McGowan Cooper Irwing

Having little to no historical or cultural basis, the writings of Cooper and Irwing have the distinction of using physical surroundings as a reference point. Unlike Rowlandson, who sees the wilderness as the emergence of evil, Cooper and Irwing perceive nature with reverence and respect. They both see themselves as forces of nature rather than against nature. The most prevalent way in which both writers depict this idea is their use of human characterization to describe nature and vice versa. For instance, Cooper demonstrates the former with his choice of wording in Chapter 22 of The Pioneers: "...as if the whole of the feathered tribe were pouring through that one pass." Cooper's use of 'tribe' rather than 'flock' here gives the pigeon's a slightly human distinction. They are also oftentimes referred to in these passages as 'victims' rather than using standard hunting vocabulary, which would instead refer to them as 'game' or 'prey'. The character, Leather-Stocking, serves as a human center for this sentiment. He says, "'Here have I known the pigeon to fly for forty long years, and, till you made your clearings, there was nobody to skeart or to hurt them, I loved to see them come into the woods, for they were company to a body'". Leather-Stocking's respect for nature reflects Cooper's point that while civilization is necessary for human survival, the needless sport-killing of these pigeons would eventually lead to a scarcity of them as a food source. In Cooper's opinion, humans must work in tandem with nature, taking only what they need. This conflicts with Rowlandson's and Winthrop's notion of a distinct split between the evil wilderness and the "City on a Hill". 
Irwing has the tendency to represent the human-nature relationship in a similar yet opposite way. While Cooper gives animals human attributes, Irwing gives humans animal or even elemental attributes. Specifically, the phenomena of the Galloping Hessian still represents a human being, but transcends human form as it is described as "howling among the trees of a snowy night, in the idea that it was the Galloping Hessian of the Hollow!" Here, the Hessian is not given a physical description, but is rather equated with an eerie wind at night. Thus, his human essence seems to be carried with the wind rather than against it. A more staunch example of this language is the description of Ichabod on his horse: "Ichabod was a suitable figure for such a steed. He rode with short stirrups, which brought his knees nearly up to the pommel of the saddle; his sharp elbows stuck out like grasshoppers". This quote shows Ichabod as favorable in the sense that he is depicted as working in tandem with his horse, as if they are equals. His characterization as a grasshopper connotes the delicacy with which he handles the horse. His arms are also compared to a pair of wings in this scene, which, in juxtaposition with the grasshopper reference, suggests lightness and therefore no struggle on the horse's part.