For my final essay, I plan to close read Eric Paul Roorda’s introduction to The Ocean Reader: Theory, Culture, Politics which is an expand of my discovery 2. I will focus on how Roorda challenges human centered and land based thinking by defining humans as a “terrestrial species” and by capitalizing the word “Ocean.” My analysis will examine how these language choices work to shift the ocean from an object humans describe to a subject with its own history and agency. I will also explore more on how Roorda’s diction reveals the limits of human perception and the ways people have tried to name and control the sea. Through this close reading, I aim to show the important role of language that Roorda uses to reimagine the relationship between humans and the Ocean.