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American Nature

"How strange that Nature does not knock, and yet does not intrude!" - Emily Dickinson

=__Introduction__= ====Ever since our planet Earth has been created, nature has always existed. It is never an over-exaggeration to claim that individuals, groups of people, our societies, communities, countries and entire universe are all related to the nature itself. After I interviewed different people from different age levels about how they feel towards nature around them, I realized that nature also affects the way how people are grown. It was interesting to see that students actually care and know much about our nature and current events on resources problems, because I had expected more careless replies since younger people are more likely to be obsessed with electronic technologies and Internet. One thing common from elders was that they tend to view nature as a 'thing' that always coexist with city life. They also dream traveling through wilderness if they have any chance. The interview was definitely fun because their responses were completely opposite from what I had expected (elders knowing more and youngers hoping to explore). Following paragraphs lead readers how to approach the nature as time elapses from ancient stories all the way upto the modern wilderness. Hopefully they may be able to focus on how to relate each paragraph to idea of nature, so that they realize how to put those ideas together to understand nature itself.====

=__How is nature regarded to our society?__= ====As more advanced technologies are developed, more resources are exploited from our nautre. Papers, chairs and desks are made of wood, and if they want to manufacture them in a more sophisticated way, then they put iron or other metals into them. However, as nature and resources are limiting, and people's demand still overflowing, people are creating new method of producing energy without harming the pure nature. For example, we now have solar-energy or wind-energy, which is produced by constant and natural resource: sun and wind. Also, people build dams and they can produce electricity forever, unless the water doesn't flow. ====

Although people already realize it is not moral to destroy the nature, they exploit trees and other valuable resources to improve the facilities and technology for better lives.
==== Thus, most people in the world would believe the nature is an essential part of our lives, and without it, there won't be any better future. Their ideas are completely correct and logical enough, but when I hear the word 'nature', I actually think of disasters even before I think of how the nature affects our society. As a child, I asked my mother "What would be the most powerful being in this world, mom?" and I was actually expecting her to say that human beings are the strongest and most powerful because even fierce animals are hunted by humans. However, my mother replied "Well, the nature is the most powerful because nothing can own nature." I couldn't understand what she was talking about, but now that I have seen tsunamis in Japan and Thailand, hurricanes in America, earthquakes in China, dearth in Africa, and typhoons that occur at least three times a year near East Asia, I finally can agree with her. It seems people are strongest since they destroy and harm nature more and more, but they can't survive and can't prevent the natural disasters from happening. Therefore, everytime I see a word 'nature', I feel that we, human beings are just tiny, cute creatures. ====

__Hiking Within the Nature __ At the top of the James Buchanan Mountain, I realized I was shivering with fear, but also with a smile; cold drops of sweat flew down my back, and I had to feel the absolute chill while looking down the gigantic, or more like GIGANTIC mountains and plains. Since I was a young boy, nature generally has come to my mind as a powerful and fearful source, but this experience introduced me into a totally different thought. Nature is gorgeous, and the fact that I am a part of it is more fantastic. Since I have always hiked medium mountains that are in the middle of sightseeing places, in which people construct buildings and houses, I have never felt the true nature, a place where people can not touch or affect. But I could feel only an irony: not being able to feel nature at the top of a part of nature. Therefore, it is not a over-reaction to describe that I felt such an amazing feeling, when I hiked up the mountain in the States where so much wilderness is alive. To be honest, I once didn’t agree with Emerson’s ideas, just because I couldn’t undertand his statements fully. However, the experience at James Buchanan Mountain led me into Emerson’s world of nature. “I am nothing compared to the nature,” mostly touched my mind many times. When I looked around the endless plains of trees and forests, even the huge rocks and 20-feet high trees seemed so tiny. Then I wondered, ‘How small would I look like in the forest, if I look down on myself from the top of the mountain?’ The answer I came up with was nothing, or a pebble on a football field, or a needle on a sand beach. Because I felt reverential about the beauty of nature, and afraid of the size of it, I bowed my head silently. Listening to the sounds around me quietly, I believed in the power of wind because I could sense the wind moving all the trees, forests, and mountains. All the nature made sounds when there was one blow of wind. Moreover, I learned that in the wilderness where humans haven’t touched, there are no whispers of bird and other wild animals, but only deep and peaceful sound exists.

