:08 UTC hello@padlet.com Main Argument- Muir Vs Carson johnapierce https://padlet.com/johnapierce/rtn3u4ueq0hn03it/wish/2745329965 While we have examined authors with numerous different stances on how to write about and think about environment, perhaps no two stand in greater dichotomy than John Muir and Rachel Carson in terms of their understandings of environment and the impact of their works upon public perspective. While Carson treats the environment and human action as intrinsically interconnected, Muir instead views the only "real" nature to be what he considers untouched by humans- and as such, Carson's work evokes a necessity for change and betterment of the world we're already a part of, while Muir's evokes a pursuit of an essentially non-existent untouched nature (and an escape from the artificial environment and it's troubles). Carson creates a will to stand and change, Muir creates a want to run and hide.]]> 2023-10-13 14:39:38 UTC https://padlet.com/johnapierce/rtn3u4ueq0hn03it/wish/2745329965 Works Cited johnapierce https://padlet.com/johnapierce/rtn3u4ueq0hn03it/wish/2745339423 WORKS

Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. London, Penguin Books, 27 Sept. 1962.
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Menrisky, Alexander. ENGL 2635E Lecture, 9/11

Menrisky, Alexander. ENGL 2635E Lecture, 13

Menrisky, Alexander. ENGL 2635E Lecture, 9/25

Muir, John. The Yosemite. Binker North, 1912.
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]]> 2023-10-13 14:46:26 UTC https://padlet.com/johnapierce/rtn3u4ueq0hn03it/wish/2745339423 Muir's "Yosemite" - A first glance johnapierce https://padlet.com/johnapierce/rtn3u4ueq0hn03it/wish/2745340297 What does John Muir talk about in his work The Yosemite? Well, overall, The Yosemite serves as a largely chronological account of John Muir's trip through Yosemite after an intended trip to the Amazon and South America as a whole fell through. This account is divided into 16 sections, each focused on a different aspect of Yosemite and his time there, beginning with the same planning explanation I just described and ultimately ending with his experience at the Illilouette waterfall. Muir fully embraced the change to his vacation/exploration plans, stating in his introductory portion of The Yosemite that "All the world was before me and every day was a holiday, so it did not seem important to which one of the world's wildernesses I first should wander" (Muir 1). If Muir's attitude had not been so cavalier, and if his plans to journey to South America had gone through successfully, The book The Yosemite could not have existed.]]> 2023-10-13 14:47:11 UTC https://padlet.com/johnapierce/rtn3u4ueq0hn03it/wish/2745340297 Carson's "Silent Spring" - A first glance johnapierce https://padlet.com/johnapierce/rtn3u4ueq0hn03it/wish/2745340976 When spring has sprung, what ideas have sprung forth from it's pages? Silent Spring begins it's efforts with an anecdotal hypothetical about a town suffering from the effects of nuclear fallout, before moving into it's main argumentative purpose calling for efforts to combat pollution, nuclear testing, and the use of pesticides. Despite Silent Spring very potently discussing how these occurrences are harmful to human life, it makes it clear that these consequences are inflicted upon the environment as well as us. For example, in the aforementioned apocalyptic prelude, the effects of the nuclear fallout on animals are given as much focus (if not a little more) as it's effects on humanity, with somber sentences such as "On the mornings that had once throbbed with the dawn chorus of robins, catbirds, doves, jays, wrens, and scores of bird voices there was now no sound; only silence lay over the fields and woods and marsh" (Carson 10).]]> 2023-10-13 14:47:46 UTC https://padlet.com/johnapierce/rtn3u4ueq0hn03it/wish/2745340976 Carson's Context- Before the Spring johnapierce https://padlet.com/johnapierce/rtn3u4ueq0hn03it/wish/2745519232 To fully understand Rachel Carson's Silent Spring and it's effects, one must at least possess a rudimentary understanding of the circumstances under which it was written. Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring in 1962, roughly two years before her own passing- much like how Muir's Yosemite was written two years before his passing. Before her publication of Silent Spring, she had already spent a large portion of her career in the US Fish and Wildlife Service, so she had a plethora of firsthand experience with the environment and humanity's effects upon it. Thanks to her experiences, she was highly motivated and highly informed on environmental issues, and as such she was able to write a multitude of important and influential works on the matter, though none of the others reached the prevalence that Silent Spring sprung to. 
(Information from Menrisky, Alexander. ENGL 2635E Lecture, 9/25)

