Humanity In American Society: What have our voices really done for us?

    Naomi Shihab Nye's, 19 Varieties of Gazelle, makes some interesting connections between the gazelle and humans or mankind as a whole.  She begins the poem with a very detailed picture of the gazelle in there natural habitat. Then she begins to ask a question to the reader."Does one gazelle prefer another of her kind"? This question sprung to me as something directly relating to mankind and if we as people do the same thing. Does one human perfer another of its kind? Is that the same reason why we usually see differences in people instead of similarities first? Just like the gazelle, maybe the preferences we have are stemmed from our natural instincts. Naomi uses the gazelle as a parallel between the natural and mankind.                            

Where is the path?

Please Tell Me? 

Does a gazelle have a path? 

Is the whole air the path of the gazelle? 

Human beings have voices-

What have they done for us?

    Within these two stanzas the natural vs. mankind is prevalent. As humans, we tend to find ourselves following a path of what is right or what is expected of us. Any situation in life can change our appeal, make us sway one way or another. These situations can even make us change our own path. As for the gazelle, they just float along. In their world there is no wrong or right. In the minds of these animals things are just done. There path is decided by nature, not thoughts or community pressure steering them where or where not to go. The decisions of these animals are purely instinct. As humans we use our voices and thoughts to either steer ourselves or help steer others. Opinions, media, and society help to shape who we are and where we are going. For the people in my own generation this is even more true. We begin to get away from the natural and more to what is "hot" or "trendy" at the time. This can be seen even in the highest of education at universities or colleges where students are attending school not because they have the urge or inspiration to learn but because there friends are doing it or because society tells them its the right thing to do. We do have voices and opinions, but in actuality what have those opinions really done for us?