Hello Dear 382 Lit&EnviroII students,
I'd like you to share your thoughts about Literature and
Environement studies you committed to study this semester. As you may guess
from the title of this page, I'd like to learn, why do you study environmental
literature and what do you expect to get/learn from this topic and how were
your environmental values shaped? I'm looking forward to read your comments!!
Cheers,
Cell always wants to survive. In nature, it contrives to change the situations to its advantages. With advantages, it always tries to enhance its conditions and tries to reproduce. Two cells come together and exchange some DNA. With this exchange, they achieve to produce new generations. These generations make the same thing and also their children and this goes on. In that production, environment is important because it establishes the rules. It defines who will survive and how the survivors will live. In this respect, environment is the place where the creatures evolve. With its features, it influences the way they move, forward or backward. If the conditions are proper, living creatures progress where they want to reach to. So its importance is precise.
ReplyDeleteAs a living creature, I want to analyse where I live and I want to know how I can improve it. I desire to approach to environment from different points of view. In respects of literature, I expect to find some clues about every kind of environment. Although I don’t want to reproduce in my 20th age, I am sure the nature will show its power upon my hormones in my older ages and will make me want to produce a generation. Also I am a weak organism and I care a lot about other creatures. I care how they live and if they are happy or not. Their happiness is important for my conscience. Also regarding how the intellectual people are respectful to nature, I think it will be an opportunity to find out their ideas in that course. The last and the most importantly, I hope to learn something about activism about environment, because it is impossible to change something without getting action. To get action, knowledge is indispensable. But to be honest, I take this course first time and it is good to feel curious about the content.
Görkem Gök
My environmental values are shaped by our classical idiom such as when everyone clean their own area, everywhere becomes clear automatically. This motto is taught since our childhood years. Keeping our environment clean is taught also in our home and school. Our parents and teachers tried to raise conscious individuals and we become sensitive and responsive thanks to them. Many of us are individuals who are aware of responsibilities for nature. However, there are some people who do not know their duties and responsibilities. That’s why we should minimize the number of these people as much as possible. We should create a steady and strong background in order not to be greatly distressed. We all have some verbal information about environment and alongside these information, we should become conscious in an academic way. It will be more easier when we try to enlight other people around us, because we can benefit from both different experts and statistic datas in the field of environment. Awareness can be created realistically thanks to these elements. Literary works which are written in this field can be shown as instructive sources for ourselves. We are not only reading some of these books in the class but also making brain storming and discussions. Actually, we are trying to come up with new arguments and we are trying to open a new perspective for nature. Discussions sometimes can be about what we should do or not to do and sometimes they can be about how we abuse nature. Mostly, we learn from our mistakes and thereby we try to look for a way out. We can reach the large masses by trying to produce new solutions. We try to make contribution to other people’s manners for nature because if a person changes then the world changes. We all know that many hands make light work and we can do everything when we become united. All these things can be seen as a small step for a man but it can be a giant leap for mankind. We should not forget that these small steps can result in success and we also should not abandon hope for future and good days which are waiting for us!
ReplyDeleteÜlkü Selin Yıldız
This is the first time I have taken this lesson. I was also interested in environmental issues before I chose it. I will explain briefly why I chose this topic and what I expect from it and what I know about the environment.
ReplyDeleteEnvironment provides us to comprehend our nature. We are part of environment and we not only affect it but also we are affected by it. In my opinion, we have to apprehend the environment in order to apprehend ourselves. Moreover, ecological balance is getting worse day by day and I'm aware of this. This is one of the reason why I chose this subject.
Human beings are known as the most clever beings in the universe. These clever beings affect environment both positively and negatively. Human beings take nourishment from plants and animals. When a human being dies, he is buried and his bones provide the fertilizer to the soil. By this means, trees and plants provide nutrition and oxygen for the living beings. It is a cycle of the nature and environment is effective on it.
Nowadays, I'm also interested in cosmos. Environment is immense. We just know the world, the earth and the other planets such as Mercury, Venus etc. This is the most significant reason why I preferred to get this subject.
In my opinion, when the literature and the environment come together, we can interpret how we live, what for we live, how we have to live and if there are other living beings we do not know.
