Passage Discussion

[andrewgong01]

Passage Map:

P1: Current theory on clearing : Economics (Resource Procurement Model) but author takes issues with this

P2: Hints at alternative explanation for clearing

P3: Yi Fu Tuan claims we fear the wild, author applies this theory to clearing

P4: Author combines fear of wild with evidence of pathways to explain clearing

P5: Fleshes out P4 to give the full intuition on how pathways + fear of the wild explain clearings.

Scale NonEcon vs Econ to explain clearings. However, I did not really read it with a scale in mind as I read it more as we are getting a new explanation for clearings.

The author's stance is pretty subtle in that the author intially sets out to tell us about a different theory, which does not imply the author has to endorse the theory. However, on Line 41 the passage switches to first person and says "I propose" which gives clear indication the author supports this alternative theory. Another confusing aspect of the passage was who owns the alternative theory; it gets confusing when a geographer is cited and then evidence of pathways is appealed. During my first read I thought he was summarizing someone else's theory.However, on review, the author is synthesizing other theories/evidence/research to come up with a theory to explain clearing.