In advertisements such as the “Innocent Orange Juice” commercial the orchards where the fruit is grown is so aesthetically pleasing. This effect can also be seen in other commercials for main stream brands. The orchards are depicted as extensive, sunny havens where all the workers are happily going about their picking. The individuals harvesting the fruit are usually always older men with mustaches wearing denim. This particular advertisement chose to focus on the the natural aspects of the juice. Near the end of the commercial  it says, “Nature does the hard work we just squeeze her best bits”. I found it interesting that they chose to focus on this. I do not know to what extent farmers use nontoxic methods but it would be very ironic if those “natural” oranges were covered in pesticide.

Continue reading →

Rachel Carson’s “A Silent Spring” is a critical novel about the ubiquitous environmental practices around the 1960’s. She begins the novel by using a hypothetical setting that calls forth nostalgia for a reader who can identify with the loss of life in nature. She suggests that many settings in America have lost critical natural elements that create the atmosphere of each season. Carson is able to identify when this switch from picturesque, vivid seasons to the “shadow of death” happens. I am not able to pin point when this switch happened. Carson has been able to see the slow change and progression that humanity’s conventions have imposed upon nature. However, this means that it is only a matter of a few years until my generation can see the change taking place within nature.

Continue reading →

The novel, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, was inspired by the life of Christopher McCandless. McCandless was a young man living in suburbia who was discontent with his way of life. After graduating from college, McCandless decided to travel to Alaska and experience the “Great Frontier”.  While in Alaska McCandless was ecstatic at first. For the first time in his life he feels as if he is connecting with nature and living a meaningful life. One of McCandless favorite pass times was to read transcendental writers such as Emerson and Thoreau. McCandless was interested in how these authors wrote about their connection with nature. His trip to Alaska was driven by the transcendental spirit instilled in him by such authors.

Continue reading →

When studying the Bible scholars tend to split it up into the Old Testament and the New Testament. Both canons were written at different times and reflect different types of Gods. In the New Testament God is seen mostly as a loving, kind God who sends his only son to save his people. To show how much he loves his creation, and is willing to sacrifice for it. Conversely, in the Old Testament, from which we read for Monday’s class, God is seen as an omnipotent being who has total control over the life and death of the population. This type of God can be paralleled with the God that the Pima story portrays. In the Pima adaptation the Doctor of the Earth sees that his creation is flawed and thus decides to start fresh by simply destroying all the life that he had created. The Doctor of the Earth does this several times because of the imperfections his creations portray. A similarity between Gods can be seen from the Christian story about Noah and his arc. In this story the God also sees that his creation had become flawed and corrupt. God is so disgusted that he only decides to save Noah, his family, and two of each animal. Although, both gods are omnipotent beings, they decide to save something from their original creation.

Continue reading →