English 380--Description and Schedule

ECOLIT: Reading and Writing the Landscape

English 380-70/HNRS X380-70

Where is the literature which gives expression to Nature? He would be a poet who could impress the winds and streams into his service, to speak for him ...whose words were so true, and fresh, and natural that they would appear to expand like the buds at the approach of spring, though they lay half smothered between two musty leaves in a library... . (Henry David Thoreau)

Room: 14-253

Instructor: Steven Marx

phone: 756-2411

smarx@calpoly.edu

http://cla.calpoly.edu/~smarx

Office: 47-25E (Faculty Office Building)

Office hours: TR 2:10-4:00

Spring 2007 Schedule

Week	Date	Topic	Primary Texts [required and due; please print and bring to class]	Secondary Texts and other Resources [optional]	Writing [dates assigned and due]	Landscape	Natural History Topics
I	4/3	The Ancient Pastoral Tradition and its descendants Beatles, Canned Heat Snapshots from the end of the Road "Arcadia Redux"	Bible, Genesis 1 Song of Songs[pdf] Ovid, The golden Age[pdf] Cal Poly Land: A Field Guide, preface, introduction, Places, The Arts chapters	Instructor's Nature writing Introduction to Ecocriticism Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment[ASLE] Ecolit Journal 2001 Ecolit Journal 2003 Ecolit Journal 2004 OED--find any word	Get class email Start Ecolog sample journal entries		Cal Poly Land
	4/5	Hike Meet at mouth of Poly Canyon	Virgil, Georgics[pdf] Selection from the Book of Job	notes on Georgics		Poly Canyon and Poly Mountain	Read Cal Poly Land: A Field Guide, pp. iii-47
II	4/10	Renaissance Pastoral Invitation songs	Marlowe, "The Passionate Shepherd", Ralegh, "The Nymph's Reply" Shakespeare, Duke Senior's speech John Milton, The Creation, from Paradise Lost 7. 210-534 Andrew Marvell, "The Garden"[pdf]	"The Shepherd's Philosophy"	reading quiz
	4/12	Romanticism and Nature Beethoven Schubert, Die Schoene Muellerin Paintings by Constable and Bierstadt	Wordsworth , selected poems[pdf] Thoreau, "Walking" abridged[pdf] "Walking" highlighted	Explore Thoreau website and links, especially, "Walden Express"	Ecocrit Paper assigned
III	4/17	Thoreau at Walden Walden pilgrimage	Thoreau: Walden read "Economy" "Sounds"		signup for conference		Study of The Environmental Imagination by Laurence Buell
	4/19	Thoreau lecture notes	"Solitude," "The Ponds," "Spring" Cal Poly Land: "A Field Guide" 61-103 (Vegetation)	reading notes conference schedule	reading quiz	Class meets at Cal Poly Arboretum
IV	4/24	John Muir in the Sierras reading exercise	John Muir: The Mountains of California Chapter 1 [pdf] Chapter 2 [pdf] Chapter 10 [pdf] Chapter 13 [pdf]	Explore John Muir Exhibit website
	4/26	John Muir outdoors	Geology and Climate Chapters in Field Guide			Hike to Rockslide Ridge.	Geology
V	5/1	class cancelled because of illness
	5/3		Mary Austin, The Land of Little Rain GWR in class	lecture notes	First Draft of Final Essay assigned Ecocritical Essaydue		2007 sample journal entries
VI	5/8		Mary Austin, The Land of Little Rain	Austin exercise Ceriso numbered
	5/10	Berry in Kentucky	Wendell Berry Selected readings
VII	5/15	Berry Map of Farm Hike; Meet at Crops Unit at 4:10 p.m. pictures	Agriculture and Stewardship chapters in Field Guide
	5/17	Aldo Leopold	Sand County Almanac, "The Almanac," xvii-98; "The Land Ethic" 237-264	reading notes	reading quiz
VIII	5/22	Aldo Leopold			Personal essay --first draft due
	5/24	Gary Snyder	poems by Gary Snyder			hike to Poly Mountain oak grove--wear shoes and long pants, bring water, readings, journal, meet in front of Cerro Vista Residence
IX	5/29	Mary Oliver	poems by Mary Oliver
	5/31	Mary Oliver				excursion to Cheda Ranch meet at parking area under the railroad trestle at Stenner Creek Road
X	6/5	Andy Goldsworthy,Rivers and Tides	Film and Discussion		Journal submission 2 due
	6/7	Conclusion Meet at Instructor's house: 265 Albert Drive Exam Prep	Excerpts from The Wild Braid by Stanley Kunitz		Personal essay --final draft due	Sample Ecolit Essays
Final Exam	6/14 7:10 p.m.

General

This is a course about nature writing or ecoliterature, an ancient literary genre that has achieved new prominence among critics, teachers, writers and readers. The course balances humanities and science, art and nature, reading and writing, talking and walking.

Subject matter includes great works of environmental literature and their traditions, the geography and ecology of Cal Poly's ten thousand acres, and practical methods of observation and expression.

Readings

Texts include primary and secondary works of Ecoliterature as well as sections of the Cal Poly Land Website on the natural history of this place. Required texts include: 1) Cal Poly Land: A Field Guide (available only at El Corral Bookstore) 2)Thoreau Walden, 3)Mary Austin, The Land of Little Rain, 4)Aldo Leopold, Sand County Almanac (the last three available at Aida's), and several texts to be downloaded and printed from this website and kept in a binder.

Helpful suggestions for reading large documents online

Workload and Grading

Writing assignments include weblogs, including copy and imitation of a primary text, a critical analysis of nature writing and one personal ecoliterary essay.

Assignment	percent of grade	# words
Journal [at least two entries per week, weeks II-IX]	25	2400
Reading quizzes	15	250
Ecocritical essay	15	750
Personal essay: final draft	25	1250
Final Exam	20	500

Graduate Writing Requirement (GWR)

This class can fulfill the GWR. To be certified you must pass the course with a C or better and you must demonstrate the ability to write a coherent and clearly organized essay of about 500 words in about 60 minutes on an unannounced topic under supervised conditions. An essay question provided during the second hour of the February 8 class and the essay question on the final exam will serve to fulfill this requirement.

Rules

Late papers are penalized one full grade for each class session's delay unless a postponement is granted by the instructor in advance.
Attendance is not optional. Each unexcused absence beyond two lowers the grade by one half letter; seven or more unexcused absences result in no credit. Three unexcused latenesses count for one absence. Certified medical absences or job interviews are not counted in these totals and are the only reason for makeups .
Deliberate plagiarism or other forms of cheating result in a failing grade and referral to the dean. Students are responsible for understanding the definition of plagiarism. Please consult the instructor if this linked page on the subject doesn't make it clear to you.