In order to survive, human beings must live in harmony with the nature. There have been many works discussing why people should learn what the nature is and what we can get from her , so there has been written a lot of works that we can use while learning her. Thus, any kind of sources from the environmental literature are the keys to the people interested in this topic to use as a source to understand what the early writers considered about the nature, and how they behave to the nature. I would like to know why they started writing about the nature. Though it is quite obvious,there should be much more specific reasons, i suppose. By reading those sources, i want to learn what the mistakes humans did in the past, so we might solve these problems and make the nature a better place to live in. Even if there are much more to say, i prefer to keep them for the following posts. As being farmer’s kid, i have been always had a close relation with the nature since my childhood. I was raised in a village and i spent many years in that village when i was a kid, so this made it easier to observe the nature. Furthermore, spending time in the nature became a habit to me. For instance, whenever i go to the village, i mostly spend at least 2-3 hours in the wilderness, which always relieves me, and it is somehow a way to escape from the daily stress of the civilized world. Living in a village shaped my environmental values and made the nature one of my close friends.
ReplyDeleteOğuz İşin
We often hear it said that literature is life, or, literature encompasses whole life; and what makes life possible is the environment and the environmental conditions. As the saying goes, that literature is life, it is only natural that literature should have an ecocentric view, turning back to the source of all life. People often turn a blind eye on this precious source, as if their lives depend on something other than the environment. They only care about new models of mobile phones, cars, and so on. This anthropocentric attitude has had destructive impacts on human beings' relation with its all-giving mother.
ReplyDeleteThen something is needed to stir human beings and put an end to their long slumber of negligence towards their true benefactor. And what is this something that we need? Literature. Books are the main tools through which ignorant notions are shaken off, since they are the light-givers and powers that bite our rusty conscience to awaken us. Therefore, we need to read, especially those works of literature that have their focus on the environment. That is why, I believe, we study environmental literature: to awaken our conscience to learn how to respect nature, and to re-learn how to live in harmony with our sole benefactor.
Zübeyde Şahin
''It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.'' Thoreau explains the whole relationship between man and nature and also the overall conscious of man towards nature with this sentence. I believe that environmental values are shaped by both our culture and the society we belong to starting from our early childhood years and it is undoubtedly up to us to improve our knowledge and conscious about environment. What Thoreau emphasizes in his one of the most known work Walden is that the important matter is what you understand from the nature instead of what you merely look and see. The most important matter is to gain a sensitive approach toward nature that can provide us with new perspectives to the whole world. Therefore, my expectation related to the environmental studies is to develop further type of views about the relationship between the environment and man and reflections of it to the world literature. It is clear to indicate that considering the education level we all have some certain basic knowledge on environmental issues but it is a matter of discussion that to what extent we apply our primary knowledge into the daily life. Undoubtedly we all know that urbanization, chemical waste and therefore pollution, and man irresponsibilities cause serious environment problems both to our generation and also the next generations, but unfortunately there is almost no progress in those problems no matter how important and serious threats they are. More specifically and more simply, everyone has a concious of the fact that the wastes must be thrown away into the containers not in front of the doors or to streets or we all know we have to use water more consciously in order to leave a liveable world to our children and grandchildren but it is still not possible to say that all people show this awareness even to these simple environmental actions. In a broad perspective, it is easy to put forward the idea that it is as much the same as knowing and not showing any awareness, and looking and not understanding the nature. I would like to underline Thoreau’s quote again and emphasize the importance of what we see in the nature and to what extent we reflect the environmental awareness to our life. I strongly believe that understanding the world is closely related with understanding the nature and hope that we all make it happen by improving our environmental sensivity.
