Engl
3050 Literature and the Environment, Fall 2022
[ Policies ] [
Calendar ] [ Online
Readings ]
Calendar
last update: November 16, 2022
- Class meets on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10:30
to 11:25am in Burleson 203.
- See "Policies," above, for a calendar
overview.
- AE = American Earth, the environmental
writing anthology edited by Bill McKibben.
WEEK 1
Wednesday, Aug 24
Read Serena: A Novel, by Ron Rash, through part
I (to page 100).
Friday, Aug 26
Read Serena through part II (to page
210, which is the end of chapter 21).
WEEK 2
Monday, Aug 29
Read Serena through part III (to page
317, which is the end of chapter 32).
Due: In
the form of a memo, addressed to me, and to your classmates, write a response
to Rash's novel, so far. Write at least a few hundred words, responding to any
aspect of the book. Consider: Do you find any of the characters
particularly interesting? What do you think of the way the people of
Appalachia are portrayed? How are gender roles
represented? What do you think of the politics of the book – that is, do
you think you could guess how the author would have voted in the last presidential
election?
Wednesday, Aug 31
Finish reading Serena (through chapter 37
and the Coda, which ends part IV).
Friday, Sep 2: Class cancelled.
WEEK 3
Monday, Sep 5: Happy Labor Day!
Wednesday, Sep 7
- Read the first three chapters of Barbara Kingsolver's Flight
Behavior (through p73).
Friday, Sep 9
- Read Kingsolver at least through chapter 6 (through
p154).
WEEK 4
Monday, Sep 12
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, Sep 14
Finish reading Kingsolver (14 chapters; 433 pages). In
class today we will review for exam 1.
Friday, Sep 16: Class cancelled.
WEEK 5
Monday, Sep 19: Exam 1.
Wednesday, Sep 21
Read these two articles:
-
"How
Republicans Are ‘Weaponizing’ Public Office Against Climate Action."
By David Gelles. The New York Times, August 5, 2022. (Click here
for a cached version.)
-
"A
Burning Planet: Should the climate movement embrace sabotage?" By Thea
Riofrancos. The Nation, July 25, 2022. (Click here
for a cached version.)
Friday, Sep 23
Read these two articles:
- "The
Insect Apocalypse is Here." By Brooke Jarvis. The New York Times Magazine, November 27, 2018. (Click here
for a cached version.)
-
"Meddling With Monarchs." By Margaret Renkl. The New York
Times, October
5, 2017. www.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/opinion/monarch-butterfly-migration-extinction.html
WEEK 6
Monday, Sep 26
Read Renkl's Late Migrations through p51.
Wednesday, Sep 28
Read Late Migrations through p101.
Friday, Sep 30: Class cancelled.
WEEK 7
Monday, Oct 3
Read Renkl's Late Migrations through p165.
Tuesday,
Oct 4: Margaret Renkl visits ETSU!
Details forthcoming.
Wednesday, Oct 5
Read Late Migrations through to the end (p219).
Friday, Oct 7
Browse the American Earth anthology. Look through the
pictures. Read the selection by Janisse Ray, excerpted from her book, Ecology
of a Cracker Childhood, p898-906 in the anthology. Bring the anthology to
class.
WEEK 8
Monday, Oct 10: Fall break. No class.
Wednesday, Oct 12
First draft of essay 1 due -- Peer review
Bring to class a rough draft of your Essay Based on Personal
Experience/ Observation (1000-1250 wds). Bring a total of 3 copies for
a peer review workshop.
Friday, Oct 14: Class cancelled.
WEEK 9
Monday, Oct 17
In American Earth, read the following:
- Terry Tempest Williams, excerpt from Refuge p739-759
- Annie Dillard, "Fecundity," p531-49.
- Julia Butterfly Hill, excerpt from The Legacy of
Luna p907-919
Wednesday, Oct 19
In American Earth, read Aldo Leopold, from A
Sand County Almanac p266-294
Friday, Oct 21
- Gary Snyder, "Smokey the Bear Sutra" p473;
"Covers the Ground" p477
- Wendell Berry, "Mad Farmer Liberation Front"
p505
- Mary Oliver, "The Summer Day" p737
WEEK 10
Monday, Oct 24
Essay 1 due.
Read "David Haskell Speaks for the Trees," an
award-winning profile article by Paul Kvinta, published in Outside
Magazine on March 23, 2017. www.outsideonline.com/culture/books-media/david-haskell-speaks-trees/
Read the first two chapters -- Ceibo and Balsam Fir -- in
David Haskell's The Songs of Trees.
Wednesday, Oct 26
Read the rest of Part 1 – the two chapters, Sabal Palm and
Green Ash; plus the following interlude -- in Haskell's The Songs of
Trees.
Friday, Oct 28: Class cancelled.
WEEK 11
Monday, Oct 31
Read Part 2 – Hazel, Redwood and Ponderosa Pine, and the
interlude – in Haskell's book.
Wednesday, Nov 2
In Haskell, read Cottonwood and Callery Pear.
Friday, Nov 4
In Haskell, read Olive, and Japanese White Pine.
WEEK 12
Monday, Nov 7
First draft of essay 2 due -- Peer review
Bring to class a rough draft of your Book Review (1000-1250
wds). Bring a total of 3 copies for a peer review workshop.
Wednesday, Nov 9
Read The Road, through p114.
Friday, Nov 11
Class cancelled.
WEEK 13
Monday, Nov 14
Read The Road, through p213.
Wednesday, Nov 16
Finish The Road.
Friday, Nov 18
In American Earth, read p9-19, an excerpt from
Thoreau's Walden, "Chapter I: Economy."
WEEK 14
Monday, Nov 21
Essay 2 due.
In AE, 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.
Wednesday, Nov 23 and Fri Nov 25: Thanksgiving. No class meetings.
WEEK 15
Monday, Nov 28
In American Earth, read John Muir, "A Wind-Storm
in the Forests" p89-97.
Class meets at the University
Woods gazebo!
Directions:
- The gazebo is the top of
parking lot 13, which is one block south of the intersection of J.L. Seehorn, Jr.
Rd. and Southwest Avenue. That intersection is across the street from the glass
front of Sherrod Library.
- From that intersection, walk
south under the CSX railroad bypass. Parking lot 13 is on your right.
- Parking lot 13 is at H5 on
this campus map: www.etsu.edu/ehome/documents/etsu-campusmap.pdf.
Dress warmly. If the weather is
going to be too bad, I will email you on Sunday evening to notify you that
we'll meet in Burleson, after all.
Wednesday, Nov 30: In-class review for exam
2. Click
here for the study guide.
Friday, Dec 2: Exam
2.