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English 329 Fall 2015
Ecocriticism
Required Texts:
Ecocriticism by Greg Garrard. Routledge. 978-0-415-19692-5
Beyond Romantic Ecocriticism. Ed. Ashton Nichols, 978-113-7033994
Walden by Henry David Thoreau. G. W. Zouck. 978-0-9817315-0-6
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Norton Critical Edition. Paul Hunter Ed., 978-0393964585
The Ecocriticism Reader. Ed. Glotfelty & Fromm U of Georgia P 978-082031781-6
Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy. Norton Edition. Ed. Scott Elledge, 978-0393959031
The End of Nature by Bill McKibben. Random House. 978-0-8129-7608-3
Poetry for the Earth. Ed. Sara Dunn & Alan Scholefield. Ballantine, 978-0449905999
(–class handouts and assigned web readings:)
Course Aims and Learning Goals:
Ecocriticism is a recent form of literary and cultural interpretation that has emerged out of emphasis on the relationship between humans and the natural environment. Ecocritics emphasize the role played by nonhuman nature in a wide range of texts, literary and otherwise. They also interrogate the ways that human interactions with nature (plants, animals, geology, landscapes) have affected human life and the natural world. Many ecocritics have environmentalist or preservationist agendas; others are more interested in the philosophical and cultural implications of human understanding of and impact on the natural environment. We will set literary works in dialogue with scientists and nature writers of the past two centuries and will examine the current importance (as well as the controversial aspects) of ecocritical ideas. We will emphasize the role played by literature in the development of our own assumptions and values. We will work to answer a series of questions about the relationship between the natural world and the human beings who have defined and affected that world.
Over the course of the semester, students will demonstrate their ability as close readers and will also hone their research skills (abstract, annotated bibliography, research paper) in preparation for work in English 403 and 404.
Course Requirements
Students will come to class prepared to discuss the assigned readings for each day. Discussion will form a central part of class work, and students will sign up for two (2) discussion introductions based on our weekly reading schedule. Students will be evaluated on the basis of class participation, two critical essays (8-10 pp., 12-15 pp.), and a comprehensive take-home final exam. Your first essay will ask you to select a chapter from Urbanatural Roosting and offer your own ecocritical close reading. Your second essay will ask you to write a research essay that explains why ecocriticism is a useful method of literary criticism in the 21st century. Class participation will include written exercises and discussion introductions. Two (2) unexcused absences will be grounds for lowering your grade in the course. The first essay will allow you to work closely with a single text; the second will require that you provide a critical context for research into works by several authors. Assignment sheets for both essays will be distributed at least three weeks before the essay due dates. You will also be asked to attend at least two (2) of the visitors we have this term and then critique one (1) of their talks in relation to the readings we are doing this semester. The class will emphasize research skills and methods useful for scholarly research and writing, both in class and through your work with the C.A.L.M. Lab workshop (only if this is your first 300-level course). The comprehensive final exam will be entirely composed of essay questions.
Grading will be based on the following percentage scale. Students must complete all of this assigned work in order to pass the course:
Class participation (10)
Discuss Intros. (10)
Essay 1 (20)
Essay 2 (30)
Final Exam (30) = 100%
Reading Schedule and Class Meetings
September 1 T Our syllabus—Our syllabus as a Text—-Our class as a Dialogue
September 3 H Nichols 49-52, 80-81, 152-63 William Blake (online): “The Fly,” “The Tyger,” “The Lamb, ”Garrard “Beginnings: Pollution” 1-16
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8 T Nichols, 3-4, 11-14, 95-96, Wordsworth (online): “Westminster Bridge,” “Nutting,” “The World is Too Much with Us” Garrard “Positions”: 16-33
10 H Nichols, 14-25, 96-97, 153 Coleridge (online): “Kubla Khan,” “The Eolian Harp” Garrard “Pastoral”: 33-59; (Gillen D’Arcy Wood to class with Prof. Edwards’ class) handout + video:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EI9tS4_nl7A]
