Literature/Biology Page
The contrasting styles of life between those who reside on the
East Coast and those who live on the
West Coast are also reflected in the literature from each of these
areas. Over the years, students in high school English classes
have come to recognize the differences in style between Nathaniel
Hawthorne and Mark Twain, between Emily Dickinson and Robinson
Jeffers, between Edgar Alan
Poe and Zane Grey. However, few students have compared some of
the classic biological literature
of the East and West Coast. Hence, two such works have been chosen
for our conference.
First, representative of the East Coast is Life and Death of the
Salt Marsh, by John and Mildred
Teal. Beautifully written, this book gives a compelling justification
for respecting the great marsh
lands of the East Coast. These salt marshes, extending from Newfoundland
to Florida, are major
components of Eastern coastal landscapes. And, the Teal's love
for the marsh is evident in their
words,
"At low tide, the wind blowing across Spartina grass sounds like wind of the prairie. When the tide is in, the gentle music of moving water is added to the prairie rustle...."
Although salt marshes are also present on Western shores, this
coast is much more noted for its
dramatic headlands, granite and basalt tidepools, thousands of
miles of wave swept beaches and
spectacular vistas. Additionally, the expansiveness of Western
shores leads to a different way of
looking at reality, perhaps to a more relational point of view.
Masters of the Western view, in terms of the literature of biological
science, are John Steinbeck,
and Edward F. Ricketts. And, perhaps no book better represents
their perceptions than The Log
from the Sea of Cortez. Based on a trip into the Gulf of California
(Sea of Cortez) by purse seiner
in the days prior to World War II (1940), the book is a collection
of thoughts and biological
activities by Steinbeck and Ricketts during that time. One such
sample is the following:
"It is very easy to grow tired at collecting; the period of low tide
is about all men can endure. At first the rocks are bright and every
moving animal makes his mark on the attention. The picture
is wide and colored and beautiful. But after an hour and a half
the attention centers weary, the colors fade, and the field is likely to
narrow to an individual animal. Here one may observe his own
world narrowed down until interest and, with it, observation, flicker
and go out."
All of us on the East Coast began a discussion between the two books to get
ideas flowing. Then we went to the computers and had a discussion with the
students on the West Coast about the two books. Our preliminary discussion included questions such as:
Why did Steinbeck write what he wrote and why did the Teals write
about the Marsh (writing a book is a long and laborious effort, so why
did they do it)?
How does Sea of Cortez represent the West Coast?
How does Life and Death of the Salt Marsh represent the East Coast?
How are the two books similar, how are they different? Which one
did you prefer and why?
If you were to describe your favorite place to someone, would you
use Steinbeck's style or the Teal's style?
The next section is an edited account of the student discussion between the East and
West coast. FHL is Friday Harbor labs in Washington. MBL is Marine
Biological labs at Woods Hole. David Remsen is the person who was in charge
of setting up the computers, he is not a student. There was more than one
computer at each site so there are many comments coming from each coast.
FHL - Enthusiasm in Teal had to come from your own experiences, Steinbeck impresses it on you.
FHL - I guess I found Steinbeck's writing more interesting becauses it was
about people and their experiences, not just pure science.
FHL - We only read little portions of "teal" maybe that is why it did not
leave a big passionate response on us.
David Remsen - Teal did not use the "I" character and that made it a
stronger argument. Often in essay writing that method is used and it
strengthens the argument.
FHL - good point.
MBL - Do you think that there is a difference between the way West Coast and
East Coast people express themselves?
MBL - I liked Steinbeck because he was human, he felt the life of the ocean,
it was spiritual for him.
David Remsen - I disagree on the point that the Teal story was just pure
facts. It was a story. You can tell from the title The Life and Death of
the Salt Marsh. It is the story of a salt marsh.
(at this point many of the students are getting off topic)
David Remsen - Do you see Teal as a story?
MBL - I have no clue
MBL - Teal might have been a story but the story is more difficult to get
out of his writing
FHL - Teal was hard to get the full story out of such a small portion.
David Remsen - But if you were an environmentalist, wouldn't you want that
[the Teal's] point of view?
