Writing about Nature and Environmental Issues

Calendar

SES #	TOPICS	KEY DATES
1	Introduction: Symbolic Encounters In class: Writing exercise
2	At Odds with Nature Writing: Introductory exercise In class: Questioning your sources; finding a motive
3	Birds: Nature’s Emissaries
4	Writing: Warm-up exercise 1.1 In class: Developing a thesis. Using MLA in-text citations
5	In class: Workshop on introductions	Draft Essay 1 due
6	Farms, Lawns, and Gardens: Cultivating Nature In-class: Workshop on drafts Organizing your thoughts; structuring your essay
7	Farms (cont.)	Revised Essay 1 due
8	In class: Framing an argument
9	In class: The rhetoric of argument
10	In class: Paragraphs and transitions Exercise: Re-assembling an essay
11	In class: The Rules of Engagement: Using sources & developing evidence
12	Dams: Reconstructing Nature Water for a Dry Land Writing: Warm-up exercise 2.1
13	The Romance of the River Writing: Warm-up exercise 2.2 In class: Exploring two texts. Creating a conceptual framework
14	Landscapes Lost and Found In class: Exploring the past in a narrative essay	Draft Essay 2 due
15	Writing: Comments on partners’ essays In class: Workshop Essay 2 Creating coherent essays: Introductions and conclusions
16	Wolves: Confronting wildness	Revised Essay 2 due
17	In class: Asking good questions and finding good sources
18	In class: Exploring a new perspective and preserving your own
19	Writing: Warm-up exercise 3.1 In class: Oral presentations of individual readings Evaluating and citing secondary sources
20	Writing: Identify critical source(s) that you plan to read In class: Additional oral presentations of individual readings
21	Writing: Warm-up exercise 3.2 In class: Additional oral presentations of individual readings Using and misusing sources Avoiding plagiarism; preserving your voice
22	Writing: Prospectus
23	Discuss final revision process Compare draft & published versions of two poems (one by Robert Frost and one by Walt Whitman)	Draft Essay 3 due
24	In class: Workshop Essay 3 Managing complexity; achieving coherence
25	Writing: Ongoing revision of Essay 3 In class: Workshop on revised introductions	Essay 3 revised introductions due
26	In class: Favorite passages from required or supplementary readings	Revised Essay 3 due