Viterbo University - La Crosse, Wis.

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English 204: Environmental Literature (PDF Version)
MC 436, TR 9:30 a.m.–10:50 a.m.
Spring 2011
Grant T. Smith, Ph.D.

Office: MC 533
Office Hours: T Th 1–3 p.m., MWF 2–3 p.m.
Phone: 3485
Email: gtsmith@viterbo.edu

S Y L L A B U S

Texts:

Walden by Henry David Thoreau (Chapters “Economy” and “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For”
Earth, My Likeness: Nature Poetry of Walt Whitman edited by Howard Nelson
A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold
Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place by Terry Tempest Williams
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
Deliverance by James Dickey
Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
Prodigal Summer: A Novel by Barbara Kingsolver
Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everyday Things by Allan Durning

Description:
In this course we will read nonfiction, fiction, and poetry that will help us to explore the complex relationships between "place" and "self." We will first attempt to identify and define the environments (places) around us and discover the inter-relationships we share with members (human and non-human) of those environments. Through the literature we read we shall then attempt to define the "self" through a paradigm of relationships with the members of those places. We shall consider these questions throughout the semester:

What is a sense of place?
How am I connected physically and or spiritually to a place?
How am I shaped by a place?
What affect do I have on a place?
How do I define my physical, spiritual, and environmental self?
What experiences with the environment and with others have shaped my being?

Format: Class sessions will consist of lectures and discussions. I expect the students to read carefully the assigned texts and be able to discuss the relationship between each selection and the various themes listed above.

Policies:

Click here for the university definitions of an excused and unexcused absence.
Click here for the university policy on sexual harassment.
Click here for the university policy on plagiarism.
If you are a person with a disability and require any auxiliary aids, services or other accommodations for this class, please see Jane Eddy in Murphy Center Learning Center 332 (796-3194) within ten days to discuss your accommodation needs. If there other accommodations that need to be made for you to succeed in the class, please indicate those needs to the instructor. Click here for a link to the Learning Center.
In the event of an infectious disease outbreak, university officials will monitor progress and work with local, state, and national authorities to determine the best course of action regarding institutional operations. Information related to any widespread infectious diseases outbreak will be available on Viterbo’s website and Viterbo Health Services website (http://www.viterbo.edu/HealthServices.aspx). In addition, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) website has extensive information on health threats (http://www.cdc.gov). If you have specific questions about your personal health, please contact your medical provider or Health Services.

Core Abilities:

Thinking—Students engage in the critical and creative thinking
Ethical Decision Making—Students respond to ethical issues
Communication—Students communicate effectively orally and in writing
Aesthetic Sensitivity—Students engage in artistic experiences and reflect critically upon them
Cultural Sensitivity—Students demonstrate a respect for the diversity of the human experience
Community Involvement—Students demonstrate responsible citizenship

English Department Student Learning Outcomes:

Read critically
Critically read and analyze a variety of texts.

Write effectively
Invent, draft, revise, and edit effectively for various audiences and purposes.

Research and document proficiently
Demonstrate proficiency in the use of bibliographic resources and other research tools to find, incorporate, and properly cite sources, according to MLA style.

Understand literary classifications
Demonstrate familiarity with classification of literature written in English, including:

Historical development
Genres
Theories

Understand development of English
Demonstrate familiarity with the basic history of the development of the English language.

Transfer skills to work
Connect academic training to potential professional experience.

Links related to English Department Student Learning Outcomes:

Thinking—The students will engage in critical thinking when they explicate or “close read” literary texts; when they identify formal elements such as point of view, literary language, symbolism, imagery; when they consider texts and authors in relation to historical, cultural, ideological, and theoretical contexts; when they compare what they are reading with what they have read previously; when they relate what they are reading to the wider world and to universal issues of human life. Click here for a Critical Thinking Web Page. Click here for a Logical Fallacies Web Page.
Communication—The students will articulate in class and in assigned writing assignments their interpretations, insights, analyses, and evaluations of the assigned literature. Click here for the English Department’s Home Page on Writing a Critical Analysis of Literature.
Aesthetic—The students will articulate in class and in assigned writing assignments their understanding of the elements of a “masterpiece” of young adult literature. The students will evaluate the lasting quality of literature from the formal and contextual elements embedded in the literature.
Ethics—The students will articulate in class and in assigned writing assignments their responses to the ethical questions and dilemmas posed in the assigned readings. Ethics is generally defined as the principles of conduct governing an individual or group; concerns for what is right or wrong, good or bad. The students will not plagiarize. Click here for the Viterbo University plagiarism statement. Click here for the English Department plagiarism statement. Click here for the Viterbo University Institute of Ethics in Leadership.
Cultural Sensitivity—The students will read various texts by diverse authors. The students will articulate in class and in assigned writing assignments their understanding of life values represented in different texts in relation to their own. Individual projects are designed to give the students an opportunity to move outside of their own culture and to study and interact with a new culture. Click here for the university’s statement on sexual harassment.

