The major claim in McEwen’s article is how the river restoration of the Salmon in the San Joaquin River might be both a good and bad idea. “The fish” are exceptionally vulnerable to climate change.” McEwen is explaining both sides or both outcomes that might happen if the river restoration does or does not happen and he even brings in the experts from UC Davis that study California's rapidly declining Salmon population. This is important to see because even though McEwen has a opinion nothing beats cold, hard facts.…
“Save the Whales, Screw the Shrimp” by Joy Williams is an essay directed towards the human race, and how nature is being ruined by it. The human race is a large audience, but she believes that everyone is responsible for the destruction of nature, except herself of course. Williams wrote in such a satirical way, giving herself an advantage, or authority, over the audience. She showed such authority in that she used second person throughout the entire essay, as if demanding her audience to listen to what she had to say- “I don’t want to talk about me, of course, but it seems as though far too much attention has been lavished on you lately…” (Williams 581). By using second person and such strong tone toward the audience, she certainly made an impression. She always regarded nature as to having very great, significant importance to her, as it should, as she capitalized nature as though one would with God. The exigency that Williams addressed is that appreciation for nature has all but nearly diminished to the human race as of today- “…you don’t believe in Nature anymore” (Williams 581), and, according to Williams, if we don’t reverse it then our Earth will become a very dead one- “…making you increasingly aware that you’re a little too late for nature” (Williams 583). This last quote certainly appealed to my personal emotions, and possibly to others readers’ pathos. It made me feel bad that I don’t spend much time outside trying to save the environment, make it better, etc. But what good would it do, right? Because according to Williams, it won’t do any good since we are, after all, too late for nature.…
In the book Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky, the author tries to prove that the discovery of the cod fish changed the world. Gadus morhua, or cod, had turned from a commercial fish eaten by all, to a reason for war and travel. The book starts by following a group of Canadian fishermen who were struggling to sustain their livelihood on overfished seas. What they didn’t know was that they were “at the wrong end of a 1,000-year fishing spree.” As early as the 1600’s, the main source of food was cod. Cod had become a main source of food for long time as it was one of the only fish that could go without rotting. Along with its long lasting appeal, it was also one of the easiest fish to catch, being considered one of the laziest in the water. During a time where knowledge of other sources of food maintenance wasn’t as expanded as it is today, cod fish was essential for anyone near a body of water. Profit was the first outcome from this fish. Many people had begun to learn that salt was something that kept the fish lasting longer, one of the first being the Basques. Basques were located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France. Since as early as the 1000’s, the Basque people knew how to use both their boats and salt. They knew exactly where to catch the most cod fish and how to preserve. They started to put together, from what they thought, an unlimited supply of the fish because of their new way of storing it and traded it with other groups. Even the trade of salt was successful, due to the fact that other groups valued cod just as much. Basques had transformed flaky cod fillets into a protein-rich nutritious meal. Cod preserved became food for the masses; the salty stuff continued by the Vikings and large populations throughout Europe during the…
In 1983, a male killer whale was captured in the North Atlantic, at the age of 2, he was already 11.5 feet long. They named him Tilikum. Tilikum was first introduced at Sealand, at night they stored the whales in a “module”, a dark, metal 20 x 30 feet box for two-thirds of their lives. During the winter the orcas would be locked in from 5 pm to 7 am. February, 1991, Kelty Burn falls into the water, then Tilikum brings her down, and drowns her. In the newspapers it claimed that it was an accidental drowning. Sealand closed, and SeaWorld needed a breeder. So, SeaWorld purchased Tilikum. Blackfish is a documentary that follows story of Tilikum, a captive killer whale that has taken lives of several people, and presents major issues within the sea-park industry.…
On Lawrence case, she says “And I wished he would come back, my snake.” The speaker learns that snake is dangerous and disgusting from society, but she wants snake to come back after it leaves. Generally, many people get scare by snake and don’t want it, but the speaker wants it back and miss it right after it leaves. It can have two meanings, which are loneliness and his recklessness. She throws a rock to snake when snake look at her slowly and turn back. Then, she regrets because she throws a rock at the one who is thankful to come by her house. On bishop’s poem, the speaker says “until everything was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow! And I let the fish go.” She felt victory at first time she catches fish, but ironically now she feels victory or achievement by release the fish. The reason is she feels some kind of proud. For example, it could be similar as when you play a sport with other person and doesn’t matter if you win or lose, you feel satisfaction because both players played fairly and did their best. She highly respects fish’s hard times and just proud of herself by just catch tough fish. Lastly, she releases the fish and the rainbow from oil implies joy and…
Big Fish is a film directed by Tim Burton and filled with all sorts of different elements. One of these elements pertains to Edward Bloom, a man too full of thoughts and excitement for his hometown of Ashton. This element spreads throughout the entire film while at the same time, demonstrating two of Edward’s different views: the one of the world and the one of himself. Both views play an important role in the film as they are tied together during on the last scenes in the movie: Edward’s funeral. They come together to become one view in which Edward is always present.…