==__Using the two initial texts, explain how our society views and should view/use/treat nature and wilderness. Citing examples from the two texts create a piece that states where we are today with our understanding of nature and it’s use and influence on our lives. Take from the many things we discussed to illuminate your point.__==

==== I believe people have to treat nature with more care. Decades ago, when people started to use nature for their own goods, perhaps they had respected it because of the fact the nature supports them to improve technology and facilities for better lives. However, as our societies are civilized and as many parts of nature have been used for resources, people are losing their respect and care. Recently, I heard about the news that throughout few years, almost one third of the Amazon river forest, which is still known as ‘Lungs of the Earth’, has been exploited by humans who eager for more resources. The consequence is clear, when the massive exploitation keeps proceeding; there will be no nature left. However, it is somewhat logical to claim that there won’t be a better future if humans do not use nature for their goods. This ‘nature shortage’ issue brings different opinions between many scholars, professors, and even authors. ====

====In ‘Encounters with the Archdruid’ written by John Mcphee, there are Dominy and Brower who have completely opposite opinions about the conservation of nature. Dominy believes people have to use nature in order to make a better future, but Brower strives to protect the nature because he claims the pure ‘nature’ should be kept in its original form. Both of their ideas can not be denied because they are logical and rational enough, except they are too tilted into one side. Thus, mixing these two different ideas, Michael Pollen writes ‘The Idea of a Garden’. I believe Pollen has a potential solution for a problem that Dominy and Brower encounter, because he believes in neutrality. What he wants to imply by mentioning the garden, is that our nature is a metaphor for the garden itself. Thinking realistically, we can compare the garden and the nature around us. When we cut all the grass and trees, and destroy little lakes, rocks and plants that grow in our garden, there would be no point of having a garden because it will look worse than having no garden at all. However, if we never care for our garden and leave it as it is forever, it will look messy and uncomfortable. Therefore, the fact that we need a balance between the two situations is what Michael Pollen is talking about in his writings. “Overcultivation tends to repress this quality, which experience tells him is necessary to health in all three realms. But wildness is more a quality than a place, and though humans can’t manufacture it, they can nourish and husband it.” (192, The Idea of a Garden). I believe in Micheal Pollen’s idea of how to treat the nature. ====

==== It is fairly easy to observe certain differences between each creation legends or stories, which we have discussed over in class. As the genesis, cotton mather, and Iroquois all have discrete cultures and time periods, they see the creation in different points of view. One thing to remember is that these three distinct stories each represents three different ideas of each culture, and it means people have discrete ways of looking at the nature itself. ====

[[image:painting-jesus-god-suspending-the-world-between-his-hands.jpg width="306" height="253" align="right"]]
====In Genesis, the Lord God first creates the nature because he wanted to prepare for next creation, the human. Because he is perfect, he repeats himself that the world is perfect and well done. After making a man and a woman, he tells them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”. However, as the humans commit crime of disobeying his words, there becomes an adversarial relationship between the two. Men and women now will be symbiotic with the nature, and have to feed and work themselves in order to achieve resources from it. ====

[[image:06sept2009_rennsark2.jpg width="360" height="280" align="left"]]
====However, the creation story from Iroquois differs from the point of view that the god is not perfect sometimes. Juhwertamahkai, the doctor of the Earth, wanders around the Earth and starts to create nature. Then he creates a Person at the very last moment of his preparation. But unlike the Lord God from genesis who actually gives path to humans how to establish, the Doctor of the Earth let go by themselves. Eventually, because of his own mistakes, he ends up creating the Earth several times because he isn’t satisfied with humans’ behaviors and life styles. What the Iroquois people try to mention from this story is that the god is not always perfect, and human beings and nature can be destroyed if they lose their balance. ==== ====I believe the creation story of Iroquois is more appealing to modern people because the theme of the story can be an acrimonious advice. Since we moderners use and exploit nature for our own good more and more as our technology improves, it is true that our Earth will eventually be remained bald without trees ,and destroyed gradually because of left-over garbages. Perhaps, the Iroquois creation myth comes to people's minds more realistically than the genesis does, because they already realize that the Earth and their lives can not be perfect like the Lord God is. However, though the two creation stories have different aspects of whether the 'GOD' is perfect or not, they both infer the human beings are created by the god, and fated to co-exist with the nature. ==== =media type="youtube" key="0oR1v0DpTcs" height="283" width="378" media type="youtube" key="P3XoYZgvEH8" height="283" width="378" =

