Emma Diaz
Dr. Summers
English 1103-28-39
18 September 2014
Relationship between Humans and Nature
The relationship between humans and nature is an important topic in which many people contribute ideas to and have done studies on. It is important for people to see that nature is a necessity and that we are responsible for protecting it. In essays and an article, John Steinbeck, Lynn White, Peter Kahn, Rachel Severson, and Jolina Ruckert discuss their beliefs and information they have found to be true about humans and nature living together.
In the article "Americans and the Land", John Steinbeck talks about the American settlers' impact on the land. He states that the relationship between humans and nature used to be one of settlers living with or against nature, but has over time come to humans living on or from the land. Steinbeck writes his feelings of humans being very irresponsible in their use of land back in a time when they thought there was an abundance of resources.
He writes that people "burned the forests and changed the rainfall; they swept the buffalo from the plains, blasted the streams, set fire to the grass" (Steinbeck). During the time of the Indians, humans attacked and defended themselves without giving thought to the damage they were causing to their environment around them. To go along with how little Americans thought about the environment, Steinbeck addresses how people went land-mad. Because they had so much of it, "They cut and burned the forests to make room for crops; they abandoned hyknowledge of kindness to the land in order to maintain its usefulness" (Steinbeck). The idea of conservation didn't much start until after engines and heavy mechanical equipment were in full use. And even since conservation and people finding awe and beauty in the nation's...