Annie Dillard's Pilgrim At Tinker Creek

Vision Annie Dillard, born Meta Ann Doak, in 1945 was a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, raised in the upper class. She attended private schools growing up, but never felt she fit in with her surroundings. She graduated from Hollins University, a private women’s college, with a M.A. in English. Dillard is known for her descriptive narratives, environmental and scientific views of nature, and meditative approach for seeing the natural world. She is a post-modernist writer who believes the modern man should know their place in the natural world. Her greatest literary accomplishment was her nonfiction narrative, “Pilgrim at Tinker Creek”. She became the youngest American woman to earn a Pulitzer Prize for her work, which dives into complex …show more content…
Seeing nature is difficult for the average person because things happen very fast, and can be missed if they don’t know what to look for. The nature specialist, on the other hand, has the ability to see from a different perspective, and looks for specific details that might be missed by the average person. These details are obvious to the specialist, but foreign to the average person. The average person can look at a tree and admire the branches filled with green and red leaves, with a big round brown trunk, and the root system weaving in and out of the ground. The specialist will look at the same tree and see a home for birds, know the season from the color of the leaves, and look at the root systems understanding the tree is dying because the roots are coming out the ground. Artificial obvious is the ability for the average person to purposefully see through the specialist’s eyes, creating a deeper perspective of the surroundings. Dillard understands this is difficult and says, “But the artificial obvious is hard to see. My eyes account for less than one percent of the weight of my head; I’m bony and dense; I see what I expect. (Dillard 2)” Looking past the obvious and focusing on someone else’s perspective can reap greater rewards, enjoyment, and lead to seeing more of what has been right in front of

Show More

Related Documents: Annie Dillard's Pilgrim At Tinker Creek

Essay about John James Audubon and Dillard