Environmentalist John Muir, a passionate proponent of wilderness preservation,
wrote the following provocative words more than a century ago. "Yosemite Park is a
place of rest, a refuge from the roar and dust and weary, nervous, wasting work of the
lowlands." Few people visited the park annually in Muir's time, and with his inspiring
words he endeavored to change that. Today, he would encounter traffic jams in the park,
as more than four million annual visitors frantically grasp for a shred of tranquility. Yes,
each of us should seek what John Muir eloquently described. However, you would be
unwise to seek it in Yosemite, or most other national parks.
How does the organization of this passage support the author's purpose?
The contrast of Muir's words and Yosemite's tranquil past starkly illustrates the current overcrowding there and in other national parks.
Using a century-old quote from Muir as an introduction sets up a nostalgic longing in the reader for a slower, more restful past.
Ending with a description of the many visitors who come to Yosemite today shows the profound and continuing influence of John Muir.