Nature in Literature: Schedule

We will try to stick to this plan as closely as possible, but we may get ahead or fall behind. If either situation arises, expect in-class and online announcements of schedule revisions. Develop habits, therefore, of bringing your copy of the syllabus to each class meeting and of checking this page.

Page references refer to Literature and the Environment, unless otherwise indicated.

Schedule

• August 28

  Introductions, goals, and interests.

  Office hours will be at the coffee shop in Beck’s.

  Reading

  • Genesis 1–3
  • “Cædmon’s Hymn”

• August 30

  Reading

  • Pearl, I–VII
  • “Pearl and Middle English”

• September 4

  Reading

  • Pearl, VIII–XV

• September 6

  Reading

  • “Pearl, XVI–XX”
  • ‘William Blake, “London”’

• September 11

  Reading

  • William Blake, “The Lamb” & “The Tyger”
  • Barbara Kingsolver, “The Memory Place” (199–205)
  • Robert Frost, “A Brook in the City” (422–424)

• September 13

  Reading

  • Ellen Meloy, “The Flora and Fauna of Las Vegas” (240–249)
  • William Wordsworth, “The World Is Too Much with Us” (355–356)

• September 18

  Class is canceled today.

  I’ll be traveling; please use the extra time to brainstorm your essay.

• September 20

  Reading

  • Jack London, “To Build a Fire” (31–41)
  • Galway Kinnell, “Blackberry Eating”
  • Poems by Christopher Marlowe & Walter Raleigh
  • Allen Ginsberg, “A Supermarket in California” (380–381)

• September 25

  Reading

  • Piers the Ploughman, prologue & passus V–VI

• September 27

  Reading

  • Piers the Ploughman, passus XVI–XVIII

• October 2

  Class is cancelled today.

  The midterm exam is on Thursday, October 4.

• October 4

  Midterm Exam! — 8:30 a.m to 9:45 a.m., in the usual classroom.

• October 9

  No class: mid-semester break

• October 11

  Reading

  • Piers Plowman, passus XVI–XX

• October 16

  Essay proposal & annotated bibliography due!

  Reading

  • Mary Oliver, “The Honey Tree” (3–4)
  • Wendell Berry, “A Good Scythe” (389–392)

• October 18

  Reading

  • Meridel LeSueur, “Harvest” (381–389)
  • Wendell Berry, “Stay Home” (222–223)

• October 23

  Reading

  • “The Wife’s Lament”
  • Margaret Walker, “Sorrow Home” (321–322)
  • Benjamin Alire Sáenz, “Exile. El Paso, Texas” (309–316)

• October 25

  Reading

  • Jamaica Kincaid, “Alien Soil” (327–332)

• October 30

  Reading

  • James Dickey, “A Dog Sleeping on My Feet” (115–117)
  • Wintu Tribe, “The Willingness of a Deer to Die” (117–119)
  • Joyce Carol Oates, “The Buck” (130–140)

• November 1

  We’ll begin with Griffin’s prose-poem, which should set things up for SGGK quite nicely.

  Office hours will be 10:45 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., in Cudahy Library. (I’ll be working on some of my own research, but please feel free to find me. I’ll be in the big study room with the high ceiling or meeting with another student by the vending machines.)

  Reading

  • Susan Griffin, “The Hunt” (146–148)
  • Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, fitt I

• November 6

  Reading

  • Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, fitt II

• November 8

  Reading

  • Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, fitts III–IV

• November 13

  Reading

  • Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, fitt IV

• November 15

  Reading

  • William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Acts 1–3
  • J. Guillimeau, “From Childbirth, or the Happy Delivery of Women” (in our edition of Macbeth, pages 366–368)

• November 20

  Reading

  • Shakespeare, Macbeth, Acts 4–5
  • William Harrison, “From The Description of Scotland” (in our edition of Macbeth, pages 280–286)
  • Fynes Moryson, “From An Itinerary” (in our edition of Macbeth, pages 290–292)

• November 22

  No class: Thanksgiving break

• November 27

  Essay draft due!

• November 29

  Reading

  • John Updike, “The Crow in the Woods” (68–70)
  • Dan O’Brien, “Eminent Domain: A Love Story” (332–338)
  • Louise Erdrich, “Line of Credit” (404–413)

• December 4

  Reading

  • Langston Hughes, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” (168–169)
  • bell hooks, “Touching the Earth” (169–173)

• December 6

  • Reading discussion
  • Essay drafts returned
  • Exam review
  • Course evaluations

  Reading

  • Pam Houston, “A Blizzard Under Blue Sky” (184–188)
  • Wallace Stevens, “The Snow Man” (188-189)
  • James Wright, “A Blessing” (65–66)

• December 15

  Final Exam! — 9:00 a.m to 11:00 a.m., in the usual classroom.