Abstract The paper looks at the life of Christopher "Kit" Carson, an almost mythic character in American history. He played an important role in the United State's expansion as a major player in the government's war with the Navajo Indians, finally forcing them off their lands. The paper reports on Carson's childhood. As his father died when he was nine years old, the need to work prevented him from ever receiving an education. His story is remarkable because in his lifetime Carson played so many roles that aided in Westward expansion in addition to Indian fighter: mountain man, trapper, guide, and sheep rancher. Both during and after Carson's life, astounding stories were told about his bravery, great strength and heroic deeds he had performed. The paper concludes that the story of Carson reveals both the good and the bad; while playing an important role in the Untied States expansion, he participated in important ways in subjugation and mistreatment of Native Americans. He was an army officer who followed his orders, but today those actions are recognized as wrong. His life is an example of those complex times.
From the Paper "Christopher "Kit" Carson, who was born in 1809 and died in 1868, has become an almost mythic character in American history. He started out as an apprentice to a saddle-maker, but made his way to the West, where he became a fur trapper and guide. He started out enjoying good relationships with Native Americans and even married Native American women twice in his life. Eventually he was an officer in the Civil War, and he played a major role in the American government's war with the Navajo Indians, finally forcing them off their lands."
Abstract Rachel Carson's 1962 book, "Silent Spring," unquestionably served as a catalyst in the formation of the modern environmental movement, rousing many to action, and profoundly altering the public conception of government, industry, and the human relationship to the natural world. This paper explores the myriad ways in which Carson revolutionized nature writing and her profound impact on American life.
From the Paper "Perhaps the most noticeable aspect of Carson's writing is its lack of overt glorification of the natural world. Gone are Muir's mountain "temples," "bathed in light, bathed in floods of singing water," or "the wild sheep of God" that populate Mary Austin's' landscape. Carson boldly does away with the grandiose language usually used to evoke emotion, and in its place she creates an overriding tone of objectivity. A trained biologist, she presents a vast body of information in a style that is succinct and straightforward, designed to have a logical, rather than artistic or spiritual, appeal. References to the divine, for example, are almost entirely lacking - a marked contrast between her work and that of most other writers. Rather, one races through a series of vividly sketched case studies and statistics, which together paint an increasingly convincing and dire picture. It is this tone of objectivity, somewhat ironically, that creates much of Silent Spring's tremendous emotional impact."
Abstract This paper examines Anne Carson's prose poem "The Glass Essay" in terms of the post-modern condition, which reduces human experience to the self and fragmented meanings, to loneliness and senselessness. It focuses on particular events in the poem, such as Carson's descriptions of her mother and a past love affair, and her insights into the mind of Emily Bronte. The paper ends by pointing out that, though the poem is written in the post-modern form and tradition, its conclusion presents a not so post-modern self but rather a very human, heartening, and timeless self.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
A Past Love Affair
An Aging Mother
On Emily Bronte
The Post-modern Self
Concluding Remarks
From the Paper "Throughout "The Glass Essay" Carson describes the profound loneliness that has always been part of human experience known to some individuals more than others and that is seen as a strong part of the postmodern personality. The world is thought to have changed with a great loss of faith in authorities, institutions or ideas of art or value that leave many people feeling they have no bearings, or that life is only absurd and senseless. People are believed to be more cut off from one another than was true in the past and with the resulting loneliness involving only the self as a reliable reality. It may be said that postmodern ideas of the self stress this extreme individuality and its results, no past grouping or category seeming to have relevance."
Abstract This paper reviews the short story "A Tree. A Rock. A Cloud" by Carson McCullers. The writer describes the main characters of the story, their interaction with each other and explains their literary roles as defined by the author.
From the Paper "There are three central characters, two of whom have minimal dialogue, and only one of whom is given a name. Leo is the owner of the cafe where the story takes place. The newspaper boy who visits the cafe early in the morning while on his rounds is twelve and is never named. The focus is on the drunken man sitting alone at a table, a man who makes a surprising comment to the boy and who then expands on his comment by telling his own story. The situation between the boy and the drunk involves a series of implied contrasts between youth and age, innocence and experience. A secondary contrast is evident between the drunken man and Leo, here between an open and accepting spirit and a closed and angry one. What the drunken man imparts to the boy is a difficult lesson learned, and the rather elliptical way the older man imparts this lesson suggests that the boy will have to learn it for himself, probably through experience, just as the older man has."
Abstract This three-page undergraduate paper discusses the work of Carson McCullers and Katherine Paterson in terms of which writer is more realistic in dealing with adolescent identity problems. The paper compares their major novels and concludes that Paterson's portrayal of the issue is more realistic than McCullers'.
Abstract This paper centers on the character of Frankie Adams' incomplete development and the symbolic use of music in Carson McCullers' classic novel "The Member of the Wedding." One of the most important examples of how the author uses music to signify Frankie's development is illustrated through the jazz horn in part one of the book while in part two the music of the piano foreshadows her progression towards maturity. This paper also examines how music signifies Frankie's instability within herself and the world around her.
