Charles Darwin

What does this cartoon suggest about belonging? The Image shown suggests that the talking cartoon character feels he needs to Isolate himself from the world until It Is a happy place gall that he wishes to live In. It is as if he only wishes to belong to places in which he believes are positive. II. What features of this cartoon suggest this message? The main reasons that suggest this is the text shown from the cartoon character and his body language.

The cartoons speech is very negative toward belonging not Just to place but also to self. The characters body language suggests to the readers that the image is of an unhappy and negative tone. Another feature that suggests this is the shading of the building this shows us a feeling of isolation which is created by the character In the way he Is locking himself away from society and the world. Question Two: Poem l. What reflections does the poem offer on returning to the place where on grew up? Support your answer with detail from the poem.

Wealth the poem there are feelings of different tones. These being negative and positive to returning to Darwin. It seems hat the author does not want to return when he say such quotes as “dragging my body behind”, this give a sense of disappointment as he uses an unwilling tone to describe what he is feeling when he arrives back in Darwin after twenty five years of leaving. The metaphor “landfill” is also used in describing his negative view, it has been said that throughout the poem that he cannot escape Darwin, it is as if he needs to belong to Darwin to survive. It fills the nose like a childhood dunked in scented tea”, Is another form of tone but in this cause takes on a positive perspective, his gives us a technique of emotive language. This technique gives the readers a better sense of what the character Is experiencing at the present time. It also shows experience past times. Question Three: Prose Extract l. How does the narrator evoke the experience of being at home in the landscape? In David Ireland’s extract “The Chosen”, Ireland shows the way the beauty of natural sceneries can fill a girl with impressions of belonging through a keen eye of discoveries of the natural world.

The extract begins by using a metaphor of “She began to love the silence”, this helps to indicate her somewhat as it seem previous fife with “silence”. The girl further begins to explore the sceneries, which leads her to finally understand nature where she experiences tranquility of the sceneries and begins to “love the silence” once again, It Is as If every step she takes excites her more and more about future discoveries. “She listened to see If she could hear the crops growing” is used to suggest her unfamiliarity of being in mother natures arms, she an discoveries.

Question Four: Visual Text, Poem and Prose Extract l. In each of these texts, perceptions of belonging involve connections between people and places. Select and TWO of these texts and compare their portrayal of the connections between people and places. In the text “Darwin 1967-1992” and “The Chosen” perceptions of belonging are very much the same, both texts reveal a sense of wanting to belong to place but they also show a sense of not wanting to belong for particular reasons.

In “Darwin 1967-1992″ the main idea is to show that past experiences can connect you to a place you may not particularly want to be, in this case Darwin. It is as if the author cannot escape, as it is truly where his sense of belonging is. It is like Darwin is the only place he can be his true self. The Chosen” can be taken by an audience as wanting to belong or not wanting to belong much like “Darwin 1967-1992”. In “The Chosen” we can see she did not want to belong at first but soon grew to love the sceneries much like the author of “Darwin 1967-1992” loved Darwin as a place when he was younger.

The girls opening sentence soon tells us that she wishes to connect and belong to place by the way she somewhat lets herself fall into mother natures arms. The girl seem to disconnect from the people as she says “She began to love the silence” showing that she doesn’t want to hear anything form the world outside of the sceneries she is connecting herself to, Just like the author of “Darwin 1967-1993” is aiming to disconnect himself form all the experiences and people of Darwin.

Essay: “Heat and Dust”- Ruth Brawler Cabala “Time and Tide”- Tim Winston Belonging is not Just defined by on specific definition but by many, this can be influenced from events people have endured in life or from views and perceptions told from others. Belonging means the feeling of acceptance, security and fulfillment, or the connection felt to people, places, communities and the world itself. These feeling can be identified through Ruth Brawler Cabala’s novel “Heat and Dust” and Tim Window’s 1997 feature article “Time and Tide”.

