Category Archives: Week 15: Conclusions

Week 15: We are Mermaids

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Stephanie Burt’s poem We are Mermaids is the perfect reading to close off the semester. We have been studying our relationship with the environment throughout the mythology of the mermaid but this poem proposes the idea that our very nature is that of mermaids and this provides a thought provoking exploration of how we can imagine a different relationship with the natural world that is in harmony with our nature and against the capitalist model that has been taught to us.

Within the first stanza Burt establishes that our very tears, often a reflection of human emotion, are composed of the same substance as that of the ocean. Thus we are not beings separate and superior to the natural world but rather an extension of it. If mermaids are the bridge between the human and the natural world then it must follow that we are also mermaids. Her second stanza assures us that life has existed long before the presence of humanity and life was simply a matter of survival, in other words “to get through the day”. Within her third stanza she claims that there is stability to be found in this simple way of life. To try to depend on the machine of fortune is much less certain and provokes doubt. Given that we are mermaids we have the gift of choice; to try to fit into the life modeled to us by society or we can choose the stability of a life of simplicity. Her fourth stanza shows us that we would be wrong to think a simple life dull or meaningless. She shows us this by describing different organisms and how they thrive when following their nature, “The thermophiles…whose sulfur would kill a human being. They love it here”. Jumping onto the sixth stanza it made me think of our discussion in class about the modern world’s demand for originality to be seen as someone of importance. Such a thing does not exist in the natural world and, if the mermaid can live in and out of water, then we, we being mermaids, can live with or without the need of originality or usefulness. The first line of the seventh stanza reads, ” You can spend your life benthic of brackish.” Benthic means in the deep ocean whilst brackish water can be found within estuaries which are a threshold between river and open sea. So too can we as mermaids live within this threshold without sacrificing our role in the natural world.

This is a beautiful piece that I will be taking and perfectly encapsulates one of the most important things that this course has taught me.

Week 15: We are Mermaids

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“The salt of the ocean is always the salt of tears, melancholy but at the right dilution, or concentration, life giving”. Stephanie Burt opens her poem, “We are Mermaids”, with this line. Though we cannot survive in the ocean, we cry the same salty tears. The ocean, and our tears, are life giving. I think this poem can be connected to the human condition, and the things that make us human. “It has been there since before the beginning of tragedy, when what would become us was just trying to get through the day” (Burt). The ocean has always been witness to humans, through tragedies, and will continue to be there even as we, as individuals, try to get through each day. The poem attempts to inspire a different kind of living, “We know the consistent waves…sacrificing their poise for their careers, need not be the only mode of living” (Burt).  We may not be able to live in the ocean “whose sulfur steam would kill a human being”, but we can still learn from it. The creatures, the “mottled, diffident ray finned fish… choose to nose along the floor of the rough world”. Despite the world at the bottom of the sea being rough and dark, “they love it here” (Burt). The sea creatures are content, freed from the pressures and expectations of the human world. In the ocean “You don’t have to be useful. You are not required to come up with something to say” (Burt). “You can spend your life benthic, or brackish…exploring the estuary… and congeries of overlapping shores”. Perhaps if we allow ourselves the freedom as they do, we too can “love it here”. We should be inspired by the creatures of the oceans, by the mermaids, and try to live more freely, with less expectation, as they do. We should be, and are, mermaids.

Week 15: Conclusions/What I Learned

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The moment I saw a mermaid on the syllabus I just knew it would change and shift my perspectives. I have never in my academic career equated the environment with being anything more than a dormant and dead piece of matter that happens to give us structure to walk on and build on; nothing more. This preconceived notion was completely blown up by the literature we interacted with throughout the entire semester; and not only that but the texts made me question and identify how those conceptions were constructed in the first place. Why did I think all mermaids were white? Why was I so disconnected to the environment? Who convinced me that nature mattered less than me? Who taught me that I was apart from nature and not a part? All of these reevaluations entered my head throughout my time in each lecture.

Each text was very rich in culture and information but my favorite and most notable were the texts regarding the Blue Humanities. As an English major, I am often queried about what I want to do with an English degree; Do you want to be a teacher? What can you do with that? The Blue Humanities connects literature with the environment, evoking emotional connectivity, historically rich texts, and a projects an urge to reconnect with the environment. The genre of the Blue Humanities is able to understand that humans are very emotionally intelligent and when one connects these emotions to the environment, a “lifeless” mute piece of earth, one may cultivate care and respect towards our home. All of this action was inspired through various forms of literature, words, language, rhetoric; all encompassing traits that make up what an English major practices every day. This class made me feel like I chose a very important major that could give me the tools to change perceptions and maybe even the world. (That was corny, I know😭)

