Untamed Beauty

Gustavo Quintero
English 48B
January 18, 2008
Journal #8 Mark Twain


Quote:
"...the steep mountains sides rose right up aloft into space- rose up like a vast wall a little out of the perpendicular, and thickly wooded with tall pines"(Twain 303).


Summary:
The above quote is from Twain's book,"Roughing it".In this chapter Twain is describing the camp area that he and another younger man lived at while staying in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. They arrive in Nevada, after failing at silver mining, attempting to start a timber farm.


Response:
The reason I chose this quote is because it describes the early North American wilderness and its beauty. It really spoke volumes to me because of the great way that Twain described this unsettled land. Hie goes on later to describe a lake scene , where the water is so clear that the fish and rocks can be seen down at 75 feet below. I have always been fascinated and loved the natural outdoors. After reading this chapter from, "Roughing it", I could smell the crisp fresh air intertwined with the scent of fresh pine trees. This is what modern day Americans , in the suburbs, know nothing about. Along with this English class I am taking an American history class. The first chapter of the textbook was about the gold rush and the Native Americans. I kept thinking about a painting that the textbook had in it. It was a river scene, that had deep and wide river beds that cut into a beautiful deep canyon. The most amazing part of the painting is the rich oranges and purples that made up the sunset. The painting also had tall bright green redwood and pine trees.

Mark Twain writes about a time in America that was wild and beautiful. I think a lot of people take for granted the area that we live in. They do not take the time to go out and appreciate just how beautiful our American woods is. Two years ago I went on a camping trip with about 10 Friends. My friend's family has a cabin right next to Murphys. The one thing I remember most clearly is just how quiet the area was and how clean the air was. I can not put in words how much I enjoyed being in that environment.