10th Thursday, 7:00 p.m. D’Arcy Wood Lecture (Required) Stern Great Room
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15 T Nichols, 22-27, 124-27, 146-48 Shelley (online): “On Love,” “Death,” “The Cloud,” “ Ode to the West Wind” Garrard: “Wilderness”: 59-85
17 H Nichols, 27-28, 98-99, 114-118 Keats (online): “To Autumn,” “Ode to a Nightingale” Garrard “Apocalypse”: 85-108
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22 T Nichols, see index to BRE:TUR Mary Shelley, Frankenstein vii-xii Garrard “Dwelling”: 108-136
24 H Frankenstein 1-58, Garrard “Animals”: 136-160
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29 T Frankenstein: 59-102
October 1 H Frankenstein: 103-end
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October 5, Monday, Mark Ruffalo Lecture, 7:00 p.m. ATS Auditorium (attend if you have a ticket)
5 M Workshop draft of ESSAY #1
8 H Frankenfilms (Nichols)
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13 T [Egbert Leigh to Class – See links following] Leigh: C.V., Leigh Article, (Be ready with questions after class talk: “How Aristotle and Adam Smith can help the evolutionary biologist”) Also read Nichols, Tennyson: 107-09 and Darwin: 38-42, 132-33, 181-83, Garrard “Futures: The Earth”: 160-183
October 13, Egbert Leigh Evening Lecture: REQUIRED 5:00 p.m. Denny 317
15 H Essay #1 due (ecocritical close reading of one chapter section from Urbanatural Roosting) Workshop
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20 T Fall Pause
22 H Thoreau: 5-127, Glotfelty, xv-xxxvii: “Introduction”
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27 T Thoreau: 129-284, Glotfelty, Manes: “Nature and Silence”
29 H Thoreau: 285-end, Glotfelty, Fromm: “Transcendence to Obsolescence”
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November 2, M, 4:30 p.m., William Gleason, Professor and Chair of English at Princeton University, Monday, in Stafford Auditorium, Rector Science Complex: “Future of the Environmental Humanities” (required)
3 T Tess: 1-79 Glotfelty, White: “The Historical Roosts of Our Ecologic Crisis” Visit by Professor Gleason to class: bring one excellent question
5 H Tess: 79-178, Glotfelty, Turner: “Cultivating,” Research abstract for Essay #2 due
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10 T Tess: 178-239, Glotfelty, Howarth: “Some Principles of Ecocriticism”
12 H Tess: 239-289, Glotfelty, Rueckert: “Literature and Ecology”
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17 T Tess: 289-end and Darwin [in Tess edition]: 422-51 + Darwin handout (distributed in class).
19 H The End of Nature, Part I + McKibben [YouTube Videos: Bill McKibben at Dickinson, Global Warming: David Letterman Talks to Bill McKibben 08/31/10, Do the Math With Bill McKibben]
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24 T McKibben, The End of Nature, Part II + (annotated bibliography for Essay #2 due)
26 H THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY
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December 1 T Poetry for the Earth: 11-12, 26-27, 33, 43-44, 56-62, 74-75, 108, 123-128, 151, 192-194; Glotfelty, Allen: “The Sacred Hoop”
3 H Poetry 3, 14, 15, 18, 32, 46-7, 102-105, 142-44, 171, 175-79, 208, Glotfelty, Kolodny: “Herstory”; Phillips: “Is Nature necessary?”
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8 T Course summary and Exam writing; identifications, short answers, essay questions)
10 H Discussion of Take-Home Final Exam ESSAY #2 DUE
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Monday December 14, 5:00 p.m. (NO LATE EXAMS): Take home final exam due in KAUFMAN 192 (can be submitted electronically via email–see me with questions)
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ENG 300 – C.A.L.M. Lab
If this is your first (and only if it is your first) 300-level literature course in the English Department, you will be required to complete ENG 300 – C.A.L.M. Lab: the Critical Approaches and Literary Methods Laboratory. (Exception: English 339 classes, The Craft of Poetry and the Craft of the Short Story DO NOT require CALM Lab.) This research module, allows students to apply their work in English 220 into research and writing expectations for 300-level courses. C.A.L.M. Lab adopts current best-practices for using Dickinson’s library resources; it helps students understand the tools, application, and proper MLA citation for all research in the English Department. Students will be taught how to shape a research prospectus, find materials in our electronic databases, and properly annotate sources in an MLA Works Cited bibliography.
