Virginia Commonwealth University, Spring 2001
Syllabus
W. Thinking about "nature" and "nature writing"; "Hamatreya"
Week 2
M. Gary Snyder, "The
World Is Places," Scott Olsen, "Introduction
to The Sacred Place. and Barry Lopez, "A
Literature of Place"
W. Early
Natural History Writers: Defining the Place Called "America"
John
Smith, William
Wood, Alexander Wilson:
Carolina parrot, John Jacob Audubon:
hermit thrush,Carolina
parrot; Standing
Bear; Bartram,
"Introduction,The
Rattle Snake,"
Crevecoeur, Letter X [Check for Web
goodies]
Week 3 -- Mapping
Your Place
M. Journaling in the present: Selections
from Emerson's
Journal,
Henry Thoreau's Journal, Aldo Leopold, Sand
County Almanac; Write your own journal entry.
W. Mapping the imprinting places:
Ortiz (p. 189), Kingsolver (p. 199), Kerouac (p. 191)
Week 4 --Walden
M.Paper
(1) due on your special place in nature.
W. Thoreau, Walden,
"Economy"
and "Where
I Lived and What I Lived For" [his
place]
Week 5 --Experience
from philosophy
M. Finish Walden--all
of it (Then read the notes for the nature
chapters in the webtext)
Here's a
brief lecture on WALDEN from me (audio file)
W. Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Nature"
(through "Beauty," "Language") with study
hypertext, "The
Method of Nature"
[Papers on Nature
and
on Emerson
and Thoreau]
Week 6 --Emerson's
Children
M. John
Muir (178-84), "A
Near View of the High Sierra," "The
Water Ouzel"; Whitman,
"Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking" with Web
study text
Paper
2 due (rereading of Nature or Walden)
W.In-class midterm test and essay
Week 7 --Seeking
the wild
M. Thoreau, "Walking"
"Ktaadn"
with
David
Rothenberg's article .
W. Poems
by Robinson Jeffers. (474); Gary Snyder, from The
Etiquette of Freedom, (also 14-16); Jack Turner, "The
Abstract Wild"
Student Essays on Snyder
and
Turner Article
on Jeffers [optional reading]
Week 8 --Women
and nature/wilderness
M. Williams"The
Bowl", "Undressing the Bear and "The Erotic Landscape" (p. 27),
Silko, (p. 109), Hogan (p. 174), Annie Dillard, from
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, and "Living Like Weasel" (p. 4)
Student papers on Dillard
and
Williams, Criticism
notes on Dillard
W. Oliver (3), Estes (17), Houston
(184), Kingston (71), Bonta,
White (316)
Notes from Vera Norwood's book on women
writers, Made
from this Earth
Spring Break
Week 9 --Close
Encounters
M. Rowntree (21),
LeGuin (80), Peterson
W. Levertov (63), Whitman
(66),
Zwinger, Murphy (95)
Week 10 Hunting
& Fishing
M. Leopold (148), Griffin
(146), Jewett (150)
W. Wintu (117), Nelson (119),
Shepard (140)
Week 11
Land and Home
M. hooks (169), Hogan (174),
Berry (222, 223, 389), LeSueur (381), Bingham (424)
W. Dubos,
Lewis (392), Kaufman (413)Paper 4, Book Review due
Week 12 Economy
and Ecology
M Dodge (230), Bass (249),
Daniel (259), Kittredge (284), Sanders (290)
W Abbey (344), Meadows (377),
Horton
Week 13 Journeying
through Time
M. Eiseley,
from The Immense Journey; Gould,
Daniel,Thomas
W. Your
major project should be posted by this date
Spend class time reading
and commenting on projects
Week 14
M. Looking to the future:
Pyle,
Carson (477), Owens (447), Bruchac (492)
W. Saner, "What
Does "Nature" Name? Here's an optional but recommended reading
from David
Abram's The Spell of the Sensuous which many of you might
find very enlightening.
Week 15 Tying it Together:
Preparing for the Exam
Since the mid-term, we have
explored 7 areas: Seeking Wildness, Women and Nature, Close Encounters,
Hunting and Fishing, Land and Home, Economy and Ecology, Journeying through
Time. You should post a "high points" review of the full area that you
did your class review for (if yours was earlier in the semester, you may
choose any of these areas); this will be in a review forum and more details
will come.
Final Exam