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American Environmental Literature (Huss)
(fulfills one term of the three term American Literature requirement for the Junior or Senior years)
SPRING 2020
WEEK 1: April 6-10: Finish Salmon Outline / Start reading Farley Mowat’s Never Cry Wolf (e-book)
Homework due April 8: READ PAGES 9-35
Homework due April 10:
READ PAGES 36-57
Exercises in The Vocabulary Builder Workbook.
WEEK 2: April 13-17: Read Farley Mowat’s Never Cry Wolf and Two Pro Wolf and Two Anti
Wolf Articles
Homework due April 15: READ PAGES 58-98
TWO PRO WOLF ARTICLES
Homework due April 17: READ PAGES 99-118
TWO ANTI WOLF ARTICLES
Exercises in The Vocabulary Builder Workbook.
WEEK 3: April 20-24 Never Cry Wolf and Two Pro Wolf and Two Anti Wolf Articles
Pages on Wolf Depredation in This Land.
Homework due April 22: READ PAGES 119-152
TWO PRO WOLF ARTICLES
Homework due April 24: THIS LAND PAGES 161-179
TWO ANTI WOLF ARTICLES
Exercises in The Vocabulary Builder Workbook.
WEEK 4: April 27-May 1: Student Google Presentations on Wolf Depredation Act
WEEK 5: May 4-8: Read Christopher Ketcham’s This Land and three articles from the
Wilderness Policy: WhiteCloud Wild v NREPA Page
Exercises in The Vocabulary Builder Workbook.
WEEK 6: April 11-15: Read Christopher Ketcham’s This Land and Bears Ears National
Monument Articles
Exercises in The Vocabulary Builder Workbook.
WEEK 7: May 18-22: This Land and final chapters titled “Resistance” and Student 800 words or
fewer on one topic: WhiteCloud Wild v NREPA Page or Bears Ears
National Monument
MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS:
1 Salmon Recovery Outline (by April 10)
2 Google Slide Presentation on Wolf Depredation Act (by May 1)
3 Editorial (800 words or fewer) on WhiteCloud Wilderness v NREPA Page or Bears Ears
National Monument (by May 22)
HONORS:
#1 DUE WEDNESDAY APRIL 14: Study Hall: 10-11am
-On a Google Doc, complete AP Language and Comp Essay* # 2 (pages 30-31) Activity Period
-To prepare, read pages 113-129 in the 2019 AP Language and Composition Book.
#2 DUE WEDNESDAY APRIL 29 ACTIVITY PERIOD:
-On a Google Doc, complete the AP Literature Essay* #1 (page 258): read pages 220-227 to prepare to write the "Prose Passage Essay" in the 2019 AP Literature and Composition Book.
*The AP Board has indicated that they will offer a modified 45 minute exam in both AP English Language and AP English Literature. Click here for details of this new format.
In this course we will read, discuss, and write about the evolution of environmental thought in the United States from its origins in Ralph Waldo Emerson’s and Henry David Thoreau’s essays to the first environmental controversy at Yosemite National Park in 1910 in the writings of John Muir and Gifford Pinchot to its current state in the nature writings of Aldo Leopold, John McPhee, Annie Dillard, Edward Abbey, Nate Blakeslee, Gary Snyder and Wendell Berry. Students will keep an online Google Doc reading journal of quotations and personal responses that will find expression in papers. We will approach the study of nature writing from three different perspectives:
1) How do the place and the writer's perspective of this place influence his or her view of nature?
2) How does the author write about nature to understand the human condition, nature itself, and human relationships with nature?
3) How does this writer advance the argument for wilderness preservation, intact ecosystems, species recovery and a sustainable relationship with nature?
