Sample Entry: "Wendell Berry's Sacred Environmentalism" by Mallory McDuff, Ph.D.

Mallory McDuff, Ph.D., “Wendell Berry’s Sacred Environmentalism”: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mallory-mcduff-phd/wendell-berry-religious-environmentalism_b_954902.html

I enjoyed reading this blog entry by Mallory McDuff, Ph.D., and I’m glad to have the chance to share the link with you. Her entry appeared just this weekend on The Huffington Post, one of the most widely-read blogs on the internet, and it was specifically categorized under “HuffPost Religion” on this site. McDuff’s essay focuses on an upcoming visit to her college by noted writer Wendell Berry. She describes her excitement about Berry’s visit, suggesting that she shares his Christian approach to conserving our natural resources through an embrace of “local economies” and through the pursuit of sources of renewable energy.

I like this entry for several reasons. One reason is admittedly personal. Berry is a writer who is aligned politically and religiously with many of the writers that I have researched: Christian activists who have viewed their faith as closely related to their political views. I have been interested in Berry’s work casually for a few years now, and I was excited to come across this piece about his writing and his involvement with political causes. My initial interest in this entry was rooted in its similarity to other works that I read regularly, but the interest only grew from there.

McDuff’s writing style is polished, interesting, and open. I like the way she shares personal details about her family life while also exploring the work of a writer and asserting that his work is worth our attention. She writes with a great sense of focus on Berry’s political activism, while still including phrases that sound almost conversational. Take, for example, her last sentence, which reads, “Now, I think it’s time to plant that kale.” Her entry covers some of Berry’s recent activist work and suggests that she and her students are finding ways to pursue his Christian environmentalist goals. While reading her words, I could imagine her sharing her love for the work of Wendell Berry in front of a group of colleagues.

The writing style found here makes McDuff’s piece a worthy first entry on our course blog, which is intended to showcase the best online writing published in 2011. Her entry is brief but it is filled with interesting ideas about the reasons that Christians and other people of faith should take an interest in conserving the environment. She makes good use of the rhetorical situation provided to her by The Huffington Post, which is generally considered a left-leaning website that reaches a wide audience. Perhaps the audience even includes members of a growing subgroup of American Christians who are taking an interest in environmental activism and conservationism. While she hasn’t included any links to related websites in her entry, she does show a good awareness of the conventions of blog writing, using brief paragraphs and a slightly informal tone. Overall, I was very impressed by McDuff’s piece, which enhanced my interest in The Huffington Post and my interest in the work of Berry all at once.

-Prof. LeBlanc