Week 15: Conclusion

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This class has been mindfully-transformative from the various topics and discussions of how they connect. Discovering the various connections that literature has with the environment through learning about mermaids has been so unique and beautiful. I have learned so much about history, cultures, science, and writing and it has been so inspiring and so fun. My interest has peaked in many different things that we have covered and I love seeing how passionately everything was taught. This will be a class that I will remember forever, and I’m really sad that it has come to an end! I look forward to taking more classes with you in the upcoming semesters 🤍🥹

ECL 305’s Lasting Impact

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Currently, I am an environmental science major looking forward to a career in field research. Although I am bound for a career in science, I have a passion for literature, and prioritized finding a class where I could exercise this passion for my schedule this semester. On paper, “Literature and the Environment” sounded like a perfect balance of both of my favorite subjects.

I had never expected adding ECL 305 to my schedule would fundamentally change my understanding of and interactions with the natural world for the rest of my academic and professional career.

Knowing what I do now about terracentrism and the human-established boundary-constructions enabling power dynamics with regards to nature that nurtures both a savior complex and ability to dissociate from personal accountability, the fundamentals upon which I will build my future research paradigms have been questioned and reevaluated.

This course has also instilled in me an interest in blue humanities and further exploration into environmental literature. A big takeaway I will leave this course with is an understanding that literature, and the arts in general, is what makes research and movements in science accessible and absorbable to the public. For that reason, I will continue pursuing my passion for literature parallel to my environmental science course and field work with hopes that I might write some pieces one day that leave an impact.

Finally, and arguably most important, ECL 305 has encouraged me to think critically about any “knowns” I am fed: exploring where the information and beliefs I trust in originated from and what supplemental or contentious information there is available to build upon my understanding. I understand now that it is my personal responsibility to educate myself, rather than simply be educated, because there are broader histories that are often ignored when developing curriculum.

I will be forever grateful to this course for broadening my mind and challenging me to think critically in ways I hadn’t yet considered, and will often recall these takeaways when crafting what I will contribute to the world in the future.

Week 15 — We Are Mermaids

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This week’s poem, ‘We Are Mermaids’ by Stephanie Burt was super epic. Upon my first reading, I believe the author is trying to say to simply live your life on your own terms and do what makes you happy. In the first stanza, Burt compares the salt of human tears to the salt of the ocean, and in the second line relates both to the concept of sadness, but without sadness there would be no space for happiness. The third line goes on to relate the ocean to birth, which is typically a pretty incredible and happy time in someones life. On top of that, if we trace back the origin of the human race, it came out of the water a long time ago. And to further that, animals are constantly being birthed in the ocean every second of every day. To really hammer in this comparison, the ocean is often referred to as mother nature, which again relates back to the idea of birthing and motherhood. One part that got me super stoked was the part about the thermophiles. Although not entirely the same, it made me think of the extremophiles that we saw living in the radioactive waters in Sirenomelia. The introduction of thermophiles in this poem relates to the idea of being different, and being different does not mean bad, it really just means different. It goes on to say that these thermophiles live in the ocean too, and inhabit the same big old Ocean that mermaids, sharks, and all other aquatic beings do as well. “They are both predators and prey” (Burt, Line 19) means although they are different, they still fit in and actively participate in the food chain. And to be completely honest, if they didn’t exist it would throw off the balance of the food chain in the ocean. “You don’t have to be useful. You are not required to come up with something to say” (Burt, Lines 21-23) reinforces the original claim I made that this poem is about being you for the sake of being you and being happy with that decision. I think she is trying to say that you don’t have to conform or always have an idea, it’s simply okay to be who you are.

Conclusion/reflection:

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ECL 305 has been one the most transformative classes that I’ve ever taken. The first day of class I shared that I wanted to improve my close reading and analysis skills when it comes to interacting with the texts. With each blog post, in person discussion, and essay, I do believe that I’ve been able to meet this goal. Although it will take a lot more dedication on my part to continue to refine my skills, I think this class has given me the tools I need to continue this journey. Literature, just like the ocean, is incredibly vast and I feel like I’m still on a surface level of understanding everything that it has to offer. Other than honing my own understanding, simply being exposed to a variety of ocean centric literature has helped to open my mind and be more receptive to different forms of texts and the past and present histories behind them.