=__**Cotton Mather: 1663-1728**__=



==== Comletely non-related to the three ancient stories, Americans like Cotton Mather started to change their view towards nature; rather than believing in certain symbols and myths, they tried connecting nature with religion. Cotton Mather was a man full of hope, and he was extraordinary among those people who wanted a change. ====

==== Because he always hoped for a better world ever since he was young, when he graduated from Harvard University, he was highly praised by the president. “In this youth, Cotton and Mather shall, in fact as well as name, joint together and once more appear in life” (161). This directly implied that Cotton’s hope was so great that it is going to recognized by many people in the future and become useful. Thus, Cotton’s family apparently expected him to be an exceeding man, and were curious about his actions. Few years later, Cotton started to build churches, schools, and hospitals for local ordinary people, because he loved participating in good works and helping people who are poorer than he was. He definitely improved the society better and better as he earned ages. Therefore, it seemed naturally that he actually hoped luck for the first generation of Puritans when he heard it is gradually fading away. However, people against Cotton Mather claimed that he always thinks unrealistically, because hope and ideal don’t do any good when there are no actions involved. Although Cotton already knew that he is ignorant of how the world actually runs, he “has set forth clearly the history of a people who transformed a wilderness into a garden and the ideal of a harmonious community” (162). In his work Magnalia, Cotton still defends the Puritan beliefs and try to record the entire New England’s history in it, which seems arduous for many people. "Mather experimented in a variety of forms that served the tastes of an emergent popular literary culture." (162) The reason why he kept putting those ideas into his work, is that he does follow Benjamin Franklins’ beliefs, which introduces similar guidance for nature too. ====

__**"Way to Wealth"**__ Benjamin Franklin: 1706-1790
==== As I mentioned before while writing about Cotton Mather, hopes and ideals are no use unless the actions are involved in reality. Though Cotton was not much experienced in putting his ideas into an action, they were similar to those of Benjamin Franklin, who quotes himself as Poor Richard. ====

He basically tells the readers how to improve people’s individual lives,
==== by giving words written after his wisdom and life experience. I believe the difference between Cotton Mather and Benjamin Franklin comes from this. Unlike Mather, Franklin greatly succeeds in persuading many people with his ideas by expressing with words. ====

[[image:money.toilet.paper.jpg width="283" height="223" align="right"]]
====Anyway, Benjamin Franklin’s words are so soothing and persuasive that the readers feel comfortable, and the meanings of the words make them nod while skimming through them. Franklin touched people’s mind by mentioning what they already have experienced through lives. “A word to the wise is enough, and many words won’t fill a bushel” (221). As if it were an advice, I realized that a man who says words briefly with key points looks charismatic and wise, while another garrulous man who speaks useless words looks childish and frivolous. One thing that fascinates the readers is not only the sympathy they feel, but also Franklin’s way of writing words in order to touch their minds more efficiently. “Sleeping fox catches no poultry and that there will be sleeping enough in the grave,” (222). The metaphor Benjamin uses to mention a human as a fox tries to say that lazy man will fail down the society, and too much sleep is unnecessary. Instead of directly saying the words, using figurative languages helped him to gain more support. His last advice, "We may give advice, but we cannot give conduct," (224) adds up all his ideas into one conclusion; people's mind can be moved by his words, but whether they would strive to reach their actions relies on themselves.==== ====Benjamin Franklin’s most important and common idea of those words are saving for living modestly, hardwork for good habits, and honesty for sobriety in societies. As he loved the fact that he can recognize himself by reading his own quotes, Benjamin mostly focused on telling people to be aware of themselves.====

__Jefferson's Key Focuses on Nature: 1743-1826__
== Although Cotton Mather believed in people's similar guidance for nature by building churches and hospitals for example, Jefferson strongly believed himself that our nature originally came from specific details of weather, climates, mountains, and oceans. He was more likely a person who thinks that nature depends more on "pure beauty" of nature, which is the definition of what we all learn in kindergartens (flowers, trees, and grass).

