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Honors 2391V: Nature and the Quest for Meaning

Spring 2009
Ms. Susan Hanson
Honors 2381V.251, Spring 2009
LAMP 501
Office: Flowers Hall 249
Office Hours: 11 – 12 MWF, 9:45 – 10:45 TTH and by appointment
Telephone: 245-7697 (office), 245-2163 (Dept. of English), or 353-0440 (home)
(Leave messages at school only between 8 – 12 M-TH.)
sh17@txstate.edu or skhanson@gmail.com

http://www.susankhanson.com

Course Goals:

While human history abounds with examples of men and women struggling against nature, it also reminds us that for many, nature has been a guide, a teacher, a friend. Indeed, for such contemporary writers as Gary Nabhan, Stephen Trimble, and Janisse Ray, the natural world offers insight not only into the meaning of individual lives, but also into the experiences human beings share in confronting such phenomena as “otherness” and loss.

In examining the work of some of today’s leading nature writers, students will consider the following questions, among others: What is the relationship between our perception of nature and the way we interact with it? In what sense is the human experience of the natural world a lesson in the nature of paradox? What does it mean to confront the “other” in nature? How does the observation of nature assist us in understanding our journeys as individuals? In what sense is the experience of nature an experience of transformation?

Studying a selection of nonfiction texts, students will look at the relationship between perceptions of nature and such variables as gender, form, and style. Starting with Parker Palmer’s assumption that “[t]he way we interact with the world in knowing it becomes the way we interact with the world as we live in it,” the class will look for links between conceptions of nature (e.g., as a commodity, as a subject for research, as a resource in need of protection, as a source of revelation) and responses to nature in daily life.

Students will write one short paper, based on their own experience of nature, and two longer ones, a documented paper and a personal essay. They also will be asked to lead class discussion on two occasions, to participate in several service projects and/or enrichment activities, and to make a presentation with a partner. The final exam will be an essay based on the journal they will be keeping throughout the semester.

Please read if you are taking this course to satisfy your English requirement: The Department of English has adopted student learning outcomes for general education courses in writing and literature and for degree programs in English. These outcomes are available for your review at http://www.english.txstate.edu. Pull down the Student Resources menu and go to “Learning Outcomes.”

Required Texts:

Desert Solitaire, Edward Abbey
In the Blast Zone: Catastrophe and Renewal on Mount St. Helens, Charles Goodrich, Kathleen Dean Moore, and Frederick J. Swanson, eds.
Comanche Midnight, Stephen Harrigan
The Geography of Childhood, Gary Nabhan and Stephen Trimble
Ecology of a Cracker Childhood, Janisse Ray
Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water, Marc Reisner

Class Format:

Lecture, discussion, guest speakers, class presentations, videos, and field trips

Grades:

Your grade in the course will be based on the following:

Short Essay                                                                     10%
Documented Paper                                                         20%
Creative Nonfiction Paper                                              20%
Project (with partner)                                                      20%
Daily Work (performance as discussion leader,          15%
class participation, journal, other in-class work)
Service Projects and/or Enrichment Activities              5%
Final Essay                                                                      10%

Your work will be graded for its overall effectiveness-that is, grammar, spelling, and general readability will matter.

Attendance:

Although your attendance will not be reflected directly in your grade (that is, I don’t subtract a set number of points when you miss a class), I do take attendance each day and your absence will have an effect on your daily grade. Obviously, if you aren’t in class, you can’t participate in class discussion.

Late work:

I will deal with this on a case-by-case basis. See me as soon as possible if you miss an assignment.

Manuscript form:

All papers-with the exception of your journal-must be typed. See any standard handbook for other specifics.

Plagiarism:

The Texas State University Honor Code states, “We do our own work and are honest with one another in all matters. We understand how various acts of dishonesty, like plagiarizing . . . conflict as much with academic achievement as with the values of honesty and integrity.”

Plagiarizing is submitting work that is in any way not your own. Any case of verifiable plagiarism, whether deliberate or accidental, will result in a failing grade on the assignment.

Students with Special Needs:

Students who require accommodations for successful completion of this course must notify both the TSU Office of Disability Services and the instructor by no later than the end of the first week of classes so that accommodations can be made.

The Writing Center:

If you have serious problems with your writing, I may recommend or require individual counseling in the English Department Writing Center (FH G08). You may also seek help from the Center on your own.

---

“Once in his life, a man ought to concentrate his mind
upon the 
remembered earth. He ought to give himself
up to a particular 
landscape in his experience; to look at it
from as many angles as 
he can, to wonder upon it, to dwell upon it.
He ought to imagine 
that he touches it with his hands at every
season and listens 
to the sounds that are made upon it.

