53 pages 1 hour read

Roderick Nash

Wilderness and the American Mind

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1967

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Essay Topics

1.

This text details the history of the American relationship with wilderness, but it begins with an etymological discussion on the word “wilderness.” What effect does this have on your expectation of the remainder of the text?

2.

Nash says that “wilderness had no place in the paradise myth” (9). How does this statement relate to America’s perception of wilderness throughout its history?

3.

How was the conquest of the American frontier a kind of morality play?