1. CLIMATES
==== Because climates are generally not consistent in a region, so I thought there would be much information about it. Like my thought, since Virginia is an extensive region, it includes various climates and sources of climates including heat, rain, and wind. According to the graph Jefferson created by observing the climate for about five years, he could conclude that it rains the most on August, which I already have expected. However, what fascinated me was the fact that August is also the month that has the greast amount of daily heat produced. I have believed June or July would be the warmest month for most of the regions, but I realized it is different in Virginia. Lastly, Jefferson claims that a more remarkable difference is in the winds, which prevail in the different parts of the country. (204) He supports his idea by saying that winds transfer the heat between the ocean and the landmarks, that the amount of rain and heat is controlled by wind transfer in each month. ====

2. MOUNTAINS
==== How mountains form in different ways in various directions is fascinating. In northern side of Virginia, the mountains are standing beside each other, parallel to the riverside or the horizontal of an ocean, that they create peaceful view. Perhaps, like the Lion Mounain in Kape Town, South Africa, they would look like a table when it is viewed from distance. However, on the other hand, in southern side of the rigion, it is more like the mountains create a valley by standing beside a single ridge. Jefferson claims that the inhabitants are ignorant of the names of the mountains, since they are affected by European maps more than native maps. ====



__Crevecoeur; The Letter from an american farmer: Around 1782__


==== In the letter from an american farmer, Crevecoeur focuses on the freedom of America. For me, it was interesting because I had already thought that the farmer would have more creative ideas about the nature, since he is close with the landmarks and knows well about pure nature. As he arrived to the land of america, he sees “Here are no aristocratical families, no courts, no kings, no bishops, no ecclesiastical dominion, no invisible power,” (301). He praises the fact that everyone is allowed to have their own religions, and rights to speech without any harsh restrictions. I loved the part where he talks about how European countries are affected by american ideals. Crevecoeur believes it is true because all the states in america have its “own, founded on the government, climate, mode of husbandry, customs, and peculiarity of circumstances.” (305), thus making Europeans inspired and look at America with respect. Crevecoeur writes not only about the freedom, but also about the responsibilities people take when they treat nature. “Go thou and work and till; thou shalt prosper, provided thou be just, grateful, and industrious.” (310) By saying this, he supports his idea that people can’t earn resources if they don’t work hard and sacrifice themselves. Since they are cultivators, people have expanded the entire wilderness in the East Coast, but they have filled the empty spaces with infrastructures such as tools that are helpful for farming and cultivating. Crevecoeur does believe the nature is precious and people can’t survive without it. Crevecoeur shows much respect to the nature, however, his ideas were too typical and not-attractive enough that not many people followed his ideals. They didn't really try to respect native americans, and moreover their views towards nature was not in an unison; Crevecoeur thought the nature would be the land where people depend and build themselves up, while native americans always believed that nature is not just the place to stay, but a place to show divine respect because their idea shows that everyone is born from the land itself. ====

__**Rip Van Winkle and Legend of Sleepy Hallow:**__
==== Rip Van Winkle lives with his family like a man does, but he unexpectedly experiences a mystery. He was indeed a good-natured guy, always willing to help the neighbors. Although his personalities were charming to every other people, his problem was that he isn’t responsible enough for his own family members, compared to how he is willing to help others. Thus, Rip Van Winkle is always nagged by his petulent wife, because she wants him to be more supportive to his own family. ====

[[image:rip_van.jpg width="336" height="257" align="left" caption="Rip Van Winkle Sleeping"]]
==== Since Rip can’t afford buying good clothes for his kids and wife, they have to wear the used and shaggy clothes. His daily lives and nature are more like a One day, the mystery happens in a forest while he is walking on a path. Rip hears a voice that keeps calling his name, and looking around anxiously, he recognizes a gnome standing behind a tree; he was wearing a Dutch clothes on him. Wondering how the gnome appeared all of a sudden, Rip receives a liquid from him, and drinks it. Because the affect of the liquid is too strong, Rip ends up sleeping for twenty years. After waking up from the deep sleep, Rip freaks out about the fact how his family have changed over the period. ==== ==== The story connects with nature in some ways. The author is trying to express that the number of years which we humans believe to be extensive, is nothing compared to the nature around us. When Rip wakes up from the sleep, he doesn’t realize he slept for twenty years at first, because the nature around him hasn’t changed by a lot. The story focuses more on Rip’s reactions, but the real treasure that helps readers to understand the story fully is the connection with the nature’s omnipotence. ====