From the Paper "In part two of the novella, the music of the piano also foreshadows Frankie's progression towards maturity. As the neighbor's piano is being tuned, it carries out the sound of interrupted music. With every repeated stop and start, it shows the music is out of Frankie's control. Because the music is disoriented, it represents the unpredictable ways of Frankie not finishing her transition to young adulthood. The musical references symbolize the confusion and chaos Frankie associates with her transition in the world."
Abstract This paper explains that, in Carson McCullers' novel "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter", which is set in a small town in the South in the late 1930s, five main characters are isolated from the rest of the society for different reasons. The author relates that Dr. Benedict Mady Copeland, the noblest character in the novel, is isolated because he is alienated from his family and from the other black people of the community. He is well educated and knows what is needed to solve the problems of the black community in his small southern town. The paper concludes that his isolation is because he has a very intellectual approach in explaining his viewpoints through his speeches, which cannot be clearly understood by people who have little or no education.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Overview of the Story
Dr. Benedict Mady Copeland
Facts
Principles
Conflicts and Isolation of Dr. Copeland
Speeches of Dr. Copeland
Conclusion
From the Paper "Dr. Benedict Mady Copeland is a man of principles and believes that furthering one's education will further one's standing in life. As a young man, Dr. Copeland went to the North to get a good college education. When he became a doctor, he came back to the South so that he can make use of his education in order to uplift the way of life in the black community of his small southern home town.
Dr. Copeland also believes that blacks are being stereotyped as ignorant because of the way they speak. This is why Dr. Copeland is very cautious on how he speaks."
Tags: isolation, flaws, physician, education, pride
Abstract Rachel Carson is celebrated as one of the most influential conservationist of the 20th century and one who will continue to to inspire generations to come. This paper examines the life story of Carson, beginning with her childhood, her university education, and her love for nature. It also focuses on Carson's most famous book, "The Silent Spring", which opened the world's eyes to the dangers of pesticide such as DDT and changed the course of this form of destruction to the environment.
From the Paper "In 1958 Carson received a letter from Olga Owens Huckins, owner of a private bird sanctuary in Duxbury, Massachusetts, who was horrified one day to find birds dead and dying throughout her property (Rachel pp). Explaining that only days earlier local agencies had conducted a massive, unannounced spraying of the pesticide DDT, Huckins begged Carson to find someone in government to look into the regulations regarding chemical spraying (Rachel pp). Carson had long suspected the danger posed by the use of DDT and in fact had once tried to interest Reader's Digest in an article based on research by Elmer Higgins and Clarence Cottram at the Fish and Wildlife Service, but Reader's Digest declined and the findings were never released to the public (Rachel pp)."
Abstract An analysis of Rachel Carson's literary work "Silent Spring". The author analyzes the message in the novel and Carson's use of language and symbolism to convey the message.
From the Paper "Be it known that the tapestry of life is formed by the lives of people. Each person is like a thread and it is difficult for the thread to see how it affects the whole. In this blindness, institutions are sometimes accepted that are not necessarily healthy. Once accepted the institutions begin to mar the design the tapestry. Sometimes in these moments a voice will arise that will help those who were blind to see. This voice in the wilderness will rush upon the consciousness of people like a mighty wave changing peoples perspectives demanding them to reevaluate their actions. This was so during the American Revolution when Tomas Pane wrote Common Sense. This literary worked helped lead Americans to the overthrow British rule and to found the United States. Later in American history Harriet Beacher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin which demanded that black slaves be freed. In recent history Rachel Carson shocked her reader into action when she was able to blend her talent as a writer with her scientific expertise into the literary work Silent Spring."
Abstract This paper discusses how Rachel Carson and Barbara McClintock,two of the most successful 20th century female scientists in the world often had their early work denigrated and ignored. Carson's work helped the world recognize the destructive and deadly powers of DDT and its relatives and helped establish the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Dr. Barbara McClintock won a Nobel Prize in 1983, after more than fifty years of research in genetic transposition. This paper looks at how both women had difficulty finding decent positions and reaching acceptance from their peers and how female scientists today continue to make great strides in research and technology, but still have difficulty in being taken seriously by their colleagues.
From the Paper "She began writing as a way to make extra income to help support herself and her mother, and left the Bureau of Fishers in 1952 to devote herself to writing. She began studying the effects of pesticides on people and animals as early as 1945. "'The more I learned about the use of pesticides, the more appalled I became,' Carson recalled"(Matthiessen). She went on to write one of the most influential volumes of the decade, "Silent Spring," which vehemently condemned (with startling and graphic research as evidence) the use of pesticides in commercial and agricultural spraying for the control of insects. Her description of the total annihilation of songbird populations where spraying occurred is chilling even today."
Tags: jumping, genes, nobel, prize, research, pesticides, agricultural, chemical, industry
Abstract After providing a brief autobiography of the author of "Silent Spring", Rachel Carson, the paper discusses the book itself in a chapter-by-chapter summary. "Silent Spring" was Carson's way of presenting to the public the dangers of the use of DDT. The paper also includes quotes from the text.
