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An unbiased perspective is showing us what is going on at Pate Valley.
How did we get here though?
What's special about Aspen?
Fun Fact: Aspen Colonies can live for ten's of thousands of years because they can grow new trunks
Why bring up extinction of life?
On their
Own trails. I followed my own
Trail here. Picked up the cold-drill,
Pick, singlejack, and sack
Of dynamite.
Ten thousand years.
Notice how A's are being used
They are singling out
different parts of the
landscape. Why?
To express the individuality of all the different parts of nature?
If so, it would mean that
to destroy a piece of that nature it would cause a ripple effect through out the ecosystem.
Because even though they are all individual parts assonance brings them all closer together by using the same vowel sound.
"Green meadow watered by snow"
A meadow is being given life to by snow
But wait...
During winter time isn't life killed by snow?
Paradox
In this instance the water from snow is giving life to the meadow instead of the cold snow killing the meadow.
Ohh wait one more thing...
We finished clearing the last
Section of trail by noon,
High on the ridge-side
Two thousand feet above the creek
Reached the pass, went on
Beyond the white pine groves,
Granite shoulders, to a small
Green meadow watered by the snow,
Edged with Aspen —sun
Straight high and blazing
But the air was cool.
Ate a cold fried trout in the
Trembling shadows . I spied
A glitter, and found a flake
Black volcanic glass—obsidian—
By a flower. Hands and knees
Pushing the Bear grass , thousands
Of arrowhead leavings over a
Hundred yards. Not one good
Head, just razor flakes
On a hill snowed all but summer,
A land of fat summer deer ,
They came to camp. On their
Own trails . I followed my own
Trail here. Picked up the cold-drill,
Pick, singlejack, and sack
Of dynamite.
Ten thousand years.
What's the effect of rhyme?...
It places emphasis on the words being rhymed because they sound similar
What words are being rhymed?
Singlejack and sack of dynamite
What's special about these tools?
Tools of destruction...
Destruction as seen with the volcano?
No?
Man is destroying nature voluntarily
Think back ten thousand years
The tools of destruction...
Are a metonymy for miners
Why are miners important?
In 1850 the Awahnechee people attacked a group of miners because the miners were threatening their homeland.
So why bring it up again?
Hate to say this but you've been lied to.
To make us reflect on the previous actions of the nation and to make sure it doesn't happen again
The next line and last line states Ten Thousand Years
to further emphasize the reflection of the Awahnechee people by using literary conceit which alludes to this.
What's the perspective of this poem again?...
Looking from above we see a group going along a path.
Isolated men are walking on a path
But wait why does the group get on its hands and knees?
To "Push past the Bear grass"
The group is battling nature by pushing through it instead of going around it.
Bear grass is another plant isn't it...What's special about that?
Bear Grass has rhizomes that are able to withstand fires and allows the plant to thrive in a scorched environment.
A plant that can live after a volcano erupts is being ignored by man
Ten Thousand Years ago there was a people who lived in harmony with nature and didn't destroy it
Dichotomy
vs
Awahnechee
The traveling group
Magelsen, Thomas D. "Eyes of the Wolf." Mangelsen Images of Nature Gallery. Thomas D. Mangelsen, Web. 15 May 2016. <http://mangelsen.com/mammals/wolf/eyes-of-the-wolf-2977.html>.
Brandenburg, Jim. "Brother Wolf." Jim Brandenburg. Jim Brandenburg, Web. 15 May 2016. <http://www.jimbrandenburg.com/>.
Ten Thousand Years ago the Awahnechee people lived in harmony with nature but when the balance of nature was being disturbed by the European Americans, war broke out.
War brought destruction...
However, now the same type of destruction is happening but without the Awahnechee to interfere
What will happen to nature?
It will win!
Remember Aspen can grow a new trunk and Bear grass can withstand fire
Although it may take another Ten Thousand Years
Hands and knees
Pushing the Bear grass, thousands
Of arrowhead leavings over a
Hundred yards. Not one good
Head, just razor flakes
On a hill snowed all but summer,
A land of fat summer deer,
They came to camp.
