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Spring, 2002 |
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English 435 |
Rice 110, (440) 775-6726 |
. . . [T]he examination of “nature” must
entail not simply the objects we assign to that category, but also the category
itself: the concept of nature, its origins and implications.
—Neil
Evernden, The Social Creation of Nature
Books, not which afford us a cowering enjoyment, but in
which each thought is of unusual daring; such as an idle man cannot read, and a
timid one would not be entertained by, which even make us dangerous to existing
institutions, — such call I good books.
—Thoreau, A Week on the Concord & Merrimack Rivers
I have come to believe that all essays walk in
rivers.
—Kathleen Dean Moore, Riverwalking
The purpose of this
course is to unite vigorous inquiry into the concept of nature with experiments
in imaginative methods of conveying one’s ideas of nature to
another. We will cultivate the art
of nature writing by exploring various ways that nature writes in America and
that nature is written about in America. To accomplish that purpose, I have divided the semester into
thirds: Nature & Writing, River Writing, and Nature Writing Here. In the first, we will study different
approaches to the concept of nature; in the second we examine some examples of
nature writing on the subject of rivers, to see if writing about rivers requires writing like rivers; for the final third of the semester, each
will pursue her or his own contribution to nature writing in a final project of
15-20 pages. Throughout the
semester, we will work on shorter assignments to develop our writing skills,
read diverse texts, and get our boots muddy.
Along with completing all
reading assignments, students must keep a notebook or journal dedicated to
nature writing, complete and submit on time all short writing assignments,
present (in class) her or his approach to nature writing, and submit a final
project. In addition, all students
must participate fully in workshops on each other's writing, and, most importantly,
contribute helpfully, willingly, intelligently, and magnanimously to the day-to-day
operations of the seminar.
Schedule
2/4—Introduction to
Nature Writing in America
2/6—Neil Evernden, The
Social Creation of Nature (Parts
I & III; “The Fragile Division”)
2/11—Nature
Writing: Thoreau’s Fox
2/13—Peter
Fritzell, Nature Writing and America (3-174)
2/18— Nature
Writing: Being Here; fieldtrip: Black River (Carlyle)
2/20—David
Abram, The Spell of the Sensuous
(first half)
2/25—Henry David
Thoreau, A Week (first half);
fieldtrip: Vermilion River (Common Ground)
2/27—Discussion:
The Concept of Nature work
3/4—Henry David
Thoreau, A Week (second half);
fieldtrip: Black River (falls, Elyria)
3/6—Nature Writing:
Not Being Here
3/11—Kathleen Dean
Moore, Riverwalking;
fieldtrip: Chance Creek
3/13—Nature
Writing: Seeing Here
3/18—Barry Lopez,
“River Notes” & other selections; fieldtrip: Black River
(Reservation)
3/20—Nature
Writing: Not Seeing Here
3/25 Break
3/27 Break
4/1—Terry Tempest
Williams, Refuge; fieldtrip:
Lake Erie
4/3—Nature Writing:
Writing Like a River
4/5—Topic for final
project posted
4/8-5/8—Read David
Abram, The Spell of the Sensuous
(second half)
4/8—Individual
Meetings to discuss outlines for final projects
4/10—Individual
Meetings to discuss outlines for final projects
4/15—Topic
Presentations (20 minutes each)
4/17—Topic
Presentations (20 minutes each)
4/22—Topic
Presentations (20 minutes each)
4/24—Topic
Presentations (20 minutes each)
4/27—Retreat:
Common Ground
4/29—Work on
projects
5/1—Work on
projects
5/6—Workshops to
discuss drafts
5/8—Workshops to
discuss drafts
5/11—Fieldtrip:
Mohican River
Final Project due on
class final exam date, 4 p.m.
Texts
Peter Fritzell, Nature
Writing and America, Iowa State
UP, 0-8138-0117-6
Henry
David Thoreau, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, Penguin, 0140434429
Barry Lopez, Desert
Notes/River Notes, Avon,
0-380-71110-9
Kathleen Dean Moore, Riverwalking, Harcourt Brace, 0156004615
Neil Evernden, The
Social Creation of Nature, Johns
Hopkins UP, 0-8018-4548-3
David Abrams, The
Spell of the Sensuous, Vintage,
0679776397
Terry Tempest Williams,
Refuge, Vintage, 0679740244
CourseInfo site: http://cinfo.oberlin.edu.
Instructor info: x6726;
Rice 110; office hours: T 2:30-3:30, W 3-4, Th 11-12