Essay of my choice "The Courage of Turtles"
-Edward Hoagland

These are the main THEMES and IDEAS Hoagland wants to convey to the reader:

(1) Turtles have courage. They are harmless, beautiful creatures who have emotions and are able to make decisions, just like people do.
If we can't learn to respect these characteristics, then they will end up just like the dinosaurs, their ancestors : extinct.

(2) In order to "respect" turtles, we have to learn about them. Once we learn about them and respect them, we can save them.

(3) Turtles are like any other 'common' animal. They eat, sleep,breathe, reproduce, play, think and socialize. They deserve to be able to do all these things without the interference of humans.

in breif:
(1) courageous creatures (turtles)
(2) all animals need to be respected
(3) conservation
--------------------------------------------------

The essay is about turtles (obviously), but it is also about the relationship between turtles, other animals and people.
A large percent of people in the world do not know anything about turtles. As a matter of fact, I don't know that much about them either. For instance, I didn't know that painting a turtle's shell would result in the shell remaining the same size, while the body inside the shell continues to grow, resulting in the animal getting crushed to death- slowly and soundlessly.

Hoagland is trying to open the eye's of the reader. He has made it clear that people destroy the natural ecosystem in which the creatures live, and then decide to 'adopt' any animals that become 'homeless', without knowing or caring enough about them to keep them alive.

_________________________ ________ __________

There were 2 sentences that I liked in the essay:

(the opening sentence of the essay)

" Turtles are a kind of bird with the governor turned low."

(here,the author writes about one of his pet turtles)

"Her shell is the equal of any seashell for sculpting, even a Cellini shell; its like an old, dusty, richly engraved medallion dug out of a hillside."