Belonging to place is a very significant aspect to a persons feeling of being accepted and connected. In Cabala’s “Heat and Dust” the narrator travels to India to reconstruct the story of Olivia and to find herself and where she belongs in Indian culture. Her first expectations of India are not what she envisioned at all she imagined India to be Just like or identical to the memoirs, prints and letters of Olive’s she had received. The first view that is shown to backup the narrator’s negative view of India is the loss of her watch.

She uses empathic tone in the line “Not already’ to suggest the expectation of things being taken. The narrator somewhat starts to forget about her first views of India and become diverted into the India culture, she does this by opening up her windows and door to let the heat and dust which brings her into the realization of what Indian culture is and what she wishes to do to make a connection to India and belong to India and its people.

The narrator’s sense of belonging to the people of India truly starts when she Joins and feels connected to the Ender La’s family this is shown through the metaphor “Joined the Ender Ala line”. This use of this metaphor is to show the narrators deep and true feeling for the Ender Ala family and their culture. The narrator soon become intensely involved in Indian culture after she is introduced to how they live, eat, sleep and dress. She begins to live like the Indians by only sleeping in a small room with minimal furniture and resources. She also begins to eat traditional Indian food and wear the traditional Indian clothing.

The narrator become so involved and in love with India as the days go on this can be seen in the line “l lie awake for hours: with happiness”, the use of the colon helps to add and emphasis positive tone of the narrator and show us that she is keeping with a positive state of mind. The narrator soon become pregnant to Ender Ala in a secret affair of which only they know of. The narrator makes the decision and tries an abortion to help keep her love affair secret to the Indian culture. The narrator allows Magi to proceed with the abortion until he is suddenly stopped by the narrator’s rods of “l suddenly cried out, No please stop”.

The narrator makes the individual choice of not to abort the baby this is seen in the line “It was absolutely clear to me now that I wanted my pregnancy’. When the narrator leaves Cabala uses evocative language such as ” brilliant light” and “light steamed in” to describe the landscape that the narrator is entering after her procedure. The landscape somewhat seems to match the narrators feeling and thoughts, it is as if India is happy with her decision and accept. Notion of belonging can be questionable. The British in Cabala novel see India as Mathew of a remote outpost.

They brought their own British culture with them. They lived in gated and isolated settlement which where within the Indian towns. With their culture they also brought their own fashion, foods, furnishing and religion. The British more or less didn’t open themselves up to India because they where unsure and uncomfortable about the many unfamiliar sights of many things such as the weather, disease, colors, foods and insects. They did not come to see this as tourists they mention, but they come as rulers. Throughout the novel there are many ententes that give the readers a sense of the British not wanting to belong.

For example they are completely opposite to the narrator who is willing to let herself open to India. They keep their windows and doors shut to make the heat and dust stay ways from them unlike the narrator who keep hers open because it helps her to connect to the Indian culture. They are also very different in the way that they don’t try to live in the Indian culture like the narrator, they never try any of the Indian food, clothing or furnishings. People desire relationships to provide or create a sense of connection or belonging to place. Belonging to place is very important in Tim Window’s article “Time and Tide”.

Winston affiliate himself with the sea, the connection is so strong that he sees the sea as another home. The feeling of the sea being a home leads Winston to having a large feeling of idealization with the sea, this is very much seen when he refers to the sea as “The Big Blue”. Window’s strong affiliation is also shown in the metaphor of “l grew up” this show a technique of symbolism as the sea somewhat shows a view of his growth as he grew up. Vivid imagery is also used to advocate how connecting the sea is to IM and how connected he is to the sea.

Within the article we learn that Winston does not Just have a strong relationship to the sea but his family as well. Winston mentions many memories which he shares with his father but most important his mother. The relationship with his mother is most important through the piece as his mother soon realizes his connection to the sea and sees how it is somewhat of another nurturing mother to her son. His mother realizes him from Just her mothering and allows the sea to mother as well. The sea does not Just allow Winston to feel as if he belongs to lace but also allows him to show his sense of acceptance, and also his own sense of identity.