Attendance Policy

Students who have three or fewer absences during the semester will receive 100 points. Students who have four to six absences will receive 60 points. Any student who has more than six absences will be asked to withdraw from the course.

Course Work Requirements:

Two reflection essays on assigned readings (two-to-three pages for each essay)
One reflection essay on individual project (three-to-five pages)
Two formal essays (midterm and final – five-to-seven pages for each essay)
Class Participation

Evaluation Criteria:

The students’ comprehension of the texts we read through their participation in class and their journal responses.
The students’ writing communication skills will be evaluated through their journal responses and their formal essays. Rubrics will be provided as guides for appropriate journal responses and formal essays.
The students’ class participation will be evaluated through their oral presentations at the end of the semester. A rubric will be provided as a guide for an appropriate presentation.

Course Grading:

Attendance: 100 points
Reflection essays: 300 points
Participation: 100 points
Midterm essay: 100 points
Final essay: 200 points

Course Schedule

Week One: January 17

Introduction to Environmental Literature
Environmental Literature PowerPoint
Selected poems by Walt Whitman in Earth, My Likeness
The Walt Whitman home page
A website for John Townsend Trowbridge's essay on meeting Walt Whitman (printed in 1902)
A website for a research and reference guide to Walt Whitman's life and works
A website for Walt Whitman Archive
Whitman PowerPoint Presentation
Song of Myself PowerPoint Presentation

Class notes on The Environmental Imagination
The National Parks Conservation Association Home Page.
Environmental Issues Home Page
A second Environmental Issues Home Page
The Wisconsin Home Page

Weeks Two and Three: January 24, 31

Read Chapters One and Two in Walden by Henry David Thoreau -- To read Walden in hypertext, click here.
"Environmental" Web Page on Henry David Thoreau
Additional Web Page on Henry David Thoreau
Habitat for Humanity Home Page
Discussion questions for Walden
Pictures of Walden

PowerPoint Presentation on Walden

Weeks Four and Five: February 7, 14

Read Refuge by Terry Tempest Williams
"Evolution as Fact and Theory" and "Learning to See" in The Natural World (on reserve in the library)
"Environmentalism of the Spirit" by Al Gore in Constructing Nature (on reserve in the library)
"The Global Ecological Crisis" by Carolyn Merchant in Constructing Nature (on reserve in the library)
"The Greenhouse Affect" by P.J. O’Rourke in Constructing Nature (on reserve in the library)
An interview "The Politics of Place" with Terry Tempest Williams
Official Web Page of Terry Tempest Williams
Official Web Page of the Mormon Church
Definition of ecofeminism by Rosemary Radford Reuther
Research and reference guide to nature, ecocriticism, and ecofeminism
Discussion questions on Refuge

Weeks Six and Seven: February 21, 28

Read Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
Discussion questions for Into the Wild
Essay by students who visited McCandless's death site.
A review of Into the Wild.
Wallace Stegner's comments on the wilderness.

A student's journal response to Into the Wild.

Click here for a student's formal essay on Into the Wild.

Spring Break: March 7–11

Weeks Eight and Nine: March 14, 21

Read A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold (Read Part 1: "A Sand County Almanac" and "Wisconsin" in Part II and "The Land Ethic in Part IV.
Read "A White Heron" by Sarah Orne Jewett

The Aldo Leopold Home Page.

An outline on the Aldo Leopold land ethic.

A definition of environmental ethics
The Greenpeace International Home Page
Environmental News Network
A Web Page on The Land Ethic
Official "Endangered Species" web site

Some additional poems about nature

Weeks Ten and Eleven: March 28, April 4

Read Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everyday Things by John C. Ryan and Alan Durning

Read Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

Discussion Questions to Ship Breaker

Weeks Twelve and Thirteen: April 11, 18

Easter Break: April 21–25
Earth Day: April 22

Read Prodigal Summer: A Novel by Barbara Kingsolver

Weeks Fourteen and Fifteen: April 25, May 2