]]> 2023-10-13 17:18:25 UTC https://padlet.com/johnapierce/rtn3u4ueq0hn03it/wish/2745519232 Muir's Musings johnapierce https://padlet.com/johnapierce/rtn3u4ueq0hn03it/wish/2745522715 It's important to understand an author, on some level, if you wish to then understand that author's perspectives. John Muir was 74 years old when he released The Yosemite, just two years before his eventual demise. John Muir's efforts as the "father of the national parks" throughout his life leading up to that point had led to the creation of several national parks, including Yosemite itself in 1890, a full twenty two years before the release of the book of the same name. Efforts of such massive scope and success require both ingenuity and intellect, two things prevalent in John Muir's writings, as he often coupled spiritual sensationalizing with precise scientific facts and measurements. In short, despite Muir's reverence of nature and his adherence to the wilderness paradigm's flawed view, he was also still a man of precision and science. 
(Information from Menrisky, Alexander. ENGL 2635E Lecture, 9/11)]]> 2023-10-13 17:21:47 UTC https://padlet.com/johnapierce/rtn3u4ueq0hn03it/wish/2745522715 Carson : Humans and environment johnapierce https://padlet.com/johnapierce/rtn3u4ueq0hn03it/wish/2745537634 Rachel Carson viewed the co-existence of humans and environment through the ecological paradigm, and as such did not divide the two into separate spheres of existence and philosophy. This allowed Carson to do something that writers who operate under the wilderness paradigm largely cannot do- or at least, cannot do effectively. Namely, ecological authors such as Rachel Carson are able to illustrate and examine the ongoing effects of humanity upon the environment and "nature", as well as the effects of our treatment of nature back upon humanity. This sits at the core of why, in my opinion, the ecology paradigm is more effective in accurately addressing environmental issues than the wilderness paradigm.
(Information from Menrisky, Alexander. ENGL 2635E Lecture, 9/25)]]> 2023-10-13 17:36:49 UTC https://padlet.com/johnapierce/rtn3u4ueq0hn03it/wish/2745537634 Muir : Humans and Environment johnapierce https://padlet.com/johnapierce/rtn3u4ueq0hn03it/wish/2745540840 John Muir's philosophies were of the wilderness paradigm, and as such his view of the world was divided into a human/artificial environment and a natural/pristine environment. As a refresher, as defined in lecture, the idea of wilderness can be summed up as follows : "At its broadest, wilderness is an understanding of environment- and paradigm in its representation- that draws a hard conceptual division between civilization (“over here”) and nature (“over there”), with wilderness itself being “over there”." (Menrisky, Alexander. ENGL 2635E Lecture, 9/11). This intrinsic division prevents writers such as Muir from substantially addressing the damage humans are dealing to the environment, as the environment is fundamentally "untouched" by human activity in the eyes of the wilderness paradigm.]]> 2023-10-13 17:40:07 UTC https://padlet.com/johnapierce/rtn3u4ueq0hn03it/wish/2745540840 Visual Key johnapierce https://padlet.com/johnapierce/rtn3u4ueq0hn03it/wish/2745741627 Though a canvas-and-arrows approach seems the best utilization of the Padlet medium for the purposes of an exploration of ideas, I found that even I was quickly becoming confused by the layout I had constructed, as when I originally began every post shared a simplistic green-tinted background and there were far too many arrows connecting posts that weren't directly related. By seeking a more diverse coloration of post backgrounds and a simplification of the downward and semi-outward flow of arrows and posts, I believe I have rendered the navigation of this deconstructed paper far less of an ordeal, and as such created a much more intuitive design than I had originally set into motion.

Arrows -> connect posts in the rough intended reading order

Green background : Connective (This Visual Key, Main Argument, Works Cited)