In Ruth Brawler Cabala’s “Heat and Dust” and Tim Window’s “Time and Tide”, all character find themselves wanting to be involved in belonging to place or not belonging to place. Both sides are seen in “Heat and dust” where as only one is seen in “Time and Tide”. There choices much belong to their attitude and willingness to the culture or society. It is as if to truly feel a sense of belonging they need to have a sense of a relationship with somebody or something from the place they are at the time.

The marine iguana, scientifically known as Amblyrhynchus cristatus, is the only lizard in the world that takes to the sea.  Markedly different in appearance, size, and physical attributes, than its land-living cousin.  As one of the many varieties of iguana that Darwin observed in the Galapagos Islands, the marine iguana demonstrates an evolutionary response to a particular set of environmental challenges and has offered marine and land biologists alike the opportunity to study one of the true cross-over species.

The discovery of this iguana variant was part, clearly, of the evidence that led so many scientists to immediately see the logic and accuracy of what Darwin had “discovered”.   Understanding the marine iguana’s habitat, diet, behavioral patterns, survival techniques, and outlook is the purpose of this examination. It is intended to gain a broad understanding of how the marine iguana lives, breeds, and survives.

First discovered by Charles Darwin, aboard the Beagle, while touring the Galapagos Islands,  the marine iguana, or Amblyrhynchus cristatus became one of the most remarkable finds of that journey. The marine iguana is distinguished from other iguanas by “their short, blunt snouts and slightly laterally compressed tail that efficiently moves this lizard along the surface  or beneath the water,” (Amblyrhynchus cristatus, Marine Iguana – MarineBio.org. Retrieved Monday, April 9, 2007, from http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=165.)

The marine iguana is of a similar length to the full-grown land iguanas (reaching two to three feet from nose to tail) and can weigh up to eight pounds.  The color of the marine iguana is quite closely matched to the black volcanic rocks in which it lives.  While there are no natural predators of the marine iguana on land, thus making the evolutionary argument for the coloring of the creature to be necessary for camouflage, there are very specific benefits – primarily being that of heat absorption.  In the water, however, predators abound.

The marine iguana, living both on land and in the ocean, and being a cold-blooded creature, requires an adjustment time when going from hot to cold and heat-absorbing coloring, such as the dark black dominant color on the marine iguana helps to reduce that shift in temperatures and helps to return the iguana to normal speed of functioning faster.  The marine iguana, like all reptiles, does not have the ability to thermoregulate which also accounts for the dark coloring as a necessary boost in the absorption of heat from the sun.

This ability is absolutely critical to the marine iguana’s pursuit of food.  All reptiles will physically slow down to a near halt the colder they get.  Therefore, in order to prevent an absolute cessation of movement during a dive, the marine iguana must raise its body temperature to combat the nearly 10degree-Celsius loss that comes from an average dive. In fact, heat is a very significant part of the marine iguana’s life. They must warm themselves to dive, but they also must maintain a consistent temperature or risk getting too hot. (Rothman, p1). The marine iguana’s adaptations also include a nasal gland that excretes the excess salt taken in while in the ocean.  All of these factors, and more, contribute to making the marine iguana a most fascinating creature.

The habitat of the marine iguana is not just limited to the Galapagos Islands but that is the only place it is naturally found (there are many marine iguana exhibits in zoos.  The Galapagos Islands are generally characterized by a variety of  both high and low and scrub or cling-vegetation.  Each island is unique in its combination of vegetation and animal life.  The marine iguana does not appear on all of the Galapagos islands, but, as has been previously stated, it is only found there which shows that it, as a unique creature, came to be what it is as a result of living in its particular habitat.  Interestingly, there are also variations in average size depending upon which island you find the marine iguana upon.

Those found on Isabela and Ferdinandina are the largest and the smallest are found on the island of Genovesa.   How the marine iguana found its way to the Galapagos islands (and the marine iguana is the only iguana species on the islands) is unknown.  But, the prevailing theories center on the idea that the iguanas crossed on a land-bridge that sank long ago, or that they were transported from the mainland of Argentina or elsewhere in South America.

