Professor: Gretchen Legler
Institution: University of Alaska (currently at University of Maine, Farmington)
Course Number: English 671
SPRING 1995
TUESDAYS 5:30-8:15 P.M. CLASSROOM: CA8 392
INSTRUCTOR: Gretchen Legler OFFICE: 208G Building K
PHONE: 786-4384 (Office and Voice Mail)
OFFICE HOURS: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. and by
appointment
REQUIRED MATERIALS:
All required materials should be available at the University of Alaska Anchorage Bookstore
The Norton Book of Nature Writing (Finch & Elder, Norton, 1990)
White Silk and Black Tar (Spencer, Bergamont Books, 1990)
Alaska Quarterly Review: Alaska Native Writers (Vol. 4, No. 3 & 4)
Mississippi Solo (Harris, Harper & Row)
Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place (Williams)
Photocopied handouts/readings
COURSE DESCRIPTION AND GOALS:
This class focuses on the poetics and politics of nature writing. Students will read widely to gain an historical perspective on this nonfiction tradition/genre. Students will ask fundamental questions about the nature of the genre itself and the way nature has been portrayed or constructed by and in l9th and 20th century writing. In addition to reading and discussion of the politics and history of nature writing, students will read deeply and closely to study the style and technique of various nature writers.
YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES AS A MEMBER OF THIS CLASS:
1. Attend class regularly: Because this class is a writing workshop/literature class your presence is essential. Group discussion, not lecture, will be the primary means of learning.
2. Keep up with assigned reading.
3. Complete an “academic” and/or a “creative” project: These terms may be misleading. What I mean is, complete a project which is primarily scholarly and research-based, rather than writerly. Such projects might include analysis of one specific writer, compilation of an annotated bibliography focused on a certain author or subject matter or style or technique, analysis of a particular issue, a review/analysis of texts not included in the syllabus, etc. The “creative” or writerly project should be a non-fiction manuscript of original “nature writing.” Plan on about 30 pages total. If you choose to do both projects, plan on about 15 pages each.
4. Keep a nature writer’s notebook: I’ll ask you to turn in selected pages from your nature writer’s notebook several times during the quarter. This is a place to muse/fuss/philosophize about readings and a place to keep track of what is happening in the nature/landscape/space around you. This will be a crucial part of your learning process in this class. Take the notebook seriously.
5. Meet with me for a conference: Some time during the semester please make an appointment to see me in my office (or over coffee) so that we can talk about your work.
6. Lead class discussion one week: Please choose a week to lead class discussion about that week’s reading. You may group yourselves however you wish. You may want to lead discussion alone, in groups of two, or in larger groups. Just as long as all the weeks get covered. Remember, our focus will be on reading AS WRITERS as well as SCHOLARS.
GRADING: Grades are earned, not given. Your grade will be based on timely
completion of the assignments detailed above, the quality/engagement of your writing and thinking, and on your participation in class discussion.
ACADEMIC CONDUCT: University of Alaska policy on student rights, conduct
and academic dishonesty applies and will be upheld in this classroom. Please familiarize yourself with this policy, which is outlined in the University of Alaska Course Catalogue.
COURSE SCHEDULE: (subject to revision)
January 17: Introduction to the course and each other. Syllabus review.
January 24: Reading: Please read the Introduction to the Norton anthology and selections by: Gilbert White, William Bartram, Dorothy Wordsworth, Samuel Coleridge, John James Audubon and George Catlin. Please also read any related handouts.
Discussion Led By:
January 31: Reading: Please read these selections from the Norton anthology: Charles Darwin, Alfred Russel Wallace, John Wesley Powell, Walt Whitman, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Please also read any related handouts.
Discussion Led By:
February 7: Reading: Please read these selections from the Norton anthology: John Burroughs, John Muir, W.H. Hudson, Isak Dinesen, Henry Beston, Aldo Leopold. Please also read any related handouts.
Discussion Led By:
February 14: JOURNALS DUE (10 PAGES)
Reading: Please read the following selections from the Norton anthology: Joseph Wood Krutch, Rachel Carson, Ann Zwinger, Meridel LeSueur, Loren
Eiseley, Edward Abbey. Please also read any related handouts.
Discussion Led By:
February 21: Reading: Please read the following selections from the Norton anthology and any related handouts: E.O. Wilson, Edward Hoagland, Sue Hubbell, N. Scott Momaday, Barry Lopez, Annie Dillard.
Discussion Led By:
February 28: Reading: White Silk and Black Tar / Related Handouts
Discussion Led By:
March 7: Reading: Refuge; Ursula LeGuin, “A Very Warm Mountain” (Norton); brief selection from Susan Griffin, Woman and Nature; and other related readings.
Discussion Led By:
March 14: NO CLASS/SPRING BREAK
March 21: JOURNALS DUE (10 PAGES)
Reading: Mississippi Solo; bell hooks, “Touching the Earth” (handout); Evelyn White, “Black Women and Wilderness” (handout); and other related readings.
Discussion Led By:
March 28: DRAFTS OF PROJECTS DUE TO GROUPS AND INSTRUCTOR
Reading: AQR Alaska Native Writers; Leslie Silko, “Landscape, History and the Pueblo Imagination” (Norton); Gary Paul Nabhan, “The Desert Smells Like Rain” (Norton); Jane Tompkins, “Indians, Textualism, Morality, and the Problem of History,” (Handout).
Discussion Led By:
April 4: PROJECT WORKSHOPS (Meet with your groups in or out of class)
April 11: PROJECT PRESENTATIONS
April 18: PROJECT PRESENTATIONS
April 25: JOURNALS DUE (10 PAGES), PROJECT PRESENTATIONS
May 2: PROJECT PRESENTATIONS
Copyright © 1996. This document may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form, without written permission from its author(s). This document has been edited for electronic publication and does not appear in its original form.