MBL - I see Teal as a story of science, I see Steinbeck as a story of
passion for science and the natural world
MBL - I would call Teal's book more of a research paper than a story.
MBL - If teal wasn't passionate, why would they write the book?
David Remsen - Well, which one is stronger, a story of passion or a story of
the world and science?
MBL - I like to know that I am being felt when I read a story, that life is
behind the words.
MBL - a story of passion is stronger.
FHL - Someone can have an interest without being passionate.
MBL - What does Steinbeck mean when he says, "The man with his pickled fish
has sacrificed a great observation about himself, the fish, and the focal
point, which is his thought on both the sierra and himself."
FHL - he meant that the man with the pickled fish never knew what the fish's
life was like, so he couldn't understand its life.
FHL - The sierra question is about how when you don't obessrve something in
its natural state, you lose something.
FHL - Teal wrote his book in the name of nature-- Steinbeck wrote the book
to presesrve nature.
MBL - I don't understand how Teal is not writing to preserve nature.
MBL - Why do you think that Steinbeck and Teal chose to write their books on
the topics that they did?
FHL - Because they both loved nature and believed that to understand the
large picture of life they had to study the small pieces first.
David Remsen - I think that Teal's book was written to preserve nature as
well because the format of the book giving facts did preserve nature because
it preserves the exact way of nature.
MBL - Teal tells the story of salt marsh supporting his ideas with facts,
while steinbeck uses personal experiences. They are different but both are
stories.
MBL - When you were in the field today, did you relate any of your
experiences to either Steinbeck or the Teals? Could you understand either
of the authors more?
FHL - I think that if I wanted to describe the life, or the feeling of our
area, I would use Steinbeck. If I wanted to relate what was here I would
use Teal.
MBL - During our research today, I was more interested in the big picture
and the ecological relationships between organisms, than scientific details.
MBL - But in order to get the big picture, you need to put together the
small details.
MBL - When I was out on the docks today and we were learning about the
different types of organisms it made me realize how much more there is out
there and how ignorant we are of the natural world around us.
The early morning moon.
Things to think about:
Compare the marshes of the northern New England shore to those
along the coasts of the Carolinas.
What differences occur and why?
What geological features create similar conditions in the Bay
of Fundy, Nova Scotia and in areas
like Ketchikan, Alaska?
The large marshes of Newburyport, the influence of the Parker
River, and Plum Island itself all are
interconnected. Perhaps the Governor Dummer students will explain
these relationships since their
school is surrounded by these lands.
One of the characteristics of an area that has Spartina is that
it must be fresher than seawater for the
seeds to germinate, but saltier than freshwater for the plant
to grow. What areas in the San Juan
Islands might lead to Spartina dominance, and to marshlands somewhat
like those of the East?
A pond hole in a marsh along the Cape Cod shore could be compared
with a high spray pool in a
location such as Cattle Point on San Juan Island. How are these
two habitats alike? How are they
different?
What does Steinbeck mean when he says, "The man with his pickled
fish has sacrificed a great
observation about himself, the fish, and the focal point, which
is his thought on both the sierra and
himself?"
Is there a correlation between looking for adventure in the Gulf,
or at Woods Hole, and looking for
adventure in the stockyards? Explain this seemingly strange analogy.
Sparky said, "Aw, we're going down in the Gulf to collect starfish
and bugs and stuff like that."
Bugs? What is Sparky talking about?
Relate experiences you have had that parallel those of Steinbeck,
Ricketts and the crew with the
Hansen Sea Cow.
Steinbeck and Ricketts observed that , "A Harvard man, a Yale
man, a Stanford man --that is, the
ideal -- is as easily recognized as a tuna..." What do the authors
mean by this statement?
A major Steinbeck quotation, with which many Friday Harbor students
are familiar is ," It is
advisable to look from the tide pool to the stars and then back
to the tide pool again." Based on the
"Tidepools to Telecommunications @ 2000 minus 4" conference, how
could you explain this
quotation?
During the voyage to the Sea of Cortez, "the laws of thought really
seemed to be one with the laws
of things." Is there any parallel between the Steinbeck and Ricketts
trip and your conference?
Explain.
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