Desert Solitaire: Chapters 4-7

Is Industrialization Always Positive?

Abbey spends the first five and a half chapters describing the beauty and peacefulness that is Arches National Park. He acquaints the reader with nature and what it is to become immersed in the natural world. Abbey educates his readers on the vast array of flora and fauna within the park. One can argue that the tone of Desert Solitaire, up to this point, is passive yet informative. Half way through the chapter titled “Polemic: Industrial Tourism and the National Parks” the tone changes. Exactly how does the tone change? What words and/or phrases does Abbey use to convey to the reader that the industrialization of national parks is a negative movement.

Explain whether you agree or disagree with Abbey's view of industrialization of national parks. Keep in mind that a national park is government owned and is to be accessible to all people. In their current state (when Desert Solitaire was published in 1968), many national parks are not accessible to handicapped persons nor the extremely young or elderly. Building a highway through national parks would make them accessible to nearly everyone. Support your response, and your responses to your classmate's posts, with textual evidence (when necessary) and detailed analysis.

Your responses should be approximately 50-words in length. Be sure to use textual evidence when appropriate. Going over the suggested word count or under that word count is acceptable as long as your response is detailed and direct. Be sure to read the “Scoring Rubric” before posting your response. Also, review your responses for correctness before posting.

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