Slumbering Volcano: Stark Contrasts Between Rebellious Slave Leaders in “Benito Cereno” and “The Heroic Slave"
By Andrew A. Oakley (Winner of the 2007 Strickhausen Award)
The United States’ westward continental expansion in the first half of the 19th century, made possible by the conquest of lands held by Mexico and Native American tribes, prompted fierce debate between legislators from slave-holding and free states. Should the federal government extend the institution of slavery to these new territories?
Sharing Space: an Ecological Perspective in Literature
by Chrissy Vnencak (Winner of the 2008 Strickhausen Award)
“Sylvia would have liked him vastly better without his gun; she could not understand why he killed the very birds he seemed to like so much” (Jewett 419).
Human beings are not the only living organisms roaming the earth. They must share their space with other living organisms, small and large alike. The creepy spider that webs down from the ceiling, or the graceful deer sipping from the trickling stream; all of these creatures call earth their home too. The environment around all living things is shared space and should be respected by those who are aware of it. Ernest Hemingway and Sarah Orne Jewett are two early examples of writers who began an ecological approach to their works, creating characters who show an intuitive respect for the interaction between living organisms in their environment. Although Hemingway and Jewett had different styles or approaches to writing, their works, “Big Two-Hearted River” and “A White Heron,” respectively, demonstrate the importance of ecological industry.
Printer-friendly page
