CJ De Vault

English 3H
Storer
1/21/20
Socratic Circle Reflection on Emerson and Thoreau
During the seminar I was able to see many different views on the same topic and it
opened my eyes to new ideas I never saw in the text. When Miguel brought up nature being a gift
from God, I suggested that religion and nature can be seen as two similar things. In both, people
can find escape from everyday troubles, which be evidence for the deep connection between
nature and religion. I was also able to cite specific evidence from the text to add onto the depth
of my point. My overall performance could have been better. I was hesitant to add to the
discussion since many of the points I wanted to make were already being stated. If I did, nothing
meaningful would be added to the discussion, but just support on the points already introduced.
As a group, I felt that we did well. Almost all the answers were backed up with textual
evidence. There was a lot of commentary on the text Nature and the connection people have with
religion and nature. Ben brought up that humans can better appreciate nature if they view it
through a religious lens. Miguel added on by saying that nature is a gift from God, and that all
we see is good as a result of His work. These two points were helpful to the rest of the group to
better see the connection between nature and religion.
It is through religion that people are better able to see nature’s beauty and appreciate all it
offers to them and help them escape from everyday struggle.
All of nature’s beauty cannot be fully understood, this is where religion comes into play.
It is essential to Catholic dogma that God cannot be fully understood, and that His followers and
him still share in this unconditional love and relationship. With this understanding, nature’s
beauty can better be comprehended. The same could go for the appreciation of nature. In the text
Nature the speaker describes nature as “sublime” and the stars are of “the city of God”. With
these adjectives the reader can better share in this appreciation of nature with the speaker. Lastly,
just like religion, people can escape to nature, away from the struggle of everyday life.
I have found escape in nature just like the text suggests. My personal experience with
backpacking with my dad in the mountains has given me that escape. With the multiple trips I
have taken to the mountains, I have better grown to appreciate the outdoors and all that can be
learnt from it. In my experience, nature is what you make of it. In some circumstances, it can be
the scariest thing to experience, turn towards natural disasters such as tornadoes or tsunamis. On
the other hand, nature is the most beautiful thing known to man. It’s a very simple yet complex
concept that something always present to us is full of life and diversity that we do not always see
or are aware of.