For the past few weeks, you have been looking at the issue of water from political, social, and environmental perspectives in preparation for the paper you are writing. Last week, we started reading the novel, Journey to the River Sea, which is set, for the most part, on the Amazon River and which provides a different outlook on the importance of water. Based on your reading from the first seven chapters, choose one of the following questions to answer for this week's blog assignment. It is due by midnght on Tuesday, October 4.
- When Maia, the main character, learns that she will be going to live in Manaus, Brazil, her perceptions of the Amazon are very different from those of her classmates. Before you started reading the novel, what were your impressions of the Amazon? Are they changing as you continue to read? Find at least 2 new facts about the Amazon today that you didn't already know and share them. Be sure to list your source.
- Unlike most of the reading you have already done about water, Journey to the River Sea is fiction, so its main purpose is to entertain rather than to inform or convince. However, novels can also provide readers with valuable knowledge about people and places. Give at least three examples from the novel of ways that Eva Ibbotson provides valuable geographic and cultural information in the course of the story.
- In what ways do the people of the story--natives, plantation owners, and townspeople, rely on the river and its tributaries in their daily lives. Give examples from each group.
I think for the most of people who never been to Amazon before, the first impression of there must be anthropophagi or Piranha. My impression of the Amazon is kind of positive. I consider myself an explorer. I like nature. When I told my friends I was going to Ucayali (an inland region in Peru. Located in the Amazon rainforest). They thought I was crazy. Unlucky, I didn’t make it so far since nobody wanted to join my trip. I read lots of books and watched doze of documentary TV shows about Amazon. I found out that Amazon is not exactly a “mysterious wilderness full of weird animals, yucky bugs and strange people” (Roger J. Harris, 2009), but an incomparable treasure for all of us. According to Amazon Rainforest Facts, Amazon rainforest “is vanishing at a rate of 200,000 square miles a year - out of 2.5 million square miles, embracing nine South America countries or 2/3s of the continent”. As I start to read the Journey of the River Sea, I was attracted by the scenes in the book. I have to say I like to read this book. Later, I did research online and found out more interesting facts which were below:
ReplyDelete Amazon rainforest use to cover 14% of earth's surface, now decrease to 6% now. Experts estimate that Amazon rain forest could disappear within 40 years.
Amazon rainforest produced more than 20% of Earth's oxygen, that’s why people name it "Lungs of the Planet"
Amazon is the home to more types of plants and animals than anywhere else on Earth. 70% of plants found to have anticancer properties are found only in the rainforest
Moore, D. (2011). Amazon Rainforest Facts. Retrieved Sep 30, 2011, from unique-southamerica-travel-experience Web site: http://www.unique-southamerica-travel-experience.com/amazon-rainforest-facts.html
Three examples of valuable geographic and cultural information:
ReplyDelete1.“[In Indian’s huts] Maia met the little white dogs; the parrot sat on her shoulder---and every time her cup was empty, or her plate, it was filled again” (93). This description gives the readers a whole picture that how harmonious the Indians’ lives are.
2. “[Maia and Carters’ family] drove past mansions painted in every color: pink and ochre and blue, with flowers tumbling from window ---and a children’s playground” (56). Certainly, the reader can understand easily why Maia was amazed by the beauty of Manaus. Also, the unique buildings represent the mixture of European culture and local Indian culture.
3.“The sheltering trees leaned over the water; there was a bank of golden sand on which a turtle slept---humming birds clustered in an ever-changing whirl of color round a feeding bottle nailed to a branch” (98). Unquestionably, from this narration, the readers can recognize that the book Maia finds in the library tells the fact-- “those who go with courage and an open mind may find themselves in Paradise” (7).
As we know, the Amazon River located in South America and is the second longest river in the world. Besides Amazon is a largest tropical rainforest. It has been recognized as the world's most mysterious “kingdom of life". What impresses me most is that Amazon is a dangerous place, because I read many books which described that there are more than one-third of species living in that area. Also, Amazon has another name called hell; there are many dangerous animals such as piranha, anaconda caiman crocodiles and Amazon electric eel. In my whole life, the animal I am most afraid of is snake and earthworm. Therefore, I think I will never go there for a visit. As I continue reading this novel about Amazon, I understand that there are many beautiful places and good native people. However, I still choose not to go there even though I was given a chance. I am not a brave person and I don't have a spirit of adventure. I don't like living beings in the rainforest. Nowadays, the Amazon contains the world's most abundant biological resources, various biological. The most of the World freshwater ornamental fish is the main origin, the rich and beautiful tropical freshwater ornamental fish which has been affecting the whole world and also attract many biologist interests in Amazon. Furthermore, in 2005, Amazon has suffering the worst drought in 100 years, because of the massive deforestation in Amazon area, the rainforest is standing on the edge of the desert.
ReplyDeletebaidu. (n.d.). Amazon River. Retrieved October 3, 2011, from http://baike.baidu.com/view/79186.htm.
