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1-Page Summary of The Notebook
Overview
Ecotopia is a fictional country that was created in the 1970s. It’s located in the Pacific Northwest and has been an independent nation for nineteen years. The Ecotopians are secretive, so most Americans don’t know much about them or their country. The president of the United States gives his approval to send William Weston, an internal affairs reporter from New York City, to write a story on what is going on there. He does this by sending reports back home and writing his personal diary entries as he goes along with his investigation into Ecotopian society.
When Weston heads to Ecotopia, he talks to some Americans about their opinions of the Ecotopians. They all express either a fear or mistrust, or both feelings towards them. One even goes so far as to tell him that they are cannibals and will eat him! When Weston crosses the border into Ecotopia, he finds that the Ecotopians don’t exactly hold a high opinion of Americans either. They feel that we’re wasteful and barbaric people who are prejudiced against them.
Over the course of six weeks, Weston comes to learn many things about Ecotopia. Some of these are amazing and others are ridiculous. He makes several friends who lead him on an interesting cultural adventure. He falls in love with Marissa Brightcloud, a woman he meets while he’s there for a conference.
As the end of his assignment approaches, Weston realizes that he has changed. He sees himself more as an Ecotopian than an American and is proud of what he’s accomplished in the country. As he looks back at his life, he realizes how much things have changed for him since arriving to Ecotopia. He also knows that it was all worth it because now he’s with Marissa who means everything to him.
Section 0 Summary (Page 1-16)
A new nation, called Ecotopia, is formed by Washington State and Oregon. It remained hidden from the rest of the United States for 19 years after its formation. The government was curious about this new country and sent an international affairs reporter to find out more about it.
Weston explains that other countries are following Ecotopia’s example, and they’re splitting into smaller countries. He mentions that several other countries tried to do the same thing but failed.
CROSSING THE BORDER
Weston lands in Reno. He has to take a train to San Francisco. The train is powered by magnetic rails, and the people are all relaxing on it. Weston meets some skiers and talks about the train, which he does not recognize because it’s full of plants that he doesn’t know about.
ECOTOPIA LOOKS A LOT LIKE AMERICA
In this article, Weston explores the city of San Francisco. The streets are now only two lanes and have a creek running down the center of them. All cars used to be electric but now most people ride bicycles or walk. They also have automated electric trolleys without drivers that provide free public transportation. The skyscrapers were turned into apartments and they all connect by catwalks strung between them. Weston buys some new clothes made from synthetic materials, although Ecotopians use as little synthetic material as possible in their clothing. The streets are crowded with pedestrians but not nearly as densely populated as one would expect for such an urban area. Potholes are filled in with flowers once they open up again after being patched over by asphalt or concrete patches on the sidewalk (sidewalk). Weston describes his room at an old hotel he stayed at when he visited San Francisco before it became an ecopolis, and how much nicer everything is now than it was then because they don’t need any more space than what’s available to live comfortably so there’s no point in building bigger houses for more people to live in since everyone has enough space already; therefore buildings aren’t built larger just because they can be anymore like back when San Francisco was still a large city full of skyscrapers instead of just one small town surrounded by green parkland that had been converted into trees and grasses instead of concrete sidewalks where everybody lived peacefully together without needing anything else except what nature provided them with already anyway so why bother trying to build more things?
