Engl
3050 Literature and the Environment, Spring 2020
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Calendar
last update: March 20, 2020 -- Post-Apocalyptic Coronavirus Edition
Class meets on Mondays and Wednesdays, 1:40-3pm in Burleson
304.
Abbreviations:
- AE = American
Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau
- FW = Field
Work: Modern Poems from Eastern Forests
- BSN = Best
American Science and Nature Writing, 2018
WEEK 1
Wednesday, Jan 22
- Read the first six chapters of Barbara Kingsolver's Flight
Behavior (through p154).
WEEK 2
Monday, Jan 27
Read Kingsolver at least through chapter 10 (through
p285).
Due: In the form of a memo,
addressed to me, and to your classmates, write a response to Kingsolver's
novel, so far. Write at least a few hundred words, responding to any aspect of
the book. Consider: How do you like the
writing? Do you find any of the characters particularly
interesting? What do you think of the way the people of upper East
Tennessee are portrayed? How do you respond to the way science is
discussed in the book?
Wednesday, Jan 29
Finish reading Kingsolver (14 chapters; 433 pages).
WEEK 3
Monday, Feb 3
- Read the introduction to Field Work: Modern Poems
from Eastern Forests. Read the Robert Frost poem, and read the
poems by the 4 late-Tang dynasty poets represented in Part I. Also,
browse through the book and pick at least 2 additional poems that you'd like to
discuss in class. Come to class, prepared to read those to the whole
class, and to discuss them.
- Read the multimedia
project assignment sheet, and listen to the sample sound files linked from
that page.
Wednesday, Feb 5
Read the following in FW:
- Poems by James Still: p29-36.
- Wendell Berry, two poems: p58 and 59.
- Poems by Mary Oliver: p83-85.
Read the following in AE:
- Gary Snyder, "Smokey the Bear Sutra" p473;
"Covers the Ground" p477
- Wendell Berry, "Mad Farmer Liberation Front"
p505
- Mary Oliver, "The Summer Day" p737
Multimedia
project proposal due.
WEEK 4
Monday, Feb 10
Begin reading Serena: A Novel, by Ron
Rash. Bring the book to class.
Wednesday, Feb 12
Read Serena through part II (to page
210, which is the end of chapter 21).
WEEK 5
Monday, Feb 17
Read Serena through part III (to page
317, which is the end of chapter 32).
Multimedia
project script due.
Wednesday, Feb 19
Finish reading Serena (through chapter 37
and the Coda, which ends part IV).
Today, we meet in the
AT Studio, Campus Center room 303. Be ready to record your script in a
professional setting!
Poetry Hoot at the Down Home tonight, 7-9pm.
WEEK 6
Monday, Feb 24
Read the following, in AE:
- Gene Stratton-Porter, "The Last Passenger
Pigeon" p192-205
- Donald Culross Peattie, "Birds That Are New
Yorkers" p245-250
- Terry Tempest Williams, excerpt from Refuge
p739-759
Wednesday, Feb 26
Read the following, in AE:
- John Muir, "A Wind-Storm in the Forests" p89-97
- Julia Butterfly Hill, excerpt from The Legacy of
Luna p907-919
Today, we again meet
in the AT Studio, Campus Center room 303. Those who haven't recorded yet,
be prepared.
Multimedia
project music and image due.
Email me your music (link preferred) and image, and be prepared to discuss when
we meet over in Campus Center 303.
WEEK 7
Monday, March 2
Read the following, in AE:
- Aldo Leopold, from A
Sand County Almanac p266-294
- Janisse Ray, from "Ecology of a Cracker
Childhood" p898-906
Wednesday, March 4
Read the following, in BSN:
- Kim Todd, "The Island Wolves" p84-96
- J. B. Mackinnon, "The Tragedy of the Common"
p114-123
And read this, here online:
- "The
Insect Apocalypse is Here." By Brooke Jarvis. The New York Times Magazine, November 27, 2018. (Click here
for a cached version.)