Blue background : Analytical Post

Purple background : Contextual Post]]> 2023-10-13 23:37:33 UTC https://padlet.com/johnapierce/rtn3u4ueq0hn03it/wish/2745741627 Exploring Yosemite johnapierce https://padlet.com/johnapierce/rtn3u4ueq0hn03it/wish/2745807070 Now that we've been over the basics of Muir and the circumstances under which he came to write The Yosemite, we can better explore it's actual content. While his stance as a writer under the wilderness paradigm may not allow for much of an acknowledgement of interconnectivity between humanity and the environment, authors like Muir are still able to make cases in favor of the environment in other ways- In the case of John Muir's The Yosemite specifically, his calls for the protection of the environment come in the form of his veneration of it's splendor. This invocation of wonder pours from his description of each magnificent locale visited upon his journey, such as his description of the walk to and sight of a waterfall known as the Bridal Veil wherein he states "From the margin of these glorious forests the first general view of the Valley used to be gained- a revelation in landscape affairs that enriches one's life forever. Entering the Valley... perhaps the first to fix our attention will be the Bridal Veil, a beautiful waterfall on our right... as it sways and sings in the wind, clad in gauzy, sun-sifted spray, half falling, half floating, it seems infinitely gentle..." (Muir 3). Such emotional eloquence, coupled with a few precise descriptive measurements omitted from my quotation, are powerful in their effect upon the imagination, rendering the waterfall- and by extension all of Yosemite- ethereal in it's beauty, garnering a desire to protect such majesty from the ravages of humanity. Muir and wilderness paradigm writers may turn their backs on humanity's interactions with the whole of the environment, and they may on some level meagerly express desires to flee from the "artificial" environment into a more "natural" world, but their works can still rally others to the environment's defense.]]> 2023-10-14 02:05:26 UTC https://padlet.com/johnapierce/rtn3u4ueq0hn03it/wish/2745807070 A Spring full of Pesticides johnapierce https://padlet.com/johnapierce/rtn3u4ueq0hn03it/wish/2745808196 Though silence was in the name of Carson's seminal work, she was far from silent when it came to speaking her mind on exactly what problems she saw in how humans were treating the environment, and the consequences that environmental damage was wreaking back upon humanity. One of her most precise and potent targets was the rampant use of DDT and other dangerous pesticides like it, which were dumped on private properties by corporations and government entities without regulation, admittance, or permission. "These sprays, dusts, and aerosols are now applied almost universally to farms, gardens, forests, and homes- nonselective chemicals that have the power to kill every insect, the 'good' and the 'bad', to still the song of birds and the leaping of fish in the streams... Can anyone believe it is possible to lay down such a barrage of poisons on the surface of the earth without making it unfit for all life?" (Carson 13). She doesn't stop at just the effects of these pesticides upon insect life, but discusses the lethality of these chemicals towards birds, fish, and by extent humanity as well. Her visceral portrayal of DDT and similar pesticides, built upon many examples and truths such as the ones held in the previous quote, would be the leading contributor to the banning of DDT in the United States.]]> 2023-10-14 02:08:02 UTC https://padlet.com/johnapierce/rtn3u4ueq0hn03it/wish/2745808196 Nuclear Testing Springs Forth johnapierce https://padlet.com/johnapierce/rtn3u4ueq0hn03it/wish/2745819123 Carson's practical application of exploring environmental damage caused by humanity, and how that damage reflects back upon humanity, also largely dealt with a uniquely human danger- the harm caused by the testing of Nuclear Weapons. While I've alluded to this matter here and there (for example drawing upon her apocalypse narrative in an earlier post), her protestation of nuclear testing warrants a direct examination. Her main focus was largely on substances such as DDT, but she didn't let nuclear waste off of the proverbial hook that easy. She called out it's damages to the safety of the water we sail across and drink by being sure to list it first among the sources of such pollution when she mentions "...radioactive wastes from reactors, laboratories, and hospitals; fallout from nuclear explosions..." (Carson 29), she addresses the looming threat of nuclear annihilation by beginning one of her big-picture arguments with "Along with the possibility of the extinction of mankind by nuclear war..." (Carson 13), and she calls out the direct process by which nuclear explosions destabilize the environment by informing the reader about how "Strontium 90, released through nuclear explosions into the air, comes to earth as rain or drifts down as fallout, lodges in soil, enters into the grass or corn or wheat grown there, and in time takes up its abode in the bones of a human being, there to remain until his death" (Carson 12). Not only does she efficiently inform the readers about the sources these nuclear dangers come from, but she pulls no punches in stressing their destructivity towards humanity and the environment, arming the populace with knowledge and calling them to action.]]> 2023-10-14 02:32:59 UTC https://padlet.com/johnapierce/rtn3u4ueq0hn03it/wish/2745819123 John Muir, Just Maybe johnapierce https://padlet.com/johnapierce/rtn3u4ueq0hn03it/wish/2745820436 While the stance of this "deconstructed paper" has been largely against John Muir and wilderness paradigm writers as a whole, as shown in the previous post these sorts of writings can still have a positive effect on environmental preservation. While I maintain that the glaring flaws of the wilderness paradigm prevent it from being nearly as effective as the ecology paradigm, and that dreams of fleeing to wilderness solve far less than calls to fix the environment we do in fact live within, writers like John Muir do still serve a purpose- after all, he was prolific enough to be the driving voice behind the creation of a plethora of national parks across America, including Grand Canyon National Park, Sequoia National Park, and others. Muir's strength lies not in what he calls for us to do for our environment, but in what he shows us the environment can be like if we don't disturb it- which can be applied more practically as what the environment could be like if we work to fix the damage humanity continually inflicts upon it. His sensationalizing of wilderness, and the eloquence and specificity with which he describes the locations and looks of the places he saw on his journey through Yosemite evoke a powerful sense of wonder and reverence for the environment. These glamorous visions of what the environment can be when human action against it is avoided and rectified help rally readers to the reversal of environmental perspective brought about by romanticism, focused on the idea of returning things- in this case, specifically the environment- to the way we think they once were. So while my preference for the potency of ecological writing still stands, the wilderness paradigm is not without it's usefulness. 
(Information from Menrisky, Alexander. ENGL 2635E Lecture, 9/11 and Menrisky, Alexander. ENGL 2635E Lecture, 13)]]> 2023-10-14 02:36:30 UTC https://padlet.com/johnapierce/rtn3u4ueq0hn03it/wish/2745820436