[AE] = McKibben, Bill, ed. American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau. Library of America, 2008. ISBN: 9781598530209.
| SES # | TOPICS | READINGS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Introduction: Symbolic Encounters In class: Writing exercise |
Leopold, Aldo. “Axe-in-Hand.” In A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and There. Illustrated by Charles W. Schwartz. 2nd edition. Oxford University Press, 1968. ISBN: 9780195007770. [Preview with Google Books] Abbey, Edward. “Solitaire.” In Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness. Ballantine Books, 1971. ISBN: 9780345326492. [Preview with Google Books] |
| 2 |
At Odds with Nature Writing: Introductory exercise In class: Questioning your sources; finding a motive |
[AE] Berry, Wendell. “Preserving Wildness.” Thoreau, Henry David. Walking. Cricket House Books, 2010. ISBN: 9781451529791. |
| 3 | Birds: Nature’s Emissaries |
Beston, Henry. The Outermost House: A Year of Life on the Great Beach of Cape Code. Reprint edition. Holt Paperbacks, 2003, pp. 19–25. ISBN: 9780805073683. [Preview with Google Books] [AE] Leopold, Aldo. “Marshland Elegy.” ———. “On a Monument to the Pigeon.” In A Sand County Almanac. Reprint edition. Ballantine Books, 1986. ISBN: 9780345345059. [Preview with Google Books] Eiseley, Loren. “The Judgment of the Birds.” In The Immense Journey: An Imaginative Naturalist Explores the Mysteries of Man and Nature. Vintage, 1959. ISBN: 9780394701578. [Preview with Google Books] |
| 4 |
Birds (cont.) Writing: Warm-up exercise 1.1 In class: Developing a thesis. Using MLA in-text citations |
[AE] Carson, Rachel. “The Obligation to Endure” and “And No Birds Sing (Section 1).” [AE] Turner, Jack. “The Song of the White Pelican.” |
| 5 | In class: Workshop on introductions | No assigned readings |
| 6 |
Farms, Lawns, and Gardens: Cultivating Nature In-class: Workshop on Drafts Organizing your thoughts; structuring your essay |
[AE] Cronon, William. “Seasons of Want and Plenty.” |
| 7 | Farms (cont.) | No assigned readings |
| 8 | In class: Framing an argument |
Pollan, Michael. “Gardening Means War.” The New York Times Magazine. June 19, 1988. ———. “Sustaining Vision.” Gourmet Magazine. August 31, 2002. Kingsolver, Barbara. “Stalking the Vegetannual.” Orion Magazine. Watch: Finley, Roy. “A Guerilla Gardener in South Central LA.” TED Talk. February 2013. |
| 9 | In class: The rhetoric of argument |
Pollan, Michael. “Why Mow? The Case Against Lawns.” The New York Times Magazine. May 28, 1989. Kolbert, Elizabeth. “Turf War.” The New Yorker. July 21, 2008. |
| 10 |
In class: Paragraphs and transitions Exercise: Re-assembling an essay |
Cronon, William. “The Trouble with Wilderness; or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature.” In Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature. W. W. Norton & Company, 1996. ISBN: 9780393315110. [Preview with Google Books] |
| 11 | In class: The Rules of Engagement: Using sources & developing evidence |
[AE] Pinchot, Gifford. “Propserity.” Tucker, William. “Is Nature Too Good for Us?” Harper’s Magazine. March 1982. |
| 12 |
Dams: Reconstructing Nature Water for a Dry Land Writing: Warm-up exercise 2.1 |
“Giving a Dam: Congress Debates Hetch Hetchy.” History Matters: The U.S. Survey Course. McPhee, John. Encounters with the Archdruid. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1980, pp. 153–167. ISBN: 9780374514310. [AE] pp. 493–499. [AE] Porter, Eliot. “The Living Canyon.” |
| 13 |
The Romance of the River Writing: Warm-up exercise 2.2 In class: Exploring two texts. Creating a conceptual framework |
Lopez, Barry. “Gone Back into the Earth.” In Crossing Open Ground. Vintage, 1989. ISBN: 9780679721833. [Preview with Google Books] [AE] Meloy, Ellen. “The Flora and Fauna of Las Vegas.” |
| 14 |
Landscapes lost and found Writing: Draft Essay 2 due In class: Exploring the past in a narrative essay |
[AE] Sanders, Scott Russell. “After the Flood.” McPhee, John. “Farewell to the Nineteenth Century.” The New Yorker. September 27, 1999. |
| 15 |
Writing: Comments on partners’ essays In class: Workshop Essay 2 Creating coherent essays: Introductions and conclusions |
No assigned readings |
| 16 | Wolves: Confronting wildness |
[AE] Leopold, Aldo. “Thinking Like a Mountain.” Bass, Rick. “Wolf Palette.” Orion Magazine. |
| 17 | In class: Asking good questions and finding good sources |
Middleton, Arthur. “Is the Wolf a Real American Hero?” The New York Times. March 9, 2014. McNamee, Thomas. “Tinkering with Nature.” High Country News. March 31, 2003. |
| 18 | In class: Exploring a new perspective and preserving your own | No assigned readings |
| 19 |
Writing: Warm-up exercise 3.1 In class: Oral presentations of individual readings Evaluating and citing secondary sources |
Reading: Continue reading major outside source. |
| 20 |
Writing: Identify critical source(s) that you plan to read In class: Additional oral presentations of individual readings |
Reading: Finish reading major outside source. |
| 21 |
Writing: Warm-up exercise 3.2 In class: Additional oral presentations of individual readings Using and misusing sources Avoiding plagiarism; preserving your voice |
Reading: Secondary sources for Essay 3. |
| 22 | Writing: Prospectus | Wilson, Edward O. “A Biologist’s Manifesto for Preserving Life on Earth.” Sierra. December 12, 2016. |
| 23 |
Discuss final revision process Compare draft & published versions of two poems (one by Robert Frost and one by Walt Whitman) |
No assigned readings |
| 24 |
In class: Workshop Essay 3 Managing complexity; achieving coherence |
No assigned readings |
| 25 |
Writing: Ongoing revision of Essay 3 In class: Workshop on revised introductions |
Williams, Terry Tempest. “Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming.” In The Hour of Land: A Personal Topography of America’s National Parks. Reprint edition. Picador, 2017. ISBN: 9781250132147. [Preview with Google Books] |
| 26 | In class: Favorite passages from required or supplementary readings | No assigned readings |