“He ought to imagine the creatures there and all the faintest 
motions
of the wind. He ought to recollect the glare of the 
moon and the
colors of the dawn and the dusk.”

N. Scott Momaday, The Way to Rainy Mountain

* * * *

“To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.”

Mary Oliver, White Pines

* * * *

“The way we interact with the world in knowing it becomes
the way we interact with the world as we live in it.”

Parker Palmer, To Know as We Are Known

* * * *

“This is a highly sensual business you are setting about.
So think small, move 
slowly, look sharply, be
patient–and prepare for extraordinary pleasures.”

Robert Michael Pyle, Handbook for Butterfly Watching

* * * *

Tentative Schedule

Week 1
Jan.
20 – Discuss syllabus and course requirements. Why do we need nature? What is nature? What do we know about the nature of the place where we live? Sign up to lead class discussion. Schedule camping trip. Select liaison for Bobcat Build. Announce due dates for writing assignments.
22 – Discuss Prologue to A Natural History of Nature Writing. What is nature writing? What forms does it take? Also discuss “Very Like a Whale.” (See Attachments)

Week 2
27 – Geography of Childhood
29 – Field Trip with Todd Derkacz, President, San Marcos Greenbelt Alliance

Week 3
Feb.
3 – Geography of Childhood
5 – Catch-up day

Week 4
10 – Sign up for Bobcat Build (We’ll need a team leader to do this.); Ecology of a Cracker Childhood
12 — Ecology of a Cracker Childhood

Week 5
[16 - Forms due for Bobcat Build]
17 – Ecology of a Cracker Childhood
19 – Desert Solitaire

Week 6
24 – Aquarena Springs Tour
26 – Desert Solitaire

Week 7
March
3 – Abbey video
5 – Comanche Midnight

Week 8
10 – Stephen Harrigan; Comanche Midnight
12 – Comanche Midnight

Week 9
17 – Spring Break
19 – Spring Break

Week 10
24 – Mt. St. Helens video
26 – In the Blast Zone

Week 11
31 – In the Blast Zone
April
2 – In the Blast Zone

Week 12
7 – Cadillac Desert
9 – Cadillac Desert

Week 13
14 – Elaine Acker, Bat Conservation International
16 – Lunch at the river

Saturday, 4 – Bobcat Build

Week 14
21 – Presentations
23 – Presentations

Week 15
28 – Presentations
30 – Presentations

Final Exam:  Thursday, May 7, 11 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Course Requirements

1. Journal: Keep a writing notebook, with a minimum of three entries per week. At the end of the semester, you should have at least 40 entries. Your grade will be based on the number you have completed. For example, 30 entries would earn a 75; 35 would earn an 88; 40 would earn 100. This number will be figured into your daily grade.

2. Short Essay: Why do we need nature? What has it meant in your own development? After reading a collection of essays I’ll be posting on TRACS, you will write an essay of at least three pages in which you examine these questions. You will be expected to quote from the essays you read, but the method for citing the sources will be informal; that is, this will not be a documented paper in the formal sense.

3. Leading Class Discussion: On two occasions, you will be responsible for co-leading (with one other student) a discussion on one of the readings. On those days, you and your partner should come to class with a list of questions and comments you can use to elicit response from your classmates. When preparing your questions and comments, please consider the following:

• What attitudes toward the natural world does this text reflect?
• What cultural values and assumptions does it challenge?

• What contribution does it make to the field of nature writing?
• How does it compare to the other texts you’ve read in this class?
• What impact has it had on you? What questions has it raised?
You will turn your questions in on a single sheet (combining your questions) at the end of class.
Tips for leading the discussion:
• Avoid overly broad questions such as “What do you think of that?”
• Avoid questions that can be answered simply with “yes” or “no.”
• You may ask questions about details that are peripheral to the author’s main topic, but don’t spend all your time on these.

• When discussion lags-and it will-try asking a question of a specific person.

4. Presentation: With a partner, make a presentation on a topic approved by your instructor. The form your project takes is up to you: e.g., a video or slide presentation, a debate, a demonstration, a visitor’s guide, a web site, etc. Upon the project’s completion, submit a one-page abstract describing your work. Note: Each partner will submit his or her own paper. Your presentation, including a question-answer period, should take no more than 20 minutes. Your elicitation of class response (that is, questions and comments) will be considered as part of your grade. In giving your presentation, try to make the issue relevant to the lives of your classmates, and if possible, suggest ways that they can become involved.

