ENGL 1622, Advanced Standing Seminar, Winter 2002

Wild Land, Noble Savages, and Kissing Bees:

The Representation of Nature in American Literature

Section 6, Tues/Thurs 3:00 – 4:30, SH 410

Instructor Ms. Ansari 

 Purpose: 

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said that to know ourselves requires a study of nature. This course will examine the representation of nature and its relationship to humans in American literature. It will address questions such as: How is nature a means to a spiritual understanding of ourselves? How does it give us a glimpse of our primal self? Is nature static and unchanging, or is it dynamic and changeable? Is it hostile or benign? What is nature? And how do we stand in relation to it? In this course, we will study representative literary works of the 19^th and 20^th century, and thereby discover the historic shifts in the meaning of the word “nature”. In addition to our study of autobiography-cum-travelogues, novels, and short stories, we will view excerpts from a couple of nature films such as The Scent of Green Papaya and A River Runs Through It.

 Required Texts: 

1. Thoreau, Henry David. Walden (Journal-cum-autobiography)

2. Melville, Herman. Typee: A Peep At Polynesian Life         (Romance-cum-autobiography)

3. Cather, Willa. O Pioneers! (Novel)

4. Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God (Novel)

5. Stegner, Wallace. Collected Short Stories of Wallace Stegner                                               

 You will also be required to read a few essays/articles that give greater depth to the texts listed above.

 Requirements: 

1) Essay Assignments: You are required to write two 5-page essays and a 10-page research paper. All paper assignments will be explained clearly in class – in discussion and written form. 

·        Format for Assignments: All essays prepared out of class should be written on a computer or your laptop. Please proofread your essay carefully after it is typed and make any necessary corrections. Essays should be formatted using a standard twelve-point font such as Times New Roman. Leave 1 inch margins on the top, bottom and right borders of your text and 1.5 inch margin on the left. Double space your papers.

·        Folder for Assignments: All essays must be submitted in a folder with pockets and with your name on it. Keep your graded essays in the folder and turn the accumulated essays in each time an assignment is due. 

·        Late Assignments: An essay’s grade will drop by one-third for the first, second and third day it is late. (An A, for example, will drop to an A- after one day.) After the third day, it will no longer be accepted. 

·        Plagiarism: If you use another writer’s words and/or ideas in your paper, acknowledge  it and cite the source in your paper. If you commit plagiarism, you will fail the paper on the first offense and you will fail the course on the second offense. Please read the Guide for more details. 

2) Reader Responses: To encourage you to think critically about the material you will be reading, I will ask you to write a one-page informal response to a reading assignment.

3) Attendance: Regular attendance is mandatory. If you miss more than three classes, your grade will be lowered by one full letter grade. (see Guide, p. 57)

4) Conferences: You must schedule at least one conference with me during the quarter. A conference is for the purpose of discussing your writing with me in more detail than class time permits. Besides seeing me at the conference, the more often you visit me during my office hours, the more I will be able to help you individually with your paper assignments. 

Assignments and Grading:

Schedule of Readings, Assignments and Activities: