Special Topics: Ecolit-- Reading and Writing the Landscape
 Course: ENGL 513
When: 8:30-11:10am
Where: TBA
Instructor: Steven Marx
Phone: 805-756-2411
Email: smarx@calpoly.edu
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Course
Description:
This course balances reading and writing,
talking and walking, art and nature. Subject matter includes:
Traditions and conventions of environmental literature.
Geography and ecology of Cal Poly's ten thousand acres of rural and open
space land.
Ways of combining scientific observation with rhetorical skills, personal
reflection, ethical purpose, and creative imagination.
A good number of classes will be held outdoors, but all of these will
be within the class hours. Students should bring hiking shoes, daypacks, sunscreen
and water bottles.
For a detailed course schedule, visit: http://cla.calpoly.edu/~smarx/courses/513/513syl.html
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Readings:
The
Norton Book of Nature Writing, edited by Robert Finch and John
Elder (New York, 1990)
- A large collection of small readings for group discussion-- about 10-20 pages per
class.
The
Sierra Club Nature Writing Handbook by John A. Murray (San Francisco, 1995)
-A "how to" book which exemplifies the advice it provides to people who
want to publish work in this genre. This book is now out of print but should be
available soon after January 1, 2001, according to the publisher.
A
Natural History of California by Allan A. Schoenherr (Berkeley, 1992)
- A well-written, comprehensive handbook, containing enough science to let you read the
local landscape.
Spirit of the Valley-- An
Ecological Mythology of an Oak Savannah by [Victoria] Baxter Troutman (Santa
Margarita, 1998)
- A locally produced book about the local environment integrating biological research with
Native American lore, world mythology, county history, personal reflection, and fine
drawings.
One complete work by a canonical nature writer, selected
from this list and serving as subject for critical research paper.
-H.D. Thoreau, Walden
-Susan Fenimore Cooper, Rural
Hours
-John Muir, My
First Summer in the Sierras
-Mary Austin, The
Land of Little Rain
-Aldo Leopold, A
Sand County Almanac
-Rachel Carson, The
Edge of the Sea
-Terry Tempest Williams, Coyote's
Canyon
-Gary Snyder, Mountains
and Rivers without End
-Gretel Ehrlich, The
Solace of Open Spaces
-Barry Lopez, Arctic
Dreams
-Diane Ackerman, The
Rarest of the Rare
-John McPhee, Assembling
California
-Wallace Stegner, All
the Little Live Things
-Wendell Berry, Selected
Poems of Wendell Berry
Selected ecocritical essays to be provided by the
instructor in an anthology or online after course enrollment is complete.
The Cal Poly
Land Web site.
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Writings:
Daily journal, serving as basis for the personal essay.
Critical presentation of one anthology reading to class
(20%).
Critical study of one complete ecoliterary work-- 10-12
pages (40%).
Personal Essay-- 10-12 pages (40%) to include:
-Description of subject and spot
-Explanation of natural history
-Exploration of ethical issue
-Presence of writer's persona
-Narrative structure
-References and allusions to ecoliterary tradition
-OPTION: A Web site with pictures, sounds, or movies that includes the personal
essay, possibly a contribution to the Cal Poly Lan Web site.
This essay due in final draft, postmarked no later than
8/10/2001.
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