5. Longer Essays: Write two papers whose combined length is at least 20 pages. The first of these papers will be scholarly, using the MLA form of documentation and taking a persuasive approach. The second will be a work of creative nonfiction.

In selecting the topic for the first paper, consider the issues and themes that have been suggested by your texts. You may approach this topic from a literary perspective, or from the perspective of environmental history, natural history, political science, economics, ecology, biology, or any other related discipline. Note: Your instructor will be giving you a list of suggested topics. All topics must be approved.

While the work of creative nonfiction should be drawn from your own experience, it may be expository in part. That is, it may include information drawn from your reading of natural history, environmental history, etc.

6. Service/Enrichment Experience: During the semester, you will be expected to participate in four service and/or enrichment activities. These are some of your options. Others will be added as they become available or as we learn about them. (You may also suggest activities for the class.)

Scheduled activities:
Jan. 14-15-Retreat at University Camp
March 7-San Marcos River Cleanup
April 4-Bobcat Build
TBA-Camping trip
TBA-Class Visit to Campus Planetarium
TBA-Aquarena Springs
Possible trip to National Wildflower Center, Austin

Activities you can do on your own:

• Congress Avenue Bat Emergence, Austin
• Find a bat emergence site in San Marcos
• Organize a river or local park cleanup
• Watch the movie Chinatown prior to discussing Cadillac Desert

7. Final Exam: Using your writing notebook for reference, write a five-page paper in which you reflect on your own attitudes about the natural world. Consider questions and issues that have engaged you this semester, as well as any changes you have noted in yourself. This paper will be due at the time of the final exam.

Misc.

• Prior to the writing of your scholarly paper, I will be holding at least one in-class workshop on documentation.

• If you have questions regarding style, documentation, or manuscript form, please consult The Penguin Handbook or some other standard handbook . Note that there are also links to MLA documentation sites on my web page.

• American Nature Writers (John Elder, ed.) is a two-volume work located in the reference section of the library. It is an excellent resource.

• Please see the ASLE (Association for the Study of Literature and Environment) Web site for links to pages on many of the writers you will be studying:
 http://www.asle.umn.edu/

Other online resources of interest:

• Wild Thoughts: An Online Journal of Environmental Writing

http://www.wildthoughts.org/

• Orion magazine, http://www.orionmagazine.org
• “The Psychological Benefits of Wilderness,” Garrett Duncan

http://ecopsychology.athabascau.ca/Final/duncan.htm

• “A Literature of Place,” Barry Lopez

http://arts.envirolink.org/literary_arts/BarryLopez_LitofPlace.html

• “Beauty,” Scott Russell Sanders

http://arts.envirolink.org/literary_arts/ScottRSanders.html

• “Arousing Biophilia: A Conversation with E.O. Wilson,” Robert Finch

http://arts.envirolink.org/interviews_and_conversations/EOWilson.html

• “Paying Attention: An Interview with Barry Lopez,” Kenneth Margolis

http://arts.envirolink.org/interviews_and_conversations/BarryLopez.html

• “Beyond Ecophobia: Reclaiming the Heart in Nature Education,” David Sobel

http://arts.envirolink.org/arts_and_education/DavidSobel1.html

Course Description: After exploring the origins of American nature writing, we will read and discuss the works of a number of contemporary authors. In the process, we will consider the ways in which human beings experience the natural world–as an object of study, as a reflection of themselves, as a lens through which they look for meaning in their lives. Objectives: To acquire a basic knowledge of the field of nature writing, including its diversity of subject matter and literary style. To begin to learn to read the natural world as text. What is the relationship between human beings and non-human nature? How does the observation of nature assist us in understanding our journeys as individuals? In what sense is the experience of nature an experience of transformation? Format: Class discussion, group work, Q&A with guests, field trips (out-of-town trip will be optional) Evaluation: Writing notebook, short paper, two major papers, one group project, class participation, final exam.

Professional Writing

• Letters of Introduction

• Letters of Application

• Resumés

• Proposals

• Brochures

• Executive Summaries

• Powerpoint Presentations

English 3304 adapts the principles of expository writing for use in the workplace. The course teaches students in non-technical fields to write documents commonly used in professional settings. Computer technology is included.

“Cloudy, slimy sentences are the first
sign of bad government; plain English
is always the democrat’s best defence.”
- Andrew Marr, former political editor
of the BBC

First Year English-Second Semester

English 1320 teaches critical reading and writing skills beyond those taught in English 1310. Students practice these skills by studying various expository texts and writing essays on topics suggested by those texts. They also are asked to incorporate summary, paraphrase, and quotation into their writing, and to use a standard form of documentation.