ReplyDeleteBeste Emül
Before I choose the course, I am already interested in environment and its issues. I believe my values were shaped by my family, because I firstly took course from them. When I was a little girl, they always warned me against throwing litter. Warning about not to throw litter is the first step to protect nature for a little girl. I consider the first education begins in the family and then continues to progress. I have followed most popular writers' thought about environment, the relationship between culture and nature and the balance between nature and culture in the last semester. We should consider ourselves as a part of nature, not superior than nature. How we behave nature, the nature responds as we did. Civilisation do not need to corrupt the nature, Civilisation should exist to protect the nature and to make nature more livable. Instead of cutting trees, we should afforest dry lands by using some technological tools revealed by culture,such as drill and seeding machine. As Leopold’s thought, we analysed last semester, If one is determinated to change his surronding, he can turned dry lands into woodland. Inspiring Thoreau’s Walden, we disscussed whether we can live in nature without technology and its tools, most of us agree that we cannot survive without technological tools. Technology eases our lives, in case of true usage. Enviromental literature gives me some specific examples related to nature and goes on improving my aspect. I am going to gain new viewpoints by reading new novels and short stories in this term, as I did last term. Beside relationship nature and culture and fights between nature and culture, I am going to encounter much more new subject, such as climate change fiction, postcolonial ecocriticism, issues of local and global, and oceans and whale. Thanks to this course, I began to look nature in a diferrent way. We should not forget that we are tiny piece of the nature and should live in harmony with the nature.
ReplyDeleteEzgi KARACA
First of all people should approve the truth that all living things came from sea and if we emphasize it more generally, they will come back to mother nature eventually. Especially humanity should respect nature. I mean especially humanity because it is the only species harming,threateaning and betraying it. Especially politicians have an enormous role to guide their communities about the importance of nature but I'm really doubtful whether they are doing their best or not while Capitalism rules the world. This course will help us as a reminder which depicts that without a nature which is sustainable, it is not possible to live. By the way this will be the second time that i have taken this course and I should confess that my thoughts and understanding of nature grow day by day.I guess this course will be helpful for the students who are going to take it for the first time to participate in some organizations which make you aware the importance and sustaining ability of nature.And if we take this course as a necessity instead of a compulsory lesson that we should pass, it will be much more helpful as well.
ReplyDeleteR.Can Aytekin
From the beginning of human existence, under the leadership of curious impulse inside us we have made an effort to make our lives easier and more comfortable by trying to improve ourselves and our environment. To do so we have used nature pretty much. Yet later, as Karl Marx said, from the moment we see that we can change and improve we have separated ourselves first from animals than from nature itself. Later on, with the emergence of our selfishness and cruelty inside us we not only parted from nature but also we began to damage and destroy it. This was the one of the biggest mistakes we have ever done. We destroyed and betrayed the most magnificent and perfect thing which abundantly gives us everything we need to live and supports our development all the time. We gave ourselves a privileged place that above everything in nature and we thought that we can dominate it. I cannot deny that we have more developed characteristics than animals and plants. However we miss the point; where should be our place in nature? If we agree that we have more developed characteristics than animals, plants or anything in nature we must know that we take the highest responsibility. This responsibility which can be taken only by human being is joining nature’s harmony and work with her. It is impossible for any living creature to abstract himself from nature. We must love and respect nature. As a human who finds pleasure in sun scorched hills, music in the leaves, windswept peaks or roar of the waves I study environmental studies because I expect to understand nature deeper, learn how to protect it and how to become a part of it.
ReplyDeleteI have always perceived mankind as pitiful since we are so helpless against the nature. It has the power to shape us. But recently our species try to change the roles. Our ancestors survived and they achieved a harmony with the millions of other species but the civilization began to spoil the balance. The war between nature and culture is getting disquieting. We do not have any respect to the other species and we try to dominate them. I thought all the natural disasters are the warning signs for us. I am afraid that we will pay the price of our hubris unless we understand that we are not the owner of this environment but just a tiny part of it. Unfortunately, we could not subdue the will to power in our nature. We think that we rule this planet but the truth is we became the slaves of civilization which we create. I have a lot to say as a person who grew up in the middle of the buildings. When I analyse my environment, I see that people of my country do not have an awareness for nature. We don’t even give importance to recycling which is the easiest thing we do for nature. I would like to discuss about why we are so reckless about nature. I wonder why humans are so selfish.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think about literature and environment, two main questions pop out of my mind. How literature which is the life itself, is affected by the changes in the environment? And can we use the literature as a tool to create an awareness? I would like to be dealing with these questions in this semester. Additionally, I would like to discuss about how did the great writers from different cultures perceive the relationship of men and environment. Different perspectives which I gain through literature will help me to understand mother nature.