Notice how the sentence doesn't stop until line 11.
This separates this passage from the rest of the poem. Why?
The only thing being discussed in the passage is the landscape and enjambment puts emphasis on the landscape.
We finished clearing the last
Section of trail by noon,
High on the ridge-side
Two thousand feet above the creek
Reached the pass, went on
Beyond the white pine groves,
Granite shoulders, to a small
Green meadow watered by the snow,
Edged with Aspen —sun
Straight high and blazing
But the air was cool.
Sneaky consonance...
The "Gr" sound is short yet it has a lot of impact due to the rough nature of pronunciation
Snyder placed this consonance in the middle of the enjambment in order to group the landscape even more
Ten thousand years ago the Awahnechee tribes settled the Yosemite Area
In 1833 European Americans made contact with the Awahnechee
In 1850 the Awahnechee attacked a mining camp because they felt threatened and as a result the Mariposa War started
Mariposa war led to the eviction of the Awahnechee off of Yosemite territory
What does a bird's eye view mean?
Of or belonging to a bird's eye; as in bird's-eye view: a view of a landscape from above, such as is presented to the eye of a bird; a perspective representation of such a view. (OED)
The title, Above Pate Valley, is the setting of the poem and it gives us our exposition
Pate Valley is a part of Yosemite National Park in California
Beautiful isn't it?
Adams, Ansel. Yosemite Winter Valley. 1938. The Ansel Adams Gallery. Web. 12 May
2016. <http://shop.anseladams.com/Yosemite_Valley_Winter_p/
5010129-u.htm>.
What is the understatement?
What is being downplayed?
found a flake
Black volcanic glass—obsidian—
By a flower.
Evidence of the massive destructive force of a volcano is being contrasted against a fragile flower
Who was it again that lived ten thousand years ago but died at the hands of man?
Mangelsen, Thomas D. "A Sacred Place." Mangelsen Images of Nature Gallery.
Thomas D Mangelsen, Web. 14 May 2016. <http://mangelsen.com/
landscapes/desert/a-sacred-place-6159.html>.
Ate a cold fried trout in the
Trembling shadows. I spied
A glitter, and found a flake
Black volcanic glass—obsidian—
By a flower.
We finished clearing the last
Section of trail by noon,
High on the ridge-side
Two thousand feet above the creek
Reached the pass, went on
Beyond the white pine groves,
Granite shoulders, to a small
Green meadow watered by the snow,
Edged with Aspen —sun
Straight high and blazing
But the air was cool.
Ate a cold fried trout in the
Trembling shadows . I spied
A glitter, and found a flake
Black volcanic glass—obsidian—
By a flower. Hands and knees
Pushing the Bear grass , thousands
Of arrowhead leavings over a
Hundred yards. Not one good
Head, just razor flakes
On a hill snowed all but summer,
A land of fat summer deer ,
They came to camp. On their
Own trails . I followed my own
Trail here. Picked up the cold-drill,
Pick, singlejack, and sack
Of dynamite.
Ten thousand years.
Adams, Ansel. Yosemite Winter Valley. 1938. The Ansel Adams Gallery. Web. 12 May 2016. <http://shop.anseladams.com/Yosemite_Valley_Winter_p/5010129-u.htm>. (9)
Brandenburg, Jim. "Brother Wolf." Jim Brandenburg. Jim Brandenburg, Web. 15 May 2016. <http://www.jimbrandenburg.com/>. (31)
"History of the Yosemite Area." Wikipedia. Wikipedia, Web. 15 May 2016. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Yosemite_area>.
Magelsen, Thomas D. "Eyes of the Wolf." Mangelsen Images of Nature Gallery. Thomas D. Mangelsen, Web. 15 May 2016. <http://mangelsen.com/mammals/wolf/eyes-of-the-wolf-2977.html>. (32)
Mangelsen, Thomas D. "A Sacred Place." Mangelsen Images of Nature Gallery. Thomas D Mangelsen, Web. 14 May 2016. <http://mangelsen.com/landscapes/desert/a-sacred-place-6159.html>. (26)