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John Muir | "A Wind-Storm in the Forests" (1894)

Naturalist, conservationist, and wilderness explorer John Muir was instrumental in establishing national parks in the United States, including Yosemite National Park. Muir helped to form the Sierra Club and wrote extensively about exploring and conservation in books, articles, and essays.

Sites about John Muir :

Link 1: http://www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/

The Sierra Club’s Web site includes a wealth of information about Muir, with links to passages of his writings, biographies, and maps of his incredible journeys across the United States.
Link 2: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/johnofthemountains.shtml

The BBC produced this radio program in which correspondent Howard Stableford follows in Muir’s footsteps from Scotland to Yosemite, providing valuable insight into Muir the man and Muir the conservationist (click on the RealAudio link to listen to the radio program).
Link 3: http://www.myhero.com/myhero/hero.asp?hero=j_muir

Beautiful photos of Muir and Yosemite accompany this biography of Muir on the My Hero Web site, a resource for teachers and students.

Compare Muir’s “Wind-Storm” essay with this essay called “The Earthquake,” excerpted from Our National Parks (1901): http://www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/writings/the_earthquake.html. What patterns do you see emerging from your comparison of these essays? See if you can begin to characterize the rhetorical features you find in Muir’s writing, commenting on his voice, his assumptions about audience, the central adventures around which these essays are written, and other styles you can identify.

One of Muir’s biggest battles as a conservationist was his fight to preserve the Hetch Hetchy Valley. Using the following Web sites and other resources, research the issues surrounding the damming of Hetch Hetchy and construct an argument for what you believe should be done with the valley today:

http://www.hetchhetchy.org/history.html

http://www.sierraclub.org/ca/hetchhetchy/index.asp

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/johnofthemountains.shtml (Click the link at the top of this page for a BBC radio program about Muir and Hetch Hetchy.)

Read one of Muir’s first essays on saving Hetch Hetchy Valley at http://www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/writings (click on “Articles” and then choose one of the two links called “The Hetch Hetchy Valley”). What is Muir’s strategy here? How is he using his writing to save the valley? Research another environmental issue relevant today and compare the writing used to advocate for the cause with Muir’s writing. Are the same strategies used today?

The Norton Reader

John Muir | "A Wind-Storm in the Forests" (1894)

Sites about John Muir :

Link 1: http://www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/

Link 2: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/johnofthemountains.shtml

Link 3: http://www.myhero.com/myhero/hero.asp?hero=j_muir