Engl 3050 Literature and the Environment, Spring 2024

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[ Policies ] [ Calendar ] [ Online Readings ]

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Policies
last update: January 10, 2024

Course and Instructor
- English 3050 Literature and the Environment, MWF 11:40am-12:35pm in Warf Pickel Hall, Room 517

- Dr. Kevin O'Donnell, instructor; odonnell@etsu.edu faculty.etsu.edu/odonnell/

- Office Hours: I will not hold regular office hours this semester because Burleson Hall office space has been disrupted by renovation. To arrange an in-person meeting, please email me or talk to me in class. I will make myself available at your convenience.

Assignment Overview/ Final Grade Breakdown

- Two exams (25% each): 50%

- Book Review Essay – 1000-1250 wds: 20%

- 5 reading responses: 25% (5 points each)

- Attendance and participation: 5% 

Texts

- Barbara Kingsolver. Flight Behavior: A Novel. Harper Perennial, 2013. $16.99. 978-0062124272

- Elizabeth Kolbert. Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future. Crown, 2022. $17.00. ISBN: 978-0593136287 

- Bill McKibben. American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau. Library of America, 2008. $49.95. 978-1598530209

- Cormac McCarthy. The Road. Vintage, 2006. $16.95. 978-0307387899

- Ron Rash. Serena: A Novel. Ecco, 2009. $14.99. 978-0061470844

- Jeff Vandermeer. Annihilation: A Novel. Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 2014. $18.00. 978-0374104092

- Grizzly Man, directed by Werner Herzog, 2005. Runtime: 1 hr 24 minutes. Available on Amazon, free with ads, or $3.99 to rent. Also $3.99 to rent on youtube.

- How to Blow Up a Pipeline, directed by Daniel Goldhaber, 2023. Runtime: 1 hr 44 minutes. Available on youtube and Amazon for $1.99, and on Hulu, Apple TV and other streaming services.

Attendance Policy

- The official Department of Lit and Language policy is that if you miss more than 9 classes in a MWF class, you fail the course. I have never had to fail a student due to attendance. Usually, if you're missing that many classes, you drop by the wayside for other reasons.

- I do reserve 5% of the final grade that I can knock off if you're missing too much and not contributing.

- I will strive to make the class meetings interesting and worth attending.