Environmental Literature

   This course has made me develop a new appreciation for nature through different readings and discussions. It exceeded my expectations for the class and opened my eyes to see what a powerful tool literature can be for conveying ideas about the environment.  One of my favorite readings was Memory of Water. I like reading post-apocalyptic novels because I think they can serve as a warning or guidelines on what not to do so we can avoid something bad from happening. Memory of Water opened my eyes to what a possible future can look like if we are not careful to keep a sustainable amount of drinking water. It brought up how different issues going on in today's world, such as plastic waste, war, and water sustainability, can impact the citizens of tomorrow. I also thought the book was interesting because it conveyed the idea that humans from today are are being careless on how their decisions will have consequences for Earth for future generations. The future world the novel describ

She thought of the Amazon rainforest, so often called the earth's green lung... She thought of the predictions of several models, that the great forest, currently a massive carbon dioxide sink, might turn into a source of CO2 if it was stressed enough by drought and tree cutting. What would happen then? "Hell on earth," she said aloud.  - Loosed Upon the World  "Entanglement" by Vandana Singh  This quote brings attention to the fact that we are destroying the only thing that could be saving us. As the story says, our forests are the earth's air purifiers turning the toxic carbon dioxide into the fresh crisp air. They are what we are grasping on to for hope that we will continue to have clean air. We know how important forests are for survival and yet we continue to destroy them. The author brings to light the consequences that will be felt when increasingly more forests are replaced with carbon producing cities. The result would be literal hell as tempe