There will be student presentations and seminar discussions on many environmental issues. Students will also choose to write "theory of action" persuasive arguments for some of the issues below:
1 DAMS AND IDAHO SOCKEYE SALMON: Persuasive Editorial Paper on Idaho Sockeye Salmon Recovery and the Four Lower Snake River Dam Removal Proposal
2 IDAHO WOLVES: Video Narration of Slides on Idaho Wolf Control Act: proposes to eliminate 75% of the Idaho Wolf Population
3 BOULDER WHITE CLOUD WILDERNESS AND NORTHERN ROCKIES ECOSYSTEM PROTECTION ACT
4 ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE v OIL PRODUCTION: Oral Presentation on students can explore the effect of oil production in the arctic upon the largest intact caribou herd in the world
5 BEARS EARS NATIONAL MONUMENT REDUCTION IN SIZE FOR OIL DEVELOPMENT AND GRAZING
The Portable Thoreau, Henry Thoreau, ISBN-13: 978-0143106500
Desert Solitaire, Ed Abbey, ISBN-13: 978-0671695880
Encounters with the Archdruid, John McPhee, ISBN-13: 978-0374514310
American Wolf, Nate Blakeslee
The Practice of the Wild, Gary Snyder ISBN 10: 1 59376 016 7
I will supply an American Environmental Literature Reader that contains supplemental readings.
Classroom expectations:
1 Please avoid being absent and / or late. Lateness or absences will be reflected through the class participation grade.
2 Please bring your texts to class. (Loss of a homework grade each day you forget your text).
3 No cell phones
4 No food will be allowed in class.
5 Late work loses a letter grade each day.
6 Annotate in the margins of your texts while reading and in class
Additional Reading: If you read another environmental text or any other text and complete a quiz and earn an 80% or higher, I will add 50 quiz points to your term average.
Honors:
HONORS OPTIONS:
Honors students must maintain a B+ or above term average in the course, be a discussion leader, and turn in consistently high quality work.
OPTION 1: Consult with Phil about researching and writing a persuasive paper on another environmental controversy of your choosing: see the NRDC web site.
OPTION 2: Use the English Honors Prep Guide and study and complete one practice test at least three areas of testing:
-AP Literature and Composition Test,
- AP Language and Composition Test,
-SAT Literature Test,
-ACT English Test,
-SAT Critical Reading and Writing Tests.
Course Requirements: Students' grades will be determined by papers, quizzes, contributions to class discussion, and Google Doc Reading Journal. Three paper assignments will be completed:
-a found poem analysis of Emerson and Thoreau,
- a persuasive "theory of action" paper on an environmental issue: Salmon Recovery in Idaho
- a persuasive online narration editorial on an environmental issue: Wolf Depredation
-oral presentation on Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Wilderness Proposal or Bears Ears Reduction
There will also be opportunities for creative non-fiction nature writing. Several quizzes will ask students to analyze passages from the texts we are discussing.
Daily reader response journals and concept definitions will be checked randomly when you least expect it!
Summer American Environmental Literature (Huss)
(fulfills one term of the three term American Literature requirement
for the Junior or Senior years)
In this course we will read, discuss, and write about the evolution of environmental thought in the United States from its origins in the first environmental controversy at Yosemite National Park in 1910 in the writings of John Muir and Gifford Pinchot to its current state in the nature writings of John McPhee, Farley Mowat, and Gary Snyder. Students will read and annotate three texts in the summer term and use concepts from these texts to approach three environmental issues. We will approach the study of nature writing from three different perspectives:
1) How do the place and the writer's perspective of this place influence his or her view of nature?
2) How does the author write about nature to understand the human condition, nature itself, and human relationships with nature?
3) How does this writer advance the argument for wilderness preservation, intact ecosystems, species recovery and a sustainable relationship with nature?
There will be in class debates on three environmental issues:
1 FOUR LOWER SNAKE RIVER DAMS AND IDAHO SOCKEYE SALMON
2 IDAHO WOLF CONTROL ACT
3 WHITE CLOUD WILDERNESS v. NORTHERN ROCKIES ECOSYSTEM PROTECTION ACT
Students will also choose to write "theory of action" persuasive arguments for some of the issues below:
Students will choose to research and write a "theory of action" persuasive argument for one of these issues above.