From the Paper "In Detroit, Michigan the Michigan Department of Agriculture decided to cover their city with Aldrin pellets, the most dangerous poison at the time (and the cheapest), to destroy their population of Japanese Beetles which had arrived in Detroit on plants imported from Mississippi. Carelessly they sprayed the pellets over the human population and when it rained over night the pellets were watered down and puddles of lethal poison lay scattered across the ground."
Abstract Carson McCullers' classic novel, "The Member of the Wedding', tells the story of a lonely 12 year old girl, Frankie Adams, suffering from typical adolescence crisis. In the course of being disconnected from the world, she reveals her frustration by not being a member of anything. This paper examines how Carson McCullers throughout the novella uses music to signify Frankie's incomplete development. It looks at how the many versions of music in the novella indicate Frankie's special burden of childhood, ultimately revealing her position of not being ready to become a teenager.
From the Paper "One of the most important examples of how McCullers uses music to signify Frankie's incomplete development is illustrated through the jazz horn in part one of the novella. When Frankie is visiting John Henry, she overhears someone playing blues on a horn. Her first notion about the tune takes her back to the spring, when all kinds of things began to hurt her. It was known as the season that troubled her: "it was like the telling of that long season of trouble" thought Frankie (44). The sadness of the tune reminds her of her disturbed childhood days. She is able to relate to the grieving tune. Then in a sudden moment the horn plays a wild jazz and Frankie is swept away by the off beat rhythm. "
Abstract This paper reviews and discusses the books "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson and "Cities in the Wilderness" by Bruce Babbitt. The paper then goes on to discuss how the presidents of the USA have dealt with energy and environmental issues, similar to those raised by Carson and Babbitt in their respective books.
From the Paper "The Nixon administration was ineffectual at changing the policy, and gradually, the oil embargo ended and gas lines disappeared. In addition, many different public agencies oversaw the energy policy, and that was inefficient at best. President Carter attempted to find alternative energy sources and regulate fuel consumption but Congress would not work with him. When Reagan took office in 1980, he did make some attempts to lower gas prices, but his administration still supported the oil and gas producers more than the people, in fact, his was a decade of close relationships with key oil and gas producers. He even removed the solar electricity generating panels President Carter had installed to help reduce energy costs at the White House. It is clear that the real solution is to raise energy taxes, but no president has been willing to go that far with their policy and thereby alienate many of the people."
Abstract This paper describes the lives and works of four people who's collective positive impact on the environment and on society's understanding of the natural world is powerful: John Muir, Aldo Leopold, Henry David Thoreau, and Rachel Carson. The author illustrates that an understanding of their lives and professional contributions is necessary for any student who wishes to become informed as to the effect the expansion of American cities and technologies has had on the planet. The paper includes a brief sketch of each individual, and concludes withe the author's impressions of their place and impact on environmental studies.
Outline:
Henry David Thoreau
John Muir
Aldo Leopold
Rachel Carson How have these Ideas Affected me Personally?
From the Paper "If that sounds a little esoteric, what the author is basically saying is that Thoreau was very experienced in the ways of humans and the wilderness; he lived next to Walden Pond for more than two years; he climbed mountains; he explored forests and hiked a great deal; and yet his "excursions...were not mere physical journeys but contemplative odysseys through which he gradually overcame the alienation of the person..." (137). When he wrote about his journeys into nature, he certainly wasn't writing a travelogue; he was in fact expressing through the creative genius of his mind's eye the many ways the bright spirit can interpret an experience with the wilderness. "
A look at two poems that deal with different kinds of abuse: "I Cannot Remember All the Times..." by Jo Carson and "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke.
Abstract This paper reviews and compares two poems: "I Cannot Remember All the Times..." (1989) written by Jo Carson and "My Papa's Waltz" (1948) written by Theodore Roethke. Both poems explore ideas of abuse in the perspective of the person that is on the receiving side. Carson's poem talks of abuse from a boyfriend or husband while Roethke speaks of abuse of a child from a father. The paper examines how the different poetic elements such as sound, imagery, and symbolism are important to the themes of each poem and contribute to the understanding of the poems because they heighten the emotion and allow the reader to feel what the speaker is going through. The paper also looks at how one of the most relevant of these elements is the speaker/auditor relationship in each poem.
From the Paper "In "My Papa's Waltz", the speaker appears to be a child speaking to his father and reflecting on what seems to be an abusive relationship. Although it is not universally agreed that this is a poem about child abuse, there are many images and diction choices that seem to point to that theme. There is a very simple rhyme scheme of ABAB and the poem is written in iambic trimeter so, there are important stresses on particular words that need to be followed. For example, in the first stanza, "But I hung on like death" (line 3), the word "death", the third stanza, "Was battered on one knuckle;" (10) the word "battered" and the fourth stanza, "You beat time on my head" (13) the word "beat". These words that are forced to have the stress contribute to a negative tone, especially within the rest of the context of the poem. The meter in this poem shows which words should be paid more attention to and which words have more importance."