My values about environment were shaped by my family and teachers on the first hand. I was influenced by reading as well. During my Erasmus in the first semester, I had a great opportunity to spend my time in the woods. Since where I was staying in the middle of the forest, I was able to observe and experience the harmony of the nature and how living things get benefit from it. I saw how people were enjoying themselves in those areas and I convinced myself that psychological effects of the nature upon people can not be denied. I am strongly aware of that we are explicitly bound to nature in the sense of its providing us food, cloth and shelter. Unfortunately, today undeveloped countries are leading deforestation without thinking their future benefits. As far as I am concerned, the soil renovates itself merely in thousand years. This leads a change in characteristics of the soil and makes it impossible to do agriculture. Most of the people in these countries are constructing new buildings again and again throughout cutting the trees. However, developed countries like Japan are importing trees from other countries in order not to cut their own. According to Shintoism, people believe cutting trees as something unacceptable, because people hold an ideal life which is in harmony and united with nature. What people are seeking for now is not new and huge buildings but nature itself.
ReplyDeleteEven though humankind has been under the illusion of the technology addiction, in fact the basic source of life is nature. Japan is one of the countries that has comprehended about this matter. After suffering from a nuclear disaster, they wanted to stop nuclear energy activities by taking radical decisions. Even a country like Norway whose lands are covered with snow and which does not have a lot of cultivated areas has been saving seeds and exporting them overseas.
Furthermore, as I am taking this course for the first time, I believe I do not have a lot of knowledge about the environmental literature. What I would like to obtain from this course is to penetrate the relationship between nature and man and how writers reflect this issue to their works. I also wonder how they have acted upon the environmental values and intimate contact with nature throughout their cultures and discover how literature and environment relations under different aspects.
Environmental issues, natural phenomena, undiscovered realities about nature and weird creatures as parts of nature that I live in attract me all the time. It is so weird and attractive to me that many natural disasters occur, and numerous animals, plants live together and the nature works perfectly. Also, while nature is a shelter for all of them and opens itself to each of them especially to human-beings, it astonishes me how men abuse and corrupt it for their own benefits. At this point, I can say that I have susceptibility and curiosity in terms of nature and environmental issues. That is, I wonder how human beings have been reflecting their ideas about the nature and environment which they live in and corrupt, via literature, which is what makes Literature and Environment course the most suitable one for me.
ReplyDeleteWhat I expect to get from this lesson is totally to argue these issues that I have just talked about, and to develope, enhance my knowledge, my ideas about these topics and to enlight myself. Another thing is that I believe that nature is a way of self-actualizing for humans. That is, the more men spend time in pure nature itself and face it closer, the more strong they will get, which I believe that I will find the opportunity to approve or make research about my thesis with the works about environment that we will study.
As to how my environmental values are shaped: Since childhood, movies that involves natural disasters, natura man relationship, and the ones centering on environmental problems have been my favorites. Also nature documentaries are what I have been interested in among all types of programmes. It is also most partly about where I live. That is, I have been living in a very natural, very clear and pure place as much as it can be compared to many places for 15 years and everytime I get crowded and more urban places, I feel irritated due to pollutions. It is very significant to protect nature for humans who have been living in natural places and as one of them I can say that one of the most important things about it, to appreciate nature and respect its order instead of trying to change it for our own benefits. According to me, these issues and factors that shaped my views about nature and environmental values are some of the most significant ones and they wait to get solved. I also believe that I will enjoy this environmental course and reach my aims with this lesson.
