2+--+t.t.

Rough draft -- Definition Paper 01.30.11

Introduction { Alive - a state of being; To harbor / support / shelter life.

Thesis { The Earth is alive.

Supporting Detail 1 - Shelter / Support / Harbor Life. The earth harbors life, therefore is alive. (Plants, Animals, Humans.)

Body { Supporting Detail 2 - The ability to Change / React / Respond. (Pollution, Atmospheric Problems, Destruction.)

Supporting Detail 3 - To have a purpose, to exist, to be created. Big Bang -> Us, Earth - Transformation.

Conclusion { The Earth is alive. It supports us, reacts with us, coexists with us, harbors us, supports us. It is our caretaker; now it is our turn to take care of it.

(REVISED) ROUGH DRAFT : Alive. A word, an adjective describing something (in my opinion [should I say that?]) that shelters; supports; or harbors life. (My?) definition of theword be hard to interpret for some people, as most view the word "alive" as something that describes an organism that moves, interacts with its environment, and senses / percepts incoming environmental stimuli. However, bear with me. Our home planet, the Earth, performs all three of the actions listed in my definition. If the Earth did not shelter, support, or harbor us, we would exist no more. Simply moving and "living a life" does not mean one is alive, after all every person dies but not every person lives. (NM) Another definition: to have / fulfill a purpose. This planet Earth definitely has a purpose in the universe: us. Vice versa. What happens when you mine the Earth? What happens when you pollute the Earth? What happens when you destroy it? What are the consequences? Change. Reaction. Response. The Earth does all of these things when we punish it. The interior of the Earth shifts when we drill for oil; The air and water quality dramatically decreases when it is polluted. When we destory the Earth, we destroy ourselves. Open your eyes, think about it, do you want all of mankind, the only source of life (so far) we have found in the vast, limitless universe to be destroyed? The Earth exists, the Earth was created, the Earth came into existence after the Big Bang, does that not make it alive? Does that mean it should not be protected? Does that mean it should be abused, and eventually destroyed? The Earth is alive. It has sheltered not only us, not only the dinosaurs, but the first form of life for billions of years, now it is our turn to shelter, to protect it. - - - Bam: Look outside - do you see the trees? The grass? Do you see the sprouts of flowers, the smell of spring as it rears its head around the corner? From a biological standpoint, all of these things are alive. Albeit they do not have a brain nor do they hold conversations with people, but even the smallest plants and grass take in CO2 and release oxygen, they make their own food, they interact with their environment, and they have a purpose. Just because they do not possess all human-like qualities does not mean that they are not alive. The Earth is no different. Alive - to shelter, to support, to harbor life. The grass on the ground, the roots of the trees, the trees themselves are sheltered, supported, harbored by the Earth. The houses we live in, the cars we drive, the buildings we go to every day, //everything// is harbored by the Earth. Everything we have ever possessed, possess, and will ever possess is because of the Earth. Without it, we would be nothing. Alive - the ability to change, react, respond. When us humans mine the Earth, what happens? When we drill for oil in the ocean what happens? When a train carrying ethanol crashes and sets ablaze wherever it crashes **what happens**? What are the consequences? Change, Reaction, Response. The Earth does each and every one of these actions every day, as we selfishly drill it, damage it, **murder** it. Alive - To serve a purpose, to exist, to be created. Long ago, the Earth did not exist. Some say before the Big Bang nothing existed. But then in one split second, everything changed. The Earth still did not come into existence right after the Big Bang, but it did - eventually. The Earth was created by chance, it just happened to be the right mix of elements to create water, oxygen, and other essential ingredients for life. What came first? The Earth. Then what? The first cell, plant, and so on. The Earth has supported us long before our time, it has supported life even before the dinosaurs, up to the very first microscopic bacteria. The Earth is old. The Earth had its turn to protect us, and it did its job flawlessly. Not it is our turn to protect it. Its time to stop throwing trash out the car window, leaving empty beer bottles in parking lots, it is time to invest in green energy that can be reused over and over again and it is time to get rid of non-renewable energy that continues to scar our mother planet. The Earth is just as alive as the plants, flowers, trees are. It is just alive as **us** humans. The time is now. Take Action. [ I'd give anything to save it. ]