Week 12 Reading (Ecology of a Craker Childhood)

I really enjoyed the beginning information about the tortoises. It was not only exactly the kind of stuff I'm interested in, but also a way to get the attention and interest of the audience through a personal experience of the author. It set the scene and tone well so when the author got into the issues of the junkyard it was relatable. I've never thought of a junkyard in ecological term, surprisingly for me, so this was quite interesting and relating the junkyard to the natural environment made the author's hopes to restore that natural environment more practical. If a junkyard is just part of the environment, it can be changed just like the natural environment itself. I idn't find the poem or whatever that was to be very effective or really do anything at all for the piece, but I did enjoy hearing things through the author's brother's words as well.

Week 11 Reading (Walden; or, Life in the Woods)

I think this may be my favorite reading for this class, probably because I didn't rush through it like I tend to do with the other longer readings. Almost ironically, that was also one of this reading's main messages, to slow down and do things right. I also think it was a good example of using a story to create interest in the subject matter. I definitely shared the author's point of view much more easily after reading his experiences with building his house and I could see why that kind of lifestyle should be important through his his story and descriptions that made the whole situation seem very pleasant. I definitely share his views on actually living life and that some of the best and most important learning takes place outside of the classroom. Normally I would end up bored with writers just talking about their views on life like that, but Thoreau transitioned so smoothly from the story about his house through the rest of the piece that I was thoroughly interested the whole time.