Throughout the history, humankind has survived by observing and imitating the rules of Mother Nature. Out of this thought, it is perceived that the nature is our real home and the subject that the nature had been created long before the appearance of human race is also worth to memorise. Nature is the owner of the world and we are just settlers who have different journeys while sharing the same owner. As it has the power, the one who should respect is humanity. I think Francis Bacon is right by asserting the idea that the nature should not be commanded, on the contrary it should be followed without resistance. It establishes a ground for respect in our minds and the aspects we have about nature start to alter gradually. This alteration leads us to show more interest to the nature and to become aware of the corruption we produce each and every day. As for me, my environmental values were formed in my family and I know how to take care of the plants and even some methods about fertilising. In addition to these, by looking on my father, I have learned why and how should I respect to the owner of the world. Actually, it feels very good to witness the established order of the nature like the sequence of the seasons and the death and rebirth of the trees with the coming of fall and spring. Yet, to realise its beauty is valuable because unless people notice the order, they will be unable to understand the worth of nature and continue their disrespectful lives. Unfortunately, myriads of people do not know what nature is or how beneficial and precious it is and think that they could be saved by technologic developments. Nonetheless, this lack of sense of belonging arises from big trust to technology. Therefore, I have decided to study on environmental issues and get more information to prevent people to turn their backs to the nature and become indifference. According to me, it is good to use environment in literature because one of the best methods to teach people is to tell them to read books. For example, the works we read last terms were very useful and educational for us and we can share what we have learned with the others. I believe that we have the opportunity to create respectful and conscious generations. Only thing we should do is to be more tender hearted to everything belongs to nature and its beauty like Albert Einstein mentions.
ReplyDeleteNurbanu Aydın
First of all, based on my searches I can say that, humankind have been giving harm to the nature since the first man was born. And this is not different in today’s world. We think that we are the possesser of the world and everyting is for our sake. Nature gives us everything of it but we mistreat it. We exploit it, destroy it. On these days we can observe its results. We have lots of climate problems, our supplies are not enough and lots of animal and plant species are in danger of extinction, and the main culprit is humankind. I am aware of it and I want to do something.
ReplyDeleteI love reading. I love literature. When I read a book, it always give me something. I become a part of it while I am reading. In this lesson we read texts about nature and ecology and we discuss what we can do to save our world. When I read this texts I admire the way of using language of the writers. They so beautifully describe the nature that I feel as if I am in the middle of the natural life. On the other hand as we learn lots of new ideas and knowledge, we also learn to see the nature from many different aspects. With this lesson I give more importance to the nature. Since we live in big cities with lots of technology in civilized world, I miss the nature, natural life. In our texts people want to be part of the nature. They find relief in there. They respect it. However, at the present time, people do not respect it. With this lesson I become conscious and I feel responsible to teach people how much they give harm to nature and what they can do to save it. I want to make people become self-aware about ecology.
Beste YILDIRIM
I have taken this course for the second time cause i believe that this course help us to share our thoughts and feel hopeful about future when i see socially minded people.Our world is getting worse day by day and we are suffering for other peoples carelessnes towards nature.Environment affects more people,they suffer from sickness and also natural problems could affect our families and future as well.We must see and care other peoples mistakes in order to save our world.Our dirty air,toxic wastes,sea pollution,atomic waste and there are many problems.Our nature has to face them.Every person should take care of his/her environment,We have to care our nature for instance we always remember to save energy by switching off lamps, and everything that we do not use.We should use public transport in order to prevent air pollution.Environmental issues threaten our safety and animals along side us.For example,air pollution endanger our health and ecosystem.Trees are considered the lungs of the Earth but the number of trees are being cut down in our forests have grown to ever increasing and alarming rates.We pollute the air unawares or uncaringly,If we reach out to people who don't care about our environment,we could change their point of view about nature by literature. We could tell them how bad things happen in our world. We can make it a better place for all of us to live.Every person should take care of the environment,furthermore,we have to bring up our children to be conscious citizens of a clean and saved planet.
ReplyDeleteDilara Çakay
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time I take this class. Last semester, I wanted to take the class but was unable to. The reason why I'm interested in environment is that, I believe nature is the core of everything: without it, we are dead. Since the dawn of time, people misused nature despite the fact that they were living in it. I believe environmental literature has a great importance in our lives, and I'm not saying this just because I have to. It will be great to know what has been written on paper about nature, how people corrupted it, or, what we are missing today as people that live in apartments in places that only look natural. It will be very educational to learn what they thought about environment and how things were like in nature before our time.
ReplyDeleteI believe this course will be very much educational indeed, because what we are going to be reading and studying are among the best examples there are about environment according to my research. Last year, I was exceptionally thrilled to read Thoreau's Walden, so this semester, these books will be among my favourite books.
Today, the nature I get to see is only 21.-century-nature: rather dirty, corrupted by people… I want to know how things were like back in the day. I’m eager to learn what the environmentalist writers and thinkers and poets thought, how they saw nature and what their lives were like in it. I believe, I will be very happy with everything we read and studied in the class at the end of the semester.