Before, there were some vague images about Amazon in my mind. I knew that Amazon was a vast territory in which there were a huge number of big plants and many kinds of animals living together, and many of these animals were wild and dangerous. I had ever watched a documentary which showed a huge python swallowed a 9 year-old boy, from then on, Amazon made a terrifying impression on me. Also, in my memory, it seems that many uncivilized people were living in Amazon, they fed on wild animals by hunting them the same way as the people in ancient time. This was very interesting, but i couldn't remove the mind that i had set up before, so there were still bad images in my mind about Amazon. It was until recently when i have started to read the novel " Journey to the River Sea" that i changed my minds on Amazon gradually. There are a lot of different kinds of animals, such insects, fishes, and mammals, but the animals are not as horrible and terrifying as i thought before. Sometimes they makes some sweet natural music freely appreciated by the people living around the forest. In addition, the people who live there are not as savage as I guessed, they have their lifestyles, their ethic standards, and their own culture. For instance, they often sing the songs to express their inner feelings and they are not willing to work for the people who discriminated and prejudiced them. Contrarily, they liked building relationship with those who treated them as friends and gave respects to them. Additionally, their foods which was considered dirty and full of germs by some England people are actually healthy and tasty.Overall, I like the way the native people in Amazon behave, they were so brave to live in a place without advanced technology but natural clear water. I would be mad if I lived there for one week.
ReplyDeleteThe following contents are some interesting information about Amazon:
The Amazon includes territory belonging to nine nations,and represents over half of the planet's remaining rainforests, and it comprises the largest and most species-rich tract of tropical rainforest in the world. However, there are many problems caused by deforestation. For example, the colonists were unable to manage their fields and the crops because of the loss of soil fertility and weed invasion..The soils in the Amazon are productive for just a short period of time, so farmers are constantly moving to new areas and clearing more land. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, the combination of climate change and deforestation increases the drying effect of dead trees that fuels forest fires.In 2010 the Amazon rainforest experienced very severe drought. The affected region was approximate 1,160,000 square miles (3,000,000 km2) of rainforest, compared to 734,000 square miles (1,900,000 km2) in 2005. The 2010 drought had three epicenters where vegetation died off, whereas in 2005 the drought was focused on the southwestern part. The findings were published in the journal Science. In a typical year the Amazon absorbs 1.5 gigatons of carbon dioxide; during 2005 instead 5 gigatons were released and in 2010 8 gigatons were released.
Before I started reading the novel, I have known that the Amazon River is the widest river in the world. I also know that Piranha, a cannibal type of fish, and the anaconda snake live there.
ReplyDeleteMy impression about Amazon is that I don’t have the courage to go there (the jungle or the river) in real life but if I see it on TV, I am very interested in watching it.
My impression about Amazon doesn’t change as I continue reading the novel, I still keep that impression. When the novel said that the river is so wide and called it as River Sea, it even confirmed my impression. However, up to chapter 7, the novel didn’t discuss how Maia or the Indians deal with Piranhas or Anaconda.
The facts about Amazon that I got from internet are (Barron, 2005) :
1.The width of Amazon River is between 6 and 10 km.
2.The length of Amazon River is 6280 km flowing from Calilona in Peru to the delta in North Eastern of Brazil.
3.There are 17 (out of thousands) smaller rivers that joined to Amazon River that have length over 1600 km.
Reference:
Barron, M. (2005, December). Fact File about the Amazon. Retrieved October 3, 2011, from mbarron/Amazon Web site : http://www.mbarron.net/Amazon/factfile.htm
I’m still impressed of the Amazon a lot because last year I watched documentary about a tears of Amazon episodes in TV program that came from Korea. It is real that when I was watching this program, I felt there have many serious problems. Everyone knew it Amazon is biggest tropical rain forest in the world and have a lot of natural resources as well. Not only that Amazon is known to supply the entire earth with 20% oxygen. Therefore, Amazon call the lungs of the earth. However, Amazon is last one primitive green hell because There were destroyed 15% for last 30years through human greed.
ReplyDeleteCurrently, Amazon is changing to produces a carbon more than oxygen. At the present rate of progress, Amazon jungle's 80% will be disappeared.
And between 7month and 9month are aflame season because this period time is make to agricultural belt and green land form so, there arise an arson attack in Amazon rain forest.
JinMan Kim, H. K. (Director). (2010). Tears of Amazon Episode [Motion Picture].
I remember that day when we just talked about Amazon before even started reading the novel. In my imagination were only jungle, piranhas and alligators. I found three examples from the novel “Journey to the River Sea”, by Eva Ibbotson about beauty of those places.
ReplyDeleteFirst, when Maia was amazed of Manaus beauty “drove past mansions painted in every colour: pink and ochre and blue, with flowers tumbling from window boxes”, “blossoming orange and lemon trees, and mangoes, and wonderful creepers climbing over the railings”(55). Here is author shows us how Manaus nice and bright with flowers, trees.