C.A.L.M. Lab takes place over 2 sessions lasting about 50 minutes each. Students enrolled in C.A.L.M. lab must visit the course’s Moodle site to sign up for attendance. The Information Commons in the lower level of Waidner-Spahr Library has been confirmed for all sessions.
You should have received further information about C.A.L.M. Lab from Christine Bombaro, library liaison to the English Department. Email: bombaroc@dickinson.edu if you have questions. The course is also outlined on Moodle.
Academic Honesty
The Dickinson plagiarism policy will be strictly enforced. This class adheres to the college’s Community Standards, which clearly state: “Students are expected to do their own work. Work submitted in fulfillment of academic assignments and provided on examinations is expected to be original by the student submitting it.” Please review the Community Standards document for more information. Please do not hesitate to ask me any questions you may have about citation, documentation, or academic honesty.
Statement on Disability Services
Dickinson College makes reasonable academic accommodations for students with documented disabilities. Students requesting accommodations must make their request and provide appropriate documentation to Disability Services in Biddle House. Because classes change every semester, eligible students must obtain a new accommodation letter from Director Marni Jones every semester and review this letter with their professors so the accommodations can be implemented. The Director of Disability Services is available by appointment to answer questions and discuss any implementation issues you may have. Disability Services proctoring is managed by Susan Frommer at 717-254-8107 or proctoring@dickinson.edu. Address general inquiries to Stephanie Anderberg at 717-245-1734 or e-mail disabilityservices@dickinson.edu.
Ecocriticism: Questions to Consider
Are human beings just the result of random evolutionary processes? Is that all they are?
“Be fruitful and multiply.”–Is that a good idea or a waste? Does evolution conflict with the religious teachings of Christianity? Can the two viewpoints be reconciled? Why does Christianity say that God cannot be a part of the natural world?
Why has “nature” had such a powerful impact on poets and novelists over the past 150 years?
When do poets and scientists think in similar ways? When do they think in different ways?
Is AIDS natural? Is spinal bifida? Is death? Is nature “good”? Is anything “natural” ever “evil”?
What the Writers Have Said About Nature
“In looking at the objects of Nature while I am thinking, as at yonder moon dim-gleaming through the dewy window-pane, I seem rather to be seeking, as it were asking for, a symbolical language for something within me that already and for ever exists, than observing anything new. Even when the latter is the case, yet still I have always an obscure feeling as if that new phenomena were a dim awakening of a forgotten or hidden truth of my inner nature.” (1805)–Coleridge, Anima Poetae
“A Poet is the most unpoetical of any thing in existence; because he has no Identity–he is continually in for–and filling some other Body–The Sun, the Moon, the Sea and Men and Women who are creatures of impulse are poetical and have about them an unchangeable attribute–the poet has none; no identity–” Keats, Letters
“How much virtue there is in simply seeing! . . . We are as much as we see . . . Every child begins the world again. . . I saw this familiar–too familiar–fact at a different angle, and I was charmed and haunted by it . . . Only what we have touched and worn is trivial,–our scurf, repetition, tradition, conformity. To perceive freshly, with fresh senses, is to be inspired . . . The age of miracles is each moment thus returned.” –Thoreau, Works
“In a Romantic poem the realm of the ideal is always observed as precarious–liable to vanish or move beyond one’s reach at any time. Central Romantic poems like “Ode to a Nightingale” or “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” typify this situation in the Romantic poem, which characteristically haunts, as Geoffrey Hartman has observed, borderlands and liminal territories. These are Romantic places because they locate areas of contradiction, conflict, and problematic alternatives.” –Jerome McGann, The Romantic Ideology
What Two Ecocritics Have Said About Nature
“Ecocriticism can be further characterized by distinguishing it from other critical approaches. Literary theory, in general, examines the relations between writers, texts, and the world. In most literary theory “the world” is synonymous with society–the social sphere. Ecocriticism expands the notion of “the world” to include the entire ecosphere. If we agree with Barry Commoner’s first law of ecology, “Everything is connected to everything else,” we must conclude that literature does not float above the material world in some aesthetic ether, but, rather, plays a part in an immensely complex global system, in which energy, matter, and ideas interact.” –Glotfelty and Fromm
Professor Ashton Nichols: Kaufman 192 Class meetings: 9:00–10:15 a. m. T H
Office Hours: 10:15-1:30 T TH and by appt. Classroom: Kaufman 185