Weekly Response #5

Yu-Jen(Chris),Tsai
Section:005

Weekly Response #5

The quote I picked is from the chapter Chihuahua And Sonora from Sketches Here and There. The title of the little section of the chapter is called “Song of the Gavilan”; at the beginning of the passage, Leopold talks about all the natural sound effects created by the great nature including noises formed by the river while interacting with objects around it like the rocks, the roots and so on. The reason why the author uses the word “song” for the topic is that because he viewed every elements in the nature as an instrument, which is mentioned in the quote I selected “There are men charged with the duty of examining the construction of the plants, animals, and soils which are the instrument of the great orchestra.” By “orchestra”, I believe Aldo meant by the “natural world” in that he talked about how the “song” the river creates is destroyed due to the human’s misuse. “The life of every river sings its own song.”; this makes me recall Trumpey’s lecture on the comparison between the production and the consumption in our society and how it effects the industry. Every resource on this planet has its own “song” and has the right to be protected and it is up to us to decide what happens next to them.

Following the first half of the quote “…the great orchestra. These men are called professors. Each selects one instrument and spends his life taking it apart and describing its strings and sounding boards. This process of dismemberment is called research. The place for dismemberment is called a university.”(153) This second half of the passage delivers the message that professor Trumpey has been stating in the consumerism lecture, which is there are always people who realize the beauty and preciousness of nature that they will do whatever it takes to preserve them. On the other hand, others consume for personal purposes. “Consumption is complex” Professor Trumpey said. The complexity consists of social issues including community, work, freedom and the quality of life. So how can we reach the balance between consumption and production? That will be the vital question for all “Homo Sapiens”.


Work Cited:


Leopold, Aldo. Sand County Almanac, and Sketches Here and There. Pg. 153

Trumpey, Joseph. Art Design Perspective 3: Technology and the Environment. Stamps Auditorium, Ann Arbor, MI. 7 and 12 Oct 2009. Lecture.