English106-01-03 Introductory Composition

David Gersztein
English 106

In Terry Tempest Williams’ Refuge, the author describes the environment in which she grew up. She begins the story by navigating the way from her home to the Great Salt Lake near Salt Lake City, Utah. This lake has been rising and falling in elevation depending on the changes in season. Whereas the snow and rain cause the water level to increase, the hot summer causes the water level to go down. If the Great Salt Lake rises above 4206`, it floods the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, which is very important for the author. Because she used to visit this Refuge very often during her childhood with her grandmother, she is very knowledgeable about birds. One day after she got back from a visit at the bird refuge, she gets a call from her mother, who has just returned from a journey to the Colorado River. The author`s mother tells her that she has breast cancer and therefore she needs somebody to accompany her to the doctor. Before they go to the ultra sound appointment they go shopping. After that the author changes the scene to their home where they meet the whole family and discuss about their recent problem. The information that we get about the Great Lakes during the past emphasizes the story. Then the scene changes again to the hospital, where the family finds out that the cancer is pretty bad, so the chances for the mother to survive this are pretty bad. Finally Terry takes her mother to the Bird Refuge, which are symbolizing a place of peace, where the mother can find some rest in her stressful life.
I think that the author uses vivid details to describe the different scenes, such as the one at the bird refuge where “the black-necked stilts flew alongside the silver bus, their long legs trailed behind them like red streamers” (19). Furthermore, Williams powerfully dramatizes the scene where her mother tells her about the breast cancer by using short, strong sentences and by giving the reader their dialogue. She also uses metaphors in order to make it easier for the reader to visualize the scene, like “the Great Salt Lake flooded my psyche(33)”, where the author wants to say that the Great Salt Lake made her feel better, because it gives her the impression of peace. Williams uses the bird refuge and the Great Salt Lake for imaging peace that she uses to find rest when she got stress in her life, like with her mother, who has cancer.