[[image:139-HeadlessHorseman.jpg width="223" height="185" align="right"]]
==== It seems everyone is enjoying the party and nothing deadly is about to happen at first, but the headless horseman suddenly invades into the mansion. The headless horseman literally lost his head during the revolutionary war when he was hit by a cannon, and he wants a new head that can be replaced with the pumpkin head he is currently wearing. The protagonists try to solve the mystery by collecting clues from people relative to the mansion, and see if the headless horseman is real or a fake. These two stories are usually in common, because both include the mysteries that can’t be happened in reality. That gnome appears from no where all of a sudden and gives Rip the strong liquid, is random and cursory because there is no beginning and an end. Similarly, the headless horseman in Scooby Doo also can not be existent in real world, because a human can’t live without his head apparently. Both imply the unrealistic mysteries, but the fact that the readers actually relate these two stories/legends to the nature is absolutely interesting. Both stories basically makes it clear that they are mysteries and that nature has supernatural or omnipotent power to control over people. The reason why these stories are related to the nature is that people are affected very easily by an environment surrounding them. Losing one's family is just one example that can happen because of being affected by the nature in a wrong way. ====

__Ralph Waldo Emerson__
Emerson was a puritan who contributed greatly on american literature and philosophy. He was grown up in a poor family, but his intelligence was so great that he went to Harvard University to become a writer. Emerson mostly focused on writing about the relationship between the nature and god, and he sometimes wrote poems with the theme. Emerson strongly believed that people have set the relationship between them and god. As “all science has one aim, namely, to find a theory of nature” (486), he claims humans also desire to find and know ‘true’ relationship, since the relationship they have known for decades is artificial. He believes that there is no question that god can not answer; the logic behind it is more like a chain. What he is trying to mention is that questions are made by humans and humans are created by god; thus, whatever the question humans make, the god knows all the answers. “Undoubtedly we have no questions to ask which are unanswerable.” (486) Moreover, Emerson thinks the nature must be existent because god has created nature, and it is used for a resource which god needs for his plans. His ideas are somewhat comparable with the genesis or Iroquios story, because they all talk about where the nature actually begins. However, Emerson’s ideas differ from the genesis because Emerson normally writes with his philosophical beliefs, based on the fact that “the universe is composed of Nature and the Soul.” (486) On the other hand, genesis gives a point on the supernaturality and the power of god’s creation. Emerson’s writings do help people recognize the connection between the nature and themselves. Emerson was a man who firmly believed two main ideas. One is that people are actually related to christianity, since God creates everything in the universe. Another is about how nature could be so useful for people to be feeling comfortable, or sometimes obssessed with the nature that some people are worse off, depending too much on the nature. Huck realizes that too much beauty and too optimistic view towards nature can lead people into disasters, while he travels along the wilderness by himself at an early age.

Urban Nature

**__Role of nature in Huckleberry Finn__**
====Huck sees nature with a complex manner. For one thing, he has lived within the nature since he was a kid and abandoned. He uses nature more than most of the characters in the book do, as a tool for his survival. Huck lives in harmony with nature, nature is an essential part of huck and without this reliance upon nature, huck would be lost. Nature is a refuge for Huck, because every time he is lost and weary throughtout his journey, he runs into the wild nature and soothe his complicated mind state. Nature is what Huck turns to when he needs direction and solace in his life.For example, when Huck leaves the house of Widow Douglass and Mrs. Watson with his father, Huck starts to seem be much more comfortable than when he was somewhat ‘forced’ in the house; he smokes lying on the grass, and the nature seems to be a more familiar house for Huck.====

