The Overwhelming Power Of Nature The Relationship Between Human And Nature In A Descent Into The Maelstrom

Seminar paper from the year 2020 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 2,0, University of Mannheim (Anglistisches Seminar), course: PS Literary Studies: American Dark Romanticism, language: English, abstract: The goal of this paper is to outline that the old sailor in A Descent into the Maelstrom realizes on the brink of the abyss how powerful and magnificent nature really is and that he has to define a new relationship to nature, God and rationality if he wants to survive. The short story can be assigned to the genre American Dark Romanticism. Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Hermann Melville are the three main writers of the genre. Topics of American Dark Romanticism are Emotions, Anti-Enlightement, Subjectivity, the Supernatural and Nature. A Descent into the Maelstrom is one of two sea tales by Poe besides Ms. Found in the Bottle (Kent Ljungquist “Sublime”). The second chapter deals with the two sides of nature: On the one hand the horror of nature and on the other hand nature as sublime and magnificent. The third chapter will examine the importance of science in A Descent into the Maelstrom. Chapter four will analyse and interpret the survival of the sailor and the last chapter will deal with Poe‘s thoughts on God and nature. A Descent into the Maelstrom is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe. The short story was first published in April 1841 in Graham‘s Magazine which was edited by Egar Allan Poe. The opening quotation shows three different perspectives on nature that the short story provides: Awe because of the power and greatness, horror because of the dangers and admiration because of the magnificence and sublime of nature. All three sides of nature will occur in A Descent into the Maelstrom and we have to learn how to deal with it. Nowadays many people argue that the modern human has lost his connection to nature. Politicians in talkshows and young people on the streets discuss how to stop the climate change. The ecological movement of the last 30 years tried to protect the environment. Many German highschool graduates spend time in nature in Australia, New Zealand or in the United States after their graduation. The Corona-Crisis shows us how weak and powerless we are even if the latest technology seems to give us power. Apart from talkshows and documentaries, literature offers us a free space that allows us to think about the subject nature in a different way. A Descent into the Maelstrom is a short story that provides us with new trains of thoughts about and helps us to create new ideas about us, nature and our relationship.

Philosophers have considered questions raised by the nature of art, of beauty, and critical appreciation since ancient times, and the discipline of aesthetics has a long tradition that stretches from Plato to the present.

Journal of New England Writers.

Excerpts from criticism of the works of novelists, poets, playwrights, short story writers and other creative writers who lived between 1800 and 1900, from the first published critical appraisals to current evaluations.

Since the appearance of Homo sapiens on the planet hundreds of thousands of years ago, human beings have sought to exploit their environments, extracting as many resources as their technological ingenuity has allowed. As technologies have advanced in recent centuries, that impulse has remained largely unchecked, exponentially accelerating the human impact on the environment. Humans versus Nature tells a history of the global environment from the Stone Age to the present, emphasizing the adversarial relationship between the human and natural worlds. Nature is cast as an active protagonist, rather than a mere backdrop or victim of human malfeasance. Daniel R. Headrick shows how environmental changes--epidemics, climate shocks, and volcanic eruptions--have molded human societies and cultures, sometimes overwhelming them. At the same time, he traces the history of anthropogenic changes in the environment--species extinctions, global warming, deforestation, and resource depletion--back to the age of hunters and gatherers and the first farmers and herders. He shows how human interventions such as irrigation systems, over-fishing, and the Industrial Revolution have in turn harmed the very societies that initiated them. Throughout, Headrick examines how human-driven environmental changes are interwoven with larger global systems, dramatically reshaping the complex relationship between people and the natural world. In doing so, he roots the current environmental crisis in the deep past.