As a young adult that lives in the 21. century, no matter how surrounded I am by the corrupted side of technology (despite the fact that technology can be very helpful at times), I am trying really very hard to remind myself that I actually belong to nature itself. One thing I can say about myself is that, I do care about nature a lot, I cannot be modest about this. Seeing that the following generation doesn’t care about the nature around them, I try to go out as much as I can, I see the beauties that Mother Nature grants us. My family has always been sensitive about these things as well. When I was little, they thought me not to throw anything away when I was out, they thought me to be sensitive, because, as they said to me, this world belongs to each and every one of us and we should be the ones that take care of it.
Gökçe Demirdağ
I always admired the vegetation. They seemed to me like greater beings who were here before us and will be here long after we leave. They are so noble and humble yet humans still do not respect them enough. Since I was a child, it always bothered me when people harmed vegetation or animals just because they could. I had so many instances where people around me killed ants or bugs after I said "careful there are ants here." When I asked them why, they did not know. They maybe did not accept ants as living beings or they did not care whether they had lived or not. These people have this same attitude towards vegetation. I always hated this and wanted people to respect everything that lives in this planet especially the plants. A year ago I started reading a comic called Swamp Thing, Swamp Thing is a creature who is the avatar of the green. He is connected to all plant life on earth and acts as a protector of both vegetation and humans. When first seeing him it was like a dream coming true for me because the way I admired plants and the character being a Plant-warrior who is trying to protect the green life and humans. It easily became my favorite comic. Although it is now unfortunately ending, it taught me a lot about environment and vegetation. Like these two articles said art helped me care more about the environment of earth. When I first saw there was going to be a Literature and Environment class I knew I definetly wanted to take it. I personally want to make people see that this is not a world that we can harm as we please, it is not our kingdom where the other living beings are guests or our inferiors. But I also hate the extreme green activists too they act like humans are disgusting creatures and we should die so that the other living things can be happy. I believe harmony is the answer, with respect humans can live in harmony with their environment.
ReplyDeleteMert Akkaş
First of all this is the first time I have taken this class.The reason why I choose it is that I have always been enchanted by science dealing with nature and human.Since both of them are already extremely complex structures in themselves when they interact with each other the emergent results are fascinating.Therefore, I chose to study environment literature and I want to see how writers and poets perceived human and nature interaction.
ReplyDeleteIn additon to this, I grew up in an ısland and I had the opportunity to observe nature thoroughly before i came to İzmir which is way urbanised than my hometown.So,I have seen how nature are corrupted by human and I raised my environmental awareness as I understand the value of nature.Thats why,I wanted to be a part of a group including people with simirlar thoughts with me and share my ideas.
This course is the most enjoyable of all others for me. Because I can find everythinf about life in it and it has so many parallel sides of my daily life experiences and views about nature. First of all we got so many examples of nature's behavior against people as we see the nature as a man of a society. I realize that there is another wider window to look at the environment, and that window builds us a more striking area than the area we are destructing for years. Now I am thinking about while everything is growing day by day in technological areas, the nature is leeched by them and getting narrow.As a human I realize that there is something more powerful than me, around me, and this is the nature's power among us but it keeps its silence with giving some alerts, but one day I believe that it will make us a big strike and people will get that there is no technological supremacy more than the natural forces.
ReplyDeleteI know that I made no fault with choosing study environment because I am happy with my new viewpoint about nature and natural beings especially the animal's living areas. I hope that every person can reach this sight towards environment one day, I'm sure that the man who lives "with" the nature is more beneficial to society than the man who lives "against" the nature.
I have taken this course for the first time. this course makes me realize that we share our world with all other creatures. We are not alone and we are not the center of everything. I know that human being is so adorable but there are lots of things in the world that more valuable than human ego and at this point this course helps me thinking about it, what are these valuable creatures in our world? Of course, the answer is Nature as the sum of all. All I know from this course is we can share our living area with other creatures as they share their habitats with us. We should avoid trying to control the nature, there is already a system run as a harmony. Our only task is to survive without breaking the harmony. I am so glad that I have a chance to take this course.
ReplyDelete