[[image:Adventures-of-Huckleberry-Finn-284198.jpg width="347" height="347" align="right"]]
====Nature not only affects Huck’s way to find his inner comfort, but also emphasizes how Huck is different from people he meets throughout his journey throughout the adventure. As we have discussed in the class, Huck is not a typical thirteen years old boy, since he has absolute ability to think beyond the original and lie naturally without hesitations. The village, in which Huck had lived with the widow, is operated by a social order; slaves exist and black people are considered filthy. However, unlike people from the village, Huck doesn’t believe in such conviction (that the black are the worst). From the beginning of chapter 5, Huck joins Jim into his journey, not only because he needed an ally who can support and fill his shortcoming as a young boy, but also because Huck’s mind is filled with kindness and benevolence. Although Huck knows he can be in danger anytime if he brings Jim with him, but without concerns, Huck wants to be closer with Jim, giving deadly pranks. This social order or a rule as a nature of the society definitely shows the difference between personalities of Huck and those of other people in the village.==== ====Perhaps, Huck is isolated from the society by the nature. Because of his father’s infamous reputation and the difference in beliefs on black people, Huck runs away from such society and become isolated. However, ironically, the nature helps Huck overcome the loneliness he feels by providing natural places where Huck can enjoy and find comfort throughout his journey.==== ==== The most important thing that nature teaches Huck during his adventure is to survive independently although he is at such a young age. Huck quickly learns almost all the survival skills that are necessary to overcome difficulties of being a tiny little kid, and he becomes mature, that he can now comprehend other people's emotional states well enough. As I mentioned in the previous paragraph, Huck takes advantage of nature because he automatically uses nature to be free from the society and to make valuable friends like Jim and Tom. In this era when the book was published, many people have been greatly inspired by this connection between a 13-year old boy and his free use of nature. It is not wrong to say that The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn is the key source to introduce urban nature into American literature. ====

__**Maggie; The Girl of the Streets**__
====Stephan Crane sets out two different stories for the Johnson children, Maggie and Jimmie. The novel begins with a realistic and severe setting of Bowery, a city where the Johnson family lives. Both Maggie and Jimmie are not special but just normal kids, and they are shaped by the violent environment of the city. But, as soon as the conflict between their parents is worsened, and as they are matured, the two start to look at society in different ways. Due to the unstable background, Maggie attains a profession as a prostitute of the streets, and Jimmie becomes a wild and cynical individual who always criticizes everything that happens around him. Interestingly, Crane intentionally sets the personalities of the two characters so opposite, that it is easier to compare the results of the two in such city. Maggie is a moral and reserved girl, who has a deep scar in her mind due to the death of her father and little brother, and mother's continuous insanity. On the other hand, Jimmie is an individual who is so cynical and looks at society so sharply that he believed in nothing, but his own decisions. However, it is indeed astonishing to see how Maggie can not fit into the urban society and become isolated when she is moral, while Jimmie perfectly fits in the society and survives.==== ====Eventually, Maggie dies because she can't overcome the harshness of the city. Crane criticizes the wilderness of urban nature by claiming that only physical and psychological toughness are necessary to survive in Bowery; morality and order are not primary. Since Jimmie is in a part of gangs, fighting and defeating over another, and cynical about the world, he knows how to survive in such city and believes morality is no use. Especially at the end of the book, where Maggie is kept being rejected from her family, the situation represents the unbalance and destruction of morality of the society; her family even tells her to go to hell. Stephan Crane illustrates well on how Maggie could have felt when there is nobody she can rely herself on, and such description introduces the urban wilderness.====

__**World Fair EXPO**__


====The world fair EXPO was held in Chicago on 1983. At that time, Chicago was known as one of the most famous railroad technology countries in the world. From the beginning, it seemed that the progress was on a positive slope when people built all those fine architectures and buildings in two years above the muddy land; the construction of World Fair included new land areas, canals, and about 150 fine buildings as mentioned above. The fact that all those buildings and facilities are built in two years is truly splendid because everyone had expected longer time to take in order to finish the process. This new concept about 'urban wilderness' was about to be brought in people's minds, and it was ready to invite millions of people around the world in order to look at this event. However, unlike people's high expectations about the world fair's amazing quality, there were serious problems that continuosly had occured during the fair. In European exhibition, for example, visitors couldn't walk around the place because the monuments and statues took too much space, when there were countless number of people who tried to join the exhibition. Problems included not only such discomfort during the visit, but also strikes, diseases and gang. While such problems were troublematic to the middle and lower classes, they were not known to the people of upper class because they hadn't suffered from hunger and sickness. Moreover, due to the extremely massive entity of construction, there was a limitation of money to operate the rest of programs that were held in the Expo. For example, the manager of the world fair expected more profit to be earned, but because there were more input of money than the output, he had to suffer a huge loss in the business. The urban wilderness seemed to prosper in the beginning, but the result was worse than expectation because people suffered more than they had pleasure.====

