What is our responsibility to the natural environment

Topic: Throughout history we have tried to conquer the wilderness, tame the jungles, and master the
elements, and we are still trying to conquer space. But are nature and humankind necessarily in conflict?
We created civilization to protect us from the undesirable features of the outdoors and, to some degree,
from harm. But now our experience of the natural world is so mediated that many of us know it only as it
is presented on television or online. Has our relationship with nature changed so drastically that nature
now exists within civilization, as contemporary naturalist Bill McKibben suggests? Do we now contain
nature rather than being contained by it? How does our perspective on Ralph Waldo Emersons classic
essay Nature change now that nature is threatened? Can we balance human progress and economic
well-being with environmental protection?
In recent years, humankinds attitude toward the natural world has changed. Before Rachel Carson and
others began to alert us to the dangers of pollution, most people simply didnt think about the
environment. And looking back over the last half century, it is hard to imagine what may be in store for us
over the next fifty years. Are we yet to see the consequences of what we have already done to alter the
environment?
Question: What is our responsibility to the natural environment?
Your Task: Carefully read the text provided. Then, using evidence from that text, plus two credible
pieces of research you gather on your own, write a well-developed argument regarding our responsibility
to the natural environment. Clearly establish your claim, distinguish it from alternate or opposing claims,
and use specific, relevant, and sufficient evidence from these three texts to develop your argument. Do not
simply summarize each text.
Guidelines: Be sure to:
Establish your claim regarding our responsibility to the natural environment.
Distinguish your claim from alternate or opposing claims.
Use specific, relevant, and sufficient evidence from at least three of the texts to develop your
argument.
Develop claim(s) and counterclaim(s) thoroughly and in a balanced manner, supplying the most
relevant evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both, anticipating
the audiences knowledge level, concerns, values, and possible biases.
Express the appropriate complexity of the topic.
Identify each source that you reference, and use MLA guidelines for in-text citations and a works
cited page at the end of the essay.
Organize your ideas in a cohesive and coherent manner.
Maintain a formal style of writing.
Follow the conventions of standard written English.
Text: The Land Ethic by Aldo Leopold on page 906 of The Language of Composition, 2nd Edition

You need to use “The land ethic” and two other sources for this essay.
https://www.uky.edu/~rsand1/china2017/library/Leopold1.pdf

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