WEEK 8
Monday, March 9
Exam
1.
Wednesday, March 11:
In AE, read p9-19, an excerpt from Thoreau's Walden,
"Chapter I: Economy."; and read p19-25, an excerpt from
Thoreau's Walden, "Chapter II: Where I Lived, and What I Lived
For."
Also in AE, read excerpts from Walt Whitman's Leaves
of Grass, p62-71.
Multimedia
project text that will accompany
YouTube posting; and keywords, due.
SPRING BREAK: Monday, March 16 to Friday,
March 20
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
CLASS HAS MOVED ONLINE, BEGINNING
MONDAY, MARCH 23RD.
WEEK 9
Monday, March 23
- Listen to Terri Gross's February 5, 2020 NPR "Fresh Air" interview with author David Quammen, on the coronavirus and other zoonotic diseases: www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/02/05/802938289/new-coronavirus-wont-be-the-last-outbreak-to-move-from-animal-to-human. Runtime: 38 minutes. Also, browse through the transcript highlights.
Wednesday, March 25
- Read, in Bill McKibben's The End of Nature,
the 2006 Introduction, and the first chapter, "A New Atmosphere"
(through p39).
- ZOOM teleconference. We'll discuss this week's readings,
and we'll talk about the multimedia project.
WEEK 10
Monday, March 30
- Read The End of Nature, chapters 2 and 3 --
"The End of Nature" and "A Promise Broken" (through p117).
- Multimedia
project text that will accompany
YouTube posting; and keywords, due, in a dropbox on D2L. (I know this was,
in theory, due on March 11, but I'd like you to resubmit it, so I can check
your text.)
Wednesday, Apr 1
- Read The End of Nature, chapter 4, "The
Defiant Reflex" (through p144); and read the 5th and last chapter, "A
Path of More Resistance."
- ZOOM teleconference. We'll discuss the reading.
WEEK 11
Monday, Apr 6
- Multimedia project
due, posted on YouTube.
Wednesday, Apr 8
- Read, in BSN, Barack Obama, "The Irreversible
Momentum of Clean Energy" p124-132; and David Roberts, "Wealthier
People Produce More Carbon Pollution--Even the "Green" Ones"
p133-140.
- ZOOM teleconference. We'll discuss the readings.
WEEK 12
Monday, Apr 13
- Read, in BSN: Eva Holland, "Exposure Therapy and the
Fine Art of Scaring the Shit out of Yourself On Purpose" p303-312; and
Kathryn Schulz, "Fantastic Beasts and How to Rank Them" p313-326.
Wednesday, Apr 15
- Read "The Incredible True Story of
the Henrietta C." by Earl Swift. Outside Magazine, June
20, 2018. This is a magazine article of the portion of the book that was later
published as Chesapeake Requiem. Before the great disruption, Swift was scheduled
to visit ETSU and speak in our class. We're not going to read his entire book. But
this article will give you a taste of the book.
- ZOOM teleconference. We'll discuss this week's readings.
WEEK 13
Monday, Apr 20
- Due: Rough draft of your Essay
Based on Personal Experience/ Observation (1000-2000 words). Bring
2 extra copies of your draft (total of 3 copies) for a writing
workshop.
- I will try to set up a writing workshop via ZOOM
teleconference.
Wednesday, Apr 22
- In AE, read Ellen Meloy, "The Flora and Fauna of Las
Vegas," p793-808.
- In AE, read M. Scott Momaday, "A First American Views
His Land," p570-582.
- ZOOM teleconference. We'll discuss this week's readings.
WEEK 14
Monday, Apr 27
- In AE, read Dillard, "Fecundity," p531-49.
- In AE, read Edward Abbey, "Polemic: Industrial
Tourism and the National Parks," p413-34.
Wednesday, Apr 29
- Due: Revision of your Essay Based on
Personal Experience/ Observation; final version, submitted for a grade.
- ZOOM teleconference. We'll review for exam 2.
Final exam ("Exam 2"):
Monday, May 4 1:20-3:20pm