__**The Great Gatsby & American Land**__
====The Great Gatsby fits into the American Land and Literature because its themes and ideas are connected to the people, society and mood during 1920s and 1930s. First of all, the characters are related to their american dreams in that era. One part of the American Dream is the ownership, since the loyalty has been given to a person who owns the most. On the other hand, another part of the dream describes how people try their best and succeed in the end no matter how their background has been; not only the rich can be successful, but also the poor. Each of the characters in the novel 'The Great Gatsby' is somewhat related to each of the parts of american dream because their personalities and way of behaving differs based on where they live and how much loyalty they attain. Gatsby attains much fame and power from everyone just by the fact that he owns the greatest house and wealth in West Egg. His behavior towards other poorer people is not arrogant, but he believes he can do whatever he wants to do (bringing his love, for example) with all the money he has. However, although Gatsby becomes famous after granting all the East Egg and West Egg people pleasure and joy by opening parties for them every week, the reality that Gatsby faked his true identity can't be changed. It is truly amazing to fake everything about himself just to meet his love once more, but it is awkward to see people nominating Gatsby as the most loyal figure in the town because they are granting him fame only based on the fact that Gatsby owns a lot, without knowing anything else about him. American Land also gives a huge impact on people's personalities as mentioned before. Characteristics of Tom and Daisy who live in East Egg where super wealthy people dwell on, and those of Mr. Wilson and Myrtle who live in the Valley of Ashes are completely different. For example, Tom visits Mr. Wilson's house to pick up Mrytle to the apartment they have in New York. Mr. Wilson has no right to protect or control his wife being taken, because he is indebted to Tom; this means the money equalizes power and authority. Tom's immoral personality is clearly shown in this scene, because he always plays with other women instead of his wife, Daisy, and he even punches women like Myrtle as if she is under his property.==== ====Moreover, The Great Gatsby is mainly related to the materialism, which has been a part of american culture since 1920s. Women in the West Egg try hard to fake their true identities and pretend to be seen rich in order to be famous. This occurs because people are so obssessed with materialism and believe the money is the most important source to survive. In the scene where Gatsby's past was revealed by Nick, it tells us that Gatsby fell in love with wealth and luxury while he was traveling around with Cody. Gatsby starts to dedicate himself to becoming wealthy and successful ever since Cody died. This represents how not only Gatsby, but also most people who lived in that era are fascinated by money, and how they survived within the extremely materialistic societies.====

**__Koyaanisqatsi & American Land__**
====Koyannisqatsi, a life without balance, represents the contrast between the view of society and nature. It definitely fits into the American Land, because there are so many visuals about the changes lands and societies in America as time elapses. In the beginning of the movie, enormous and beautiful scenes of wilderness are shown; lakes, mountain trails, and magnicent plains that are not touched by human beings. The music is very calm and slow as if we are actually flying over such natural places, and it is a good source to make people focus more on the beauty of wilderness. However, such fascination towards nature breaks apart as soon as the changes in city lives and society are described with the faster tempo of music. The rapid flow of time in city not only symbolizes the disorder and urban chaos, but also the impetuosness of cramped and ugly view of societies. There has to be a contrast between society and nature, since city life is obssessed with materialism, mass production, and exploitation of resources which disturb the tranquility and beauty of pure nature. Especially the scene where factory produces millions of sausages, the disgust and ugliness of urban wilderness is illustrated well, and gives a huge impact on people's minds. If such urban wilderness and modern machinization are viewed a little more positively, the scene of trees, flowers, and environmental parks within the city can be a good example of positive side of urban wilderness, because it represents the co-existance of nature and modernization. There may be symmetry and some balance in such rapid flow of time in cities because city life is so organized within repetitive patterns. Although there are no actually given words that describe the contrast between the view of society and nature, the changes in tempo of music and color of scenes definitely help people to understand the contrast. It is very interesting to see people disgusted of the scenes of urbanization and yell "Eww!".====