Some people believe that Sea World is a greedy, profit-seeking organization that couldn’t care less about the treatment and well-being of their animals, but the truth is, the animals are in the best possible care. If the orcas or any other animal at Sea World were anywhere else, they would not get the attention and care they need to survive. Sea World’s reputation was tarnished severely by the documentary, Blackfish, in 2013. “This documentary claims that life at Sea World is cruel and harsh for both the trainers and the whales and that they have attempted to cover up the truth about many incidents involving their whales; both are false (Truth About Blackfish, Sea World Cares.com). Kyle Kittleson, a former marine mammal trainer for Sea World, states, “the documentary, Blackfish, is about 15% correct; one of those facts being in Sea Worlds earlier times, like the 60’s and 70’s, people had a different…
Who does not love to see dolphins and whales flipping and doing tricks? Although the animals look happy and unharmed, there is a dark truth behind the captive marine life in amusement parks and zoos. Yes, attending zoos and marine life amusement parks are a part of childhood; but recently researchers have discovered just how cruel the environment is for the marine life in captivity. After studies of comparing the quality of life of marine animals in the wild and in captivity, there are multiple examples shown in Blackfish, PETA, and the Animal Welfare Institute that show that animals prosper and live longer in their natural habitats. Due to the cruelty endured by the captivated Orcas, all the SeaWorld parks should be shut down and the Orca whales should be set free to prevent further demise to their species.…
SeaWorld is considered one of the most magical places on earth. With majestic animals that aren’t seen in everyday life, come alive to please thousands of people a day. While we believe these animals are happy and enjoy the attention, Blackfish has given us reasons not to believe the false advertisement. While comparing these animals to the wild, we see that they are not as free as they should be and deserve to live in their natural habitat. One of the animals that the film focuses on are killer whales, also known as orcas, which are massive animals that like to swim for miles a day not just in circles which is what they do at SeaWorld. After watching Blackfish, I hope viewers are as sickened as I was and vow to never go.…
The short essay “Look at Your Fish”, is written by Samuel Hubbard Scudder, was born in Boston, Massachusetts on April 13, 1837 and lived until May 17, 1911. Scudder’s profession was an entomologist and paleontologist and was widely known for his essay on the importance of first-hand, careful observation in the natural sciences. He graduated at Williams College in 1857 and at Harvard University in 1862. In the short essay “Look at Your Fish” it narrates how Scudder wants to learn all about zoology, especially about insects and so the professor then gives him a fish specimen and tells Scudder to look at it. This happens many times and each time Scudder looks and observes the fish, he sees more and more new aspects of the fish.…
The carp in Yun Wangs’ “The Carp” represents the pain and injustice of her father’s imprisonment. At the beginning of the poem, Wang talks about her father catching a large Carp. He was a principal and decided to give it to the schools kitchen so that the students and faculty could eat it. The carp as large, about 20 pounds. Wang says, “They had tasted the carp.”…
This symbolism is used to shape a contrasted perspective of Australian culture that isn’t normally depicted in iconic Australian Poems. The idea of the rare ‘rainbow’ shows that there is more to Australia than strong, free, bush rangers or the beautiful bush. The author doesn’t show the crying as a weakness or rarity, just admiration for a person who freely cries. Which is why the poem is named, ‘An Absolutely Ordinary Rainbow’ the author insists that this is a normality. Showing that the Australian voice is much more 3 dimensional, for the man to be able to weep with dignity and faith, whilst also bearing himself bare to the public.…
Poems have a way of drawing an audience to several interpretations. This is clear in Elizabeth Bishop’s poem “The Fish” as the speaker has second thoughts of capturing a fish to eat after realizing the severities it went through. This poem does a great job of using several techniques to get its point across on the central theme, which is interpreted as the ongoing struggle of humans versus nature. The author uses several literary approaches to convey its message. By utilizing diction, figurative language and imagery, the power of man over the environment is easily developed.…
There are 7 different species of salmon that can be found in the Pacific Ocean, each species has a unique appearance and has different habitats but they share many characteristics. Salmon are also a very unique species, they are anadromous, meaning that their eggs are laid and hatch in freshwater, and their youth spend some of their early lives there in freshwater before swimming to the ocean to grow and mature. Pacific salmon spawn only once and dies within days of digging their nest and mating. Their bodies will float down the stream and decompose, filling the water will nutrients for other species and plants as food. Both live and dead salmons plays an important food source for birds, such as eagles and gulls and mammals, such as bears.…
Over the years, many social scientists have offered a number of theories to explain personality trait and development. But while this debate continues, one aspect of personality development continues to engender a great deal of controversy: personality pathology. This area of concentration seems to have garnered more attention in recent years, as experts scramble to offer explanations and analysis for what appears to be a general decline in the moral fabric of American society, fueled by what appears to be a general coarsening of civility among certain segments of our population. Are more people simply being born with personality disorders that ultimately lead them down this path? Not so according to the basic principles of the psychodynamic theory.…