Week 15: What I have learned in this class

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When asking this question to myself, it feels also impossible to answer, as I feel like I have learned so much. When I signed up for this class I hate to say that it was for my requirements, but it was. I will say it also sounded intriguing, although I did not quite know what I was getting myself into. I did not know that this class was going to include mermaids and their rich historical folklore, but it has made this class my favorite that I have taken all year. One of the biggest and most important things I believe I will take away from this class is to never believe that one history is everyones history. I would like to say this is something I have always believed, but this class made it a lot more prominent to me and I have taken a new understanding and appreciation for this. Not only this, but also how important the Ocean is. I have always believed this and hadn’t a great appreciation for its beauty. but now I feel like this has increased drastically. 80 percent of the Ocean is unexplored, a number and statistic that baffles me. A space that vast has more history than we could ever imagine, and this class has helped me imagine that. I learned about the folklore of mermaids from all over the world, how society has so wrongly misconstrued their history and diversity, and also how they are creatures for the Ocean not human entertainment or romanization. I believe that learning about mermaids has not only helped me understand nature, but also how the human narrative is so false and ignorant. Not only all of this, but I also feel that I have improved my critical thinking skills and writing. During the process of our revisions and discovery/close reading papers, I had a hard time trying to discover a solid thesis. I have always seen myself as a decent and sometimes strong writer, but for some reason I kept finding myself stuck. I have been used to already created thesis’s and already ready prompts, that are ready for me to answer. I have never really created my own. This new skill is going to help me further with my English lit classes and for my major, and I am very grateful that our professor and this class helped me learn this. Overall, this class taught me a lot of new things, skills, and ideas to ponder that I have never thought about before. I am more interested in the history of the ocean than I had been before, I have a newfound respect for it, and I also am just more intrigued in this topic of Ocean history versus terrestrial. Thank you so much for making this class a space for us to share our ideas and build upon others, always feeling comfortable to share ideas.

We Are Mermaids

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In the poem, “We Are Mermaids” by Stephanie Burt, different sets of pronouns in the form of ‘we, us, they, you,’ weave throughout the poem to involve the speaker, the audience, and others outside the stage of the text to invite them as a collective into the world of mermaids, a symbol for multitudes, and allows the collective to exist as they are. In the title of the poem ‘We Are Mermaids,’ those who fall under ‘we’ are gathered under the mermaid umbrella with ‘are’ emphasizing the action of simply being. Being a mermaid, like more oceanic ways of thinking, is not constrained to rigid structures that have been imposed on them by society and other terracentric ways of thinking. Instead, mermaids and any other aquatic creatures can occupy any space or even become a part of that space where fluidity and water is found. Whether this is at the bottom of the ocean where benthic water is found, or at the esturaries, where salty sea water and fresh water come together to create a brackish mix, a mermaid can come take up this space. The ‘you’ portions of this poem are particularly powerful and connect back to mermaids as an agent outside of the realm of humanity. The poem tells the reader that ‘you don’t have to be useful, you are not required to come up with something to say.’ In a terracentric world, a humans value originates from what they are able to perform and communicate to the rest of the world. This can be through labor, gender, and other social expectations and norms that make up daily life. However, the second half of the stanza negates and outright rejects this belief. Instead of a grueling day-to-day performance, which many people of marginalized lgbtq+ identities experience, as a mermaid, an individual can simply exist within the solitude and comfort of the sea.

Week 15: We are mermaids

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After reading the poem, We Are Mermaids, I was intrigued with the the language and descriptions used here. The relationship with the Ocean and Mermaids is clear, and it seems to be as if this poem is in the narrative of Mermaids. Not only is this poem discussing the history in the Ocean that they have, but also how they have been there “since before the beginning of tragedy.” With this introduction in the poem, I believe this narrative from the mermaids perspective is highlighting the importance of the Ocean and how it has been here since the beginning of time. Even if humans might not all recognize its rich history and importance, it is there and it is clear to the mermaids and animals who dwell in it. The Ocean is a a beautiful and scary place, which I believe this poem highlights very well. Not only does it emphasize how the Ocean is “life giving” but also how animals and creatures thrive in its mystery, and humans would not be able to. It is hard for humans to understand or appreciate something they cannot connect or relate their history too, a common theme that we have searched in this class. It is hard to want to protect something history when it is not your own, which is what I believe this poem is discussing. Humans cannot appreciate the Ocean the same way mermaids or creatures might, because our history is terrestrial based. I believe this poem is pondering this idea, but also trying to help us explore the Oceans history, or help us see why we might not relate to it, and why we should. This poem was short, but it held a lot of meaning. One line that really stood out to me was “We know the consistent waves, as they ride fortunes helical gears, sacrificing their poise for their careers, need not be the only mode of living.” This could be interpreted in many ways, but I read this as how the Ocean brings and gives so much life to those who dwell in it. The creatures who do, do not take or abuse this gift, as us humans often do on land and abusing its resources. I felt this poem was a great way to emphasize a different narrative and how the Ocean, as we all know now, has a ancient and rich history.