Outline
for the big essay
Introduction
a.)
Hook:
There are similarities in the novels The Highest Tide and
Ralph Waldo Emerson's Nature: Addresses and Lectures, the poems of
Holly J. Hughes and the movie Never Cry Wolf.
b.)
Transition:
These similarities include the protagonist feeling more at
home in nature than with other people, dealing with something in
their life breaking apart and their ability to endure far more than
they thought they ever could.
c.)
Thesis statement:
The highest tide, Never Cry Wolf, Poems by Holly J Hughes,
and Nature Addresses and Lectures by Ralph Waldo Emerson are
connected through three themes. The protagonist feels more at home
out in nature. In all of the writings circumstances start coming
apart at the seams and begin to break apart. Living with these
challenges the characters in the story have more ability to endure
then they thought.
I. Topic sentence
thematic connection 1: The protagonist feels more comfortable and at
peace out in nature.
a.
In the novel The Highest Tide the main character Miles
spends many hours alone in the bay near his home. Although Miles has
few friends and very little family support when he is on the beach
or on his boat he is completely confident in his ability to handle
any situation.
i.
Miles said in the novel “The other part was it was
hard for me to feel fear or sadness at dawn on the Bay, especially
when I knew the sun wouldn't set for another 15 hours and 32
minutes, and the water was so clear I could see coon- stripe shrimp
in the eelgrass near the tavern and the bottomless bed of white clam
shells pooled across the sunken tip of Penrose Point,” page 45.
ii.
This quote reveals a great deal about Miles and his
life. He talks about the solitude and quiet of the water being so
different from the shrill yelling of his mother and the great escape
he found in the ocean. Miles loved being alone in the water with
nature.
b.
In the poem Captive by Holly J Hughes the action takes
place on a boat at sea. A woman is being held against her will.
i.
In the poem Captive the heroine says “my eyes from
drifting out to the color I loved best: blue sea holding captive all
the land.”
ii.
The heroine of the poem sees the beauty and power of
the beautiful ocean around landmasses and feels that although she is
held captive so are the landmasses by the water and it makes her
feel less alone in her predicament.
c.
The novel Nature: Addresses and Lectures by Ralph
Waldo Emerson is filled with the authors love of the simplest nature
inspired events. Emerson could write an entire chapter about a dew
droplet seen first thing in the morning.
i.
In chapter 1 from Nature the author says “I am not
solitary whilst I read and write, though nobody is with me. But if
the man would be alone, let him look at the stars. The rays that
come from those heavenly worlds, will separate between him and what
he touches.”
ii.
This quote portrays a man content in his solitary
predicament. The quote talks about never being alone when you have
so much beauty in nature surrounding you, even at night.
d.
In the movie Never Cry Wolf the main character goes
off to live by himself and finds peace surrounded by wolves.
i.
In the movie Marley says “I can't really be sad,
because it's here that I've began to feel wonder again.”
ii.
Marley only feels at home in nature, he cannot seem to
feel any joy in his life if he is not outside with his wolves. These
walls are more then his friends, they are his whole world.
II topic sentence
connection 2: In all of the nature inspired material the hero are
here when finds themselves in a situation where something in the
characters lives begins to break apart.
a.
The Highest tide
i.
In The Highest Tide Miles and his mother have a
strained relationship. Miles mother is unsatisfied with her life.
She is talking about divorcing Miles father and has become
increasingly distant towards Miles. Miles is angry at his mother for
not coming to an important event. In this quote Miles and his mother
have an illuminating conversation.” After a pause, she whispered,
“tell me what happened, but softly. I'm right here.” I listed
off as much as I could remember. It must have taken 5 min. And I
didn't quiet down or apologize for anything. Every sentence rang
like a pounded nail,” page 224.
ii.
This interaction between Miles and his mother reveals
a great deal about the relationship and how it will never be the
same again. For the first time in the book Miles attempts to explain
to his mother how her indifferent behavior affects him deeply. Miles
realizes that he needs to grow up quickly because he cannot count on
his mother anymore. The relationship between Miles and his mother is
breaking apart.
b.
Boxing the Compass by Holly J Hughes
i.
In the poem Steering by Monarchs the author writes
“Fog thick enough to lick, horizon a blanket, pearl gleam of sun.
Sure the sea trips the mind, conjures creatures but what's this
dusty heartbeat of wing?”
ii.
