gilbert says he IS THEEE american man .

Gilbert believes Eustace to be the last American man for various reasons. I think mainly because he is this “Man of Destiny”, which is what he calls himself. Gilbert sees all these things he has done and could define him as this man of many accomplishments and goals he has achieved.

At an early age of 17, he hiked the Appalachian Mountains. He also road a horse across the country, kayaked across Alaska, and makes his own food, clothes, and housing while living in the woods. I think Gilbert look a little on his background, like how he was brought up, what his parents are like and how he has overcame the various mistreatments of his father. Eustace is from a suburban area in South Carolina and liked nature from the time he was really young. His mother seemed to be caring and backed up his desire to be this nature kind of guy; however, his father was like the exact opposite. Mr. Conway believed that what Eustace took in as knowledge was useless. His father did not basically like the idea of Eustace being this nature guy. Being that Eustace (Eustace Conway IV) is a fourth generation of Eustace Conway’s, his father wants him to be just like him or at least a bit like him, sort of like a mini-me.

american && european attitudes .

According to de Tocqueville, American and European attitudes towards women differ. He described the European attitudes as the women and men being “alike”, while the male and female American roles are divided. He says with European women and men being alike, it degrades both genders and leads to “weak men” and “disorderly women”. The American attitudes toward women are sort of like a democracy. The American women are usually the ones who are not doing the work outside the home, they are the ones doing the household work and taking care of the children. Even though they remain in the house, they are not doing heavy work either. I believe this is what de Tocqueville meant by American democracy enabling women to become “more and more equal of men”. He is saying that they are not doing the same type of work or even in the same setting of the work they do, therefore there is no way the women can be equal of men.

childhood story .

There were many stories I read as a child, however, they were not stories like fairy tales. For some reason, I was not told many fairy tale stories. The story that I always think of when someone asks me about a children’s story I have read is “Amelia Bedelia”. I don’t know exactly why, but I always seem to think of the series of “Amelia Bedelia” books. The main one I think of is the story which Amelia is doing some many things, she is just doing whatever she wants basically. I do not remember the name of the story exactly. However, the value about my gender that I was taught from this story (now that I think about it at an older age) is that women can do anything they want as long as they put their mind to it. Many people get the impression that just being a women that we (women) can not handle certain things or complete certain tasks, but I think this story teaches that I can do whatever I want no matter what my gender is.

emerson`s nature .

Lines chosen: “Nature, in the common sense, refers to essences unchanged by man; space, the air, the river, the leaf. Art is applied to the mixture of his will with the same things, as in a house, a canal, a statue, a picture” (Emerson).

When I first read these lines, they seemed powerful, but at the same time I was not exactly sure what Emerson was saying. I read it over tons of times and I think I got an idea of what Emerson is implying about nature. I believe Emerson is saying that nature are these subjects which man cannot change, it is impossibly for man to make go away or for it to change it. Space, air, the river, and the leaf are the sense of nature. However, art is what man takes from nature (space, air, river, and/or leaf) and adds his work to it. Man takes nature and adds his own handwork to build or make a house, a canal, a statue, or a picture. In conclusion, I think that overall Emerson is trying to make the impression that men actually do work with nature, even if it is not noticed so suddenly.