TEXTS: (provided by instructor)
Encounters with the Archdruid, John McPhee, ISBN-13: 978-0374514310
Never Cry Wolf, Farley Mowat ISBN-10: 0316881791
The Practice of the Wild, Gary Snyder ISBN 10: 1 59376 016 7
Classroom expectations:
1 Please avoid being absent and / or late. Lateness will be reflected through the class participation grade. One absence may result in an incomplete for the course.
2 Please bring your texts to class. (Loss of a homework grade each day you forget your text).
3 No cell phones
4 No food will be allowed in class.
5 Late work loses a letter grade each day.
6 Annotate in the margins of your texts while reading and in class
Additional Reading: If you read another environmental text or any other text and complete a quiz and earn an 80% or higher, I will add 50 quiz points to your term average.
Honors:
HONORS OPTIONS:
Honors students must maintain a B+ or above term average in the course, be a discussion leader, and turn in consistently high-quality work.
OPTION 1: Consult with Phil about researching and writing a persuasive paper on another environmental controversy of your choosing:
1 ANWR v Arctic Wilderness
2 Bears Ears National Monument and Escalante National Monuments decreased in size.
- see the NRDC web site.
Course Requirements: Students' grades will be determined by one paper, quizzes, contributions to class discussion, in class Google Doc questions, and in-class debates.
THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS: ....
READING AND WRITING ASSIGNMENTS:
August 29 (Mon): Introduce the two wilderness bills: CIEDRA and NREPA. Discuss
the three themes of the assertion of the self, the annihilation of the self, and the machine in
the garden. Set reading and writing goals for each “in class” session. Read from and discuss
Wendell Berry’s “An Entrance to the Woods” and Ralph Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” and
September 6 (Tues): Thur (10-12 in class):
Readings due:
1. Read Ralph Emerson’s “Nature” and “Self Reliance” and poems “Each and
All” (631)and “The Rhodora” (639)
2. Read Henry Thoreau’s Walden chapters “Where I Lived and What I Lived For,
3. Read Wendell Berry’s “An Unforeseen Wilderness”
June 28 Tues (10-12 in class):
Readings due:
1. Read Henry Thoreau’s Walden chapters “Solitude, Spring and Conclusion”
-We will read and discuss Thoreau’s “Ktaadn” in class.
2. Read John Muir’s “Hetch Hetchy Valley” and “Wind-Storm in the Forest” and
Gifford Pinchot’s “The Fight for Conservation.”
-Watch film “Battle for Wilderness”
June 30 Thur (10-12 in class):
Writing Due: Found Poem Analysis on Emerson and Thoreau
Readings due:
1. Read Edward Abbey’s Desert Solitaire (1-92, 129-220, 245-303).
2. Read “The River” from John McPhee’s Encounters with the Archdruid
-Watch part of the film Cadillac Desert in class.
July 5 Tues (10-12 in class):
Writing Due: Persuasive Paper on the Haluapi Dam Proposal near Grand Canyon
National Park
1. Read Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac (137-295)
2. Read Gary Snyder’s The Practice of the Wild “The Etiquette of Freedom,” “The
Place the Regions, and the Commons,” and “Tawny Grammar”
July 7 Thur (10-12 in class):
Readings due:
1 Read Gary Snyder’s The Practice of the Wild “Good, Wild, Sacred,” “Blue Mountains
Constantly Walking,” “Survival and Sacrament.”
2. Read the handouts on and prepare for a debate on the CENTRAL IDAHO
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND RECREATION ACT (C.I.E.D.R.A.)
v NORTHERN ROCKIES ECOSYSTEM PROTECTION ACT (N.R.E.P.A.)
Writing Due August 8th: Creative Nonfiction and Persuasive Paper Due on CIEDRA v NREPA.
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