Another example about Indian boy description, “a blue cotton shirt faded from washing and cotton trousers”, “he wore a broad band which partly covered his thick”, “a pattern of red zigzags was painted on his cheekbones”(74). Here we can see how Indians people, who live in Amazon look.
Last example, when Maia met Finn at first time, “noise of the water lapping the Arabella, the whirr of the humming birds wings, the dog yawning” (100). In this example everybody can just imagine how that places are amazing.
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ReplyDelete1. When Maia, the main character, learns that she will be going to live in Manaus, Brazil, her perceptions of the Amazon are very different from those of her classmates. Before you started reading the novel, what were your impressions of the Amazon? Are they changing as you continue to read? Find at least 2 new facts about the Amazon today that you didn't already know and share them. Be sure to list your source.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was young, I knew Amazon is the biggest and wildest river in the world. It crosses over South America continent. I imaged the pictures about Amazon which were green river, green trees, and blue sky. In the rainforest, mysterious animals and insects lived in there. Trees covered sunshine which made the rainforest humid and cool. People, animals, and flora depend on the rainforest and river to survive. Also, Amazon was a paradise for them for the variety natural resources. However, when I read an article title is “Amazon rainforest could become a desert” written by Geoffrey Lean, in July 23, 2006. Amazon rainforest suffered from drought few years, because of global warming. Million of trees were died. These consequences could control by people. Another article I found in the website Amazon Rainforest, the title is “Amazon rainforest destruction”. This article talks about why did Amazon rainforest destroyed. There are several reasons. People exploit rainforest for agriculture and cattle. And another is wood sector. Illegal cutting is devastating. Moreover, there is much illegal trade of biological species. People killed or collected animals for some special purposes. Some of them are crimes. Both the two news are horrible, natural environments are destroyed and damaged, because of human’s greed.
There is lots of interesting information about the Amazon geographic and cultural in the “Journey to the River Sea”. I got three messages about the Amazon.
ReplyDelete1. After a week of sailing down the river they stopped at Santarem, a port where a big market had been set up. (P25)
2. Belem, the first port on the Amazon. (P20)
3. The Indians are proud people who have their own lives. If you treat them like a slaves they don’t revolt or go on strike; they simply melt back into the forest. Join their tribes and disappear. (P39)
I am in favor of question number one. Before reading the novel, I thought that the writer would give us an amazing story related to the great Amazon which Maia learnt from the book. When I think about Amazon, I always imagine as a virgin. In my childhood, I read some fantastic stories about Amazon. Although we do not have a detail picture on Amazon between chapter 1 to 7, Maia gets the Amazon as beautiful as it was. Now, Amazon is facing lots of difficulties. Multinational companies are cutting down the big trees in Amazon for logging business. Due to deforestation, Indian people as well as animal species have been wiped out. Amazon is loosing its biodiversity.
ReplyDeleteReference:
Nationalgeoraphic.com (2001)
Question #1. Before reading the book I had the same picture as Maia created to her own, I mean green rainforest, beautiful flowers, lianas and many animals. This picture is still fresh in my mind from the junior high when our amazing geography teacher introduces us to the wonderful world of Amazon. It is like seen a famous painting that even after decades is fresh in your memory. When, I read the story the picture in my head is completing with new beautiful and interesting details. Unfortunately, this picture starts to decay due to the events that are going on in the Amazon nowadays. There it is a controversial project to build a dam. The dam will provide a lot of “green” power and massive amounts of methane as a side effect of sediment discomposing in the reservoir and thousands of indigenous people moved away because of flooded areas of rainforest (Hance, 2011). Moreover, the biodiversity is in jeopardy because of oil exploration in the heart of the Amazon. For example, the Yasuni National Park in Peru that contains a enormous variety of species is in danger because of a potential beginning of oil drilling in the area in the near future (Hance, 2011). Those and many others are sad news about the today’s Amazon.
ReplyDeleteretrieved from:
news.mongabay.com/2011/0929-hance_belomonte_workhalt.html
news.mongabay.com/2011/0922-hance_yasuni_map.html
Whenever I think of Amazon, every idea is negative things. For instance, there are severe deforestation in Amazon, and Brazil government allows companies to log a huge number of trees. This can cause serious environmental problems because Amazon forest accounts for 60% of a whole dense forest in the world and supply 20% of the world's oxygen. As I read the novel, Journey to the River sea, I became to focus on the beautiful scenery of Amazon. The first new fact is that Amazon has the most plentiful species of insects, animals and plants according to Wikipedia website, "Wet tropical forests are the most species-rich biome, and tropical forests in the Americas are consistently more species rich than the wet forests in Africa and Asia." The second fact is that the combination of climate change and deforestation can increase drought of Amazon. it is mentioned in Wikipedia website,"In 2005, parts of the Amazon basin experienced the worst drought in one hundred years, and there were indications that 2006 could have been a second successive year of drought.In 2005, parts of the Amazon basin experienced the worst drought in one hundred years, and there were indications that 2006 could have been a second successive year of drought."
ReplyDeleteI look forward to continuing a travel via the Journey to the River Sea.