English

Instructions: Write a complete essay (introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion) in response to one of the following questions. The essay should be between 580-600 words. Use interpretive skills to express your opinions and develop an argument that supports a concise and clear thesis statement. Be sure to base your claims in textual evidence (quotations from the book). Carefully consider the content of the question in order to narrow your focus as well as direct your use of textual evidence.

1) Speaking of a natural phenomenon called tapetum lucidum, Macfarlane explains that light passing through the architecture of the retina rebounds so that “any available light is used twice to see with.” (163). How might this idea represent a learning process that in the chapters “Peat” and “Snow” Macfarlane wishes to convey to his readers?

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2) In the chapter “Peat”, Robert Macfarlane expresses the following sentiment: “Most of the Hebridean footpaths are shown only on informal local maps, and in the memory maps that are carried in the minds of the people who walk them, their routes passed on by report and repute.” (144). What is the relationship to the land that is suggested by the quote and how does it compare to what Macfarlane describes in the chapter “Snow”?