This quote is about a white out and how it affects the
captain attempting to steer a boat with her life literally on the
line and death surrounding her. The fog is attempting to separate
her from her boat by making her crash. The author of this poem
writes about a less literal relationship breaking apart. The captain
of the ship depends on their boat and on mother nature working
together but when either side loses their interest in continuing a
civil relationship people can literally die.
c.
Nature Addresses and Lectures by Ralph Waldo Emerson
i.
A quote from chapter 1 from Nature highlights
Emerson’s ability to bring you straight into the action with
little notice of his intent. After speaking of a beautiful day
Emerson hits the reader with “Then, there is a kind of contempt of
the landscape felt by him who has just lost by death a dear friend.
This sky is less grand as it shuts down over less worth in the
population.”
ii.
The entire
mood of the novel changes and the serene beauty of nature becomes
dangerous. The relationship between man and nature is so fragile and
this quote is also about something breaking apart in this
relationship. In this quote the sky itself seems less blue to those
who do not appreciate its beauty. The people who are not
hard-working and do not appreciate nature will only see a gray sky
while a hard-working man will see that it is blue. The sky itself
breaks apart and only reveals its beauty to those who can appreciate
it.
e.
Never Cry Wolf
i.
In the movie Never Cry Wolf Marley's character resigns
himself to never leaving nature again even if he dies. This quote is
from the middle of the movie, Marley says “warm days bring a kind
of peace and stillness if there was any remaining fears they stem
only from recognition of my own staggering insignificance.”
ii.
This quote is in the middle of the movie after Marley
survives by eating mice. Marley has great hunger and loneliness out
in the wild but still he prefers it to anything else. Nature is
trying to break Marley’s spirit with starvation but he gets
through it by eating mice. Marley's relationship with nature was
more easy-going in the beginning that now things are getting harder
for him and for the first time he may be questioning whether or not
this was a good idea.
III topic sentence
connection 3: The characters have more ability to endure then they
would have thought.
a.
The Highest Tide
i.
In the novel The Highest Tide Miles discovers his dear
friend Florence's dead body and says “ so I continued stacking
books and listening to the tide splash beneath me until it hissed
through the boards near the fridge, and I finally noticed the blue
pills next to her chair. I stuff them into my raincoat. I don't know
if Florence wanted me to do that, but I did it” page 234.
ii.
In this chapter Miles shows incredible maturity while
dealing with the unthinkable, the death of his best friend Florence.
Miles does not want people to remember Florence as an old lady who
could not take care of herself so he tidied up her house and hid the
pills that she took to kill herself so no one would know that she
committed suicide.
b.
Boxing the Compass by Holly J Hughes
i.
In this poem the author says “I'd box my heart,
compass my way, steer unwavering -not let it out- not let those
Sirens hold sway not even a dram of doubt.”
ii.
This quote talks about enduring through difficult
times by not allowing yourself to be afraid, by compartmentalizing
your fears into a little box to deal with later when you are out of
danger because if you allow yourself to be afraid you may not get
out of the situation intact.
c.
Nature: Addresses and Lectures by Ralph Waldo Emerson
i.
In chapter 1 from Nature Emerson writes “there I
feel that nothing can before me and life,-no disgrace, no
calamity,(leaving me my eyes,) which nature cannot repair.”
ii.
In this quote you can feel his conviction that nothing
bad can befall him because he
is so close to God out in nature. Emerson writes about nature and an
almost awe-inspiring godlike way. He truly believes that living in
nature brings you closer to God himself. He is saying in this quote
that there is nothing that can happen to you that nature cannot help
you get through.
d.
Never Cry Wolf
i.
“ In the end there was no simple answers. No heros,
no villains, only silence.”
ii.
This quote happened near the end of the movie after
the wolves were killed by John Clay. Marley must endure and go on
after the incredible loss of his wolves. He endured because he
believed they were going to a better place to live with God and he
continued on his path because he had no other option but to go on.
I'm sure if you asked Marley at the beginning of his story if he
could survive without them he would say it would be impossible but
somehow he found the strength.
Conclusion
all
of the writings are very similar in some ways. In all of the
writings the protagonists felt more complete out in nature,
something broke apart in their lives and they somehow managed to
endure pain and grief far greater than they ever could have imagined
and went on. One would think that writings and a movie written by
separate people over many years would have very few things in common
but you would be wrong. Themes of endurance and perseverance are
timeless.
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