Regardless, because of their distance from their origins, their unique environment that other iguanas had not been exposed to, and the relative lack of traditional iguana food (which is, actually, just about anything) but on these islands, the iguanas were either too slow to catch prey, or the natural vegetation was simply not nutritious enough for their needs. So, faced with this, the iguanas adapted to their environment and found that algae, one of the worlds most nutrient-rich foods, was a better and more consistent source of food than any other.

There are thousands of insect varieties that other lizard species feed upon on the islands, but for the marine iguana, it is the algae growing on the rocks under the ocean surface that provides their food. Getting the algae does not require a great deal of hunting or foraging.  As algae is exceptionally abundant.  Because of this, the marine iguana has an average dive depth of up to 15 meters (with most only needing to be in the 1.5-5 meter range) and can remain under water for three to five minutes (with a notable few observed dives of up to 30 min), (marinebio.org).

The day of the marine iguana is spent doing predictable reptile behavior: sunning to absorb heat in order to have a more successful dive for food, diving for food, and, reproducing.  The reproduction cycle for the marine iguana begins in December and goes through March.  The nesting season follows immediately after breeding, which takes place in the January to April time frame.    Breeding begins when females hit three to five-years of age and when the males are within the 6 to 8 year range.

As is the case with only a few reptiles, the male marine iguanas have nothing to do with the guarding of the eggs.  But, the females will do so for up to a week (Rubenstein & Wikelski, “Seasonal Changes in Food Quality: A proximate cue for reproductive timing in marine iguanas”, 3013).  After that period, they leave the eggs on their own to incubate under two to four feet of sand.   Hatchlings weigh an average of 55 grams and are geared for survival from the moment they emerge from the shell.

The challenges to the survival of the marine iguana are many, but they are no more so than those facing every other species of plant and animal on the islands or, indeed, anywhere else in the world.  Pollution, climate change, environmental shifts (such as El Nino), and human encroachment all play a part in determining the long-term survival of the marine iguana.  Fortunately, though, for this species at least there is relatively little industrialization or human colonization of the Galapagos.

This results in much lower amounts of land and ecosystem loss.  But, as is the case for any creature that can’t make its own food, the marine iguana’s challenge is to eat enough to survive each day.  As long as ocean pollution does not find a way to kill off the algae, the marine iguana will continue to thrive in the Galapagos.

The marine iguana is, indeed, a unique and special animal.  Referred to derogatorily as being “ugly”, the marine iguana is uniquely suited (adapted) to its environment through a series of evolutionary shifts that took it away from the land iguana to one that can  swim under water, expel salt through a nasal gland, and gets nearly all of its food underwater.  These creatures eat primarily algae found on the rocks and reefs below the ocean surface and, in order to make these dives to get that food, must raise their core temperature to as to have quick reflexes even as their body temperature is going down.

Found on many of the Galapagos islands, the marine iguana even shows variations in body size from island to island.  Breeding takes place in the summer months (of the Southern Hemisphere) and nesting follows shortly.  The marine iguana provides a look into the deep biological past (one can see the dinosaurs in the background) for its appearance which is designed to assist with the absorption of heat.  While the marine iguana is not currently under environmental threat, but can be greatly affected by a host of events both locally and globally.

References

Amblyrhynchus cristatus, Marine Iguana – MarineBio.org. Online. Internet. Avail.  http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=165. Info acc 8 March, 2007.

Rothman, Robert. “Marine Iguana”. RIT.edu. Online. Internet. Avail: http://www.rit.edu/~rhrsbi/GalapagosPages/MarineIguana.html. Access: 8 March, 2007.

Rubenstein, Dustin R. and Wikelksi, Martin. Seasonal changes in food quality: a proximate cue for reproductive timing in marine iguanas. Ecology 84.11 (Nov 2003): p3013.