Leopold and Wordsworth
To students
• The following is an outline and a guide to
“essay 1”. Please do not directly copy. You
will receive higher grades if you use your
own creativity and style. Just use the
following as a guide line if you need it.
Good luck,
Nick
Dorothy Wordsworth: a question
• 1) Aldo Leopold and Dorothy Wordsworth
use quite different methods to convey the
spirit of nature. Outline their respective
styles and them compare them.
Notes: Dorothy Wordsworth, an
introduction
• Writers of the romantic period used many literary
devices to try and reconnect the reader to
nature. Dorothy Wordsworth employed two
major means of vivifying the beauty and vitality
of nature.
• a) She allows nature to be a living breathing
being that one has a natural connection to.
• b) She writes of the continuities and dramatic
movements of nature.
An example of a simple introduction for
this essay:
Start with
general
statements or
interesting
facts about
the subject
Then make
your general
introduction
lead to your
thesis
sentence.
In this essay
your thesis
sentence can
just outline the
intent of your
essay
• It is quite common in the modern
world to find people who have no
concern for nature; they are people
who have lost contact with its beauty
and magic. Many writers employ
certain elegant literary techniques to
try and bring us back to nature’s
wonder and magic. Two such writers
who do this are Aldo Leopold and
Dorothy Wordsworth. In this essay I
will outline and compare their
respective techniques for
revealing to us the wonder and
magic of nature.
General structure of the paragraph
•
•
•
•
•
•
topic sentence (the main and general idea of
the paragraph)
-focus sentence (make your topic sentence
more clear)
-provide example (at least one, in this case a
quote from the text)
-analyze example (should take a few
sentences to explain quote sufficiently)
(if need be) Provide more examples…and then
analyze
-Summary sentence
Example of paragraph
Topic sentence
Focus sentence
An example from
the text (At least
one Quotation)
Analyze example
Summary sentence
Dorothy Wordsworth allows nature to be a living
breathing being that one has a natural
connection to.
That is, she describes the various parts of
nature, --trees, mountains, clouds, moon and
sun-- as if they were alive full of character .
For example she writes “#### ###
###”
Example paragraph
Topic sentence
Similarly, she also describes how that many parts
of nature are in a social relation to each other.
• IN what ways does ******* allow the reader
to ***** of nature
Focus sentence
An example from
the text (At least
one Quotation)
Analyze example
In describing nature in terms of social relationship
she reveals nature as a brilliant drama where
there various characters dance with one another.
For instance, she writes: “*****************”
We can see here that the moon is described as
Venus and the Sun as Jupiter. …
She also describes the Moon being followed by
the…
Wordsworth also enhances the vitality of nature
by describing the continuities and dramatic
movements of nature.
Topic sentence
Focus sentence
An example from
the text (At least
one Quotation)
Analyze example
Summary sentence
She describes nature with such movement that
nature becomes revealed as something dynamic
and full of life and energy; rather than something
stagnant, dull and without significance.
Wordsworth writes “********************”
Here the ******* becomes like a ******* moving
like a ********* and the ****** moves and follows
like a ********
So emphasizing the wondrous movement, the
wondrous dance of nature, she has allowed
nature to be vivid and powerful.
Aldo Leopold
Marshland Elegy
A
transition
paragraph
• Writers of nature use various literary
devices to try and reconnect the reader
to nature. In this way they highlight
different aspects of nature. Aldo Leopold
uses quite different methods to convey
the spirit of nature to that of Dorothy
Wordsworth. As I will explain, Leopold
uses the power of History, time and
evolution to highlight the nobility of
nature. In addition, he also describes
nature in a much more masculine way
than Wordsworth does.
Paragraph: notes on
Leopold
Topic
sentence
Focus
sentence
• Throughout The Marshland Elegy Leopold enables the
reader to feel the intense power and magnitude of
nature through the emphasizing nature’s interrelation
with time.
Paragraph: Notes
for Leopold
Topic sentence
• Furthermore, Leopold’s emphasis on the power of
time in nature is also developed through in image of
evolution and the processes of death and life.
Some further notes for comparison
between Wordsworth and Leopold
A
comparative
paragraph
Analyze
quotes
• He also describes the panorama of
nature in a masculine and even
militaristic fashion. Wordsworth, on the
other hand, emphasizes the movement
and dance of nature in a much more
feminine fashion. Wordsworth, for
example, describes “…*******.” Where
as, in stark contrast, Leopold illustrates
nature as “…*********.”
We can see here…..
Notes on contrast between
Leopold and Wordsworth
Topic
sentence
• Wordsworth’s description of
nature is quite spatial in
contrast to Leopold’s sense of
nature which is time driven.
Conclusion
Restate the topic
sentence in a
different way
• By way of conclusion, we can see that Leopold
and Words worth employ descriptions of nature
that are unique and quite different from one
another.
Comment on the
thesis sentence •
Make a
suggestion to
the reader
Although these lovers and writers of nature differ in
their perception of nature, ___________
• I suggest that we all need to read more of writer
such as Leopold and Wordsworth as there ability
to lead us back to the primordial wonder and
profundity of nature is something we need more
that ever in this age of pollution and alienation.
Just a guide line
• Remember these notes are just a guide
line. You do not and you should do directly
copy from these notes. You can, however,
borrow from some of these ideas and use
them in your composition.
• Remember if you really want to answer
this question more fully, your essay should
be around 1000 words.