Nature :: essays research papers

After reading the chapter encountering nature the question arises. What is nature and why have historical American figures such as poets and writers focused so much of their time on writing about nature. Well the answer is quit simple. Nature is a part of us and history. It can’t be avoided. After reading this nature causes many natural disasters such as snow and frigid temperatures. Many classic stories discuss the cold winter and survival. Moby Dick talks about a Captains goal to find the great white whale. Nature is a beautiful thing but it can also be devastating. Natural disasters such as things that happen in the ocean can be deadly. Tidal waves are just one example of what the ocean can do. These massive waves can crash down on entire cities destroying anything in its path. Creatures of the sea such as whales and sharks can be deadly. Even though the odds are slim of being killed by one, things can still happen. Such creatures like whales as depicted in Moby Dick can be a nice sight but also deadly. In the book the captain of the ship lost his leg in a prior encounter with a whale. When the crew went after Moby Dick he snapped and swelled huge waves towards the boat and attacked. He wrecked the ship. The panicked crew was scattered around the boat. IN the end nature prevailed because moby dick scared the crew. But it was the humans who got the last word when they killed he gigantic whale. Frigid cold winters are another one of nature’s forces. Back in the times of the Indians, and before modern day housing people had to survive in the cold. Many times people lived on mountaintops or alongside a river. When winter hit its strongest it was hard to live. These people used techniques such as making fires and eating wild fruit and killing animals as way of survival. As in the classic story Rain of Gold, gold was traded for food and clothing. This was one of the only ways to harvest food in the weather. Water was easily found by almost every one in the mountains, this mad it to trade. Every one was eager to get gold. Mother nature poured piles of snow onto the mountains making the trading of goods a necessity. Snow is a thing of beauty but when Mother Nature unleashes her full power it can be deadly.