Reading & Composition

How do we define “nature”? While some might assign the status of nature to the non-human and the non-man-made (animals, plants, etc.), a problem emerges when we consider that humans, too, are animals (mammals). Would not genetic clones, indistinguishable from their originals, also complicate this perspective? Problems emerge as well when we attempt to use the notions of civilization and its opposite, the “uncivilized,” to demarcate a realm of nature: for how would we account then for animal and plant species with more sophisticated ways of being than our own, while taking into account the moments of senseless violence and destruction caused by humans
across history? In an essay titled Nature, Ralph Waldo Emerson defines nature in its “common sense” as “essences unchanged by man; space, the air, the river, the leaf”; from a philosophical perspective, however, Emerson also describes Nature as everything that is not the Soul, “all which Philosophy distinguishes as the NOT ME.” The term “nature” clearly has some ambiguities in meaning.

In this class we will discuss the concept of “nature” and its problematic status, both as an object of representation and in how we conceive of our relationship to the environment. We will engage with various kinds of literary works, paying close attention to the ways in which they make “nature” and ecological relations intelligible for us through their form and language. We will then ask to what extent “nature” remains a useful term for conceptually organizing our relationship to other living beings and the environment. What kind of perception does having an ecologically conscious mind call for, and how might the kind of attention required in the study of poetry or a long novel be similar or different? Further lines of inquiry will include the relationship between “nature” and culture; the status of sensorial perception in calling awareness to environmental problems; issues concerning the movement between local and global awareness; literary tourism and the depiction of rural workers; the ways in which human powers are portrayed relative to the world; the role of the imagination in writing about place and community. Readings may draw from the works of Thoreau, Hugo, William Wordsworth, Dorothy Wordsworth, Marvell, Clare, Rousseau, Dickinson, Neruda, and Kincaid, in addition to the films Blade Runner and Take Shelter.

This course is designed to help students develop critical thinking, writing, and oral expression skills that are applicable beyond the domain of literary studies. Students will learn how to develop interesting analytical arguments by refining their ideas through the drafting and revision of three essays. Short writing assignments will also be required in order to help facilitate thinking about the course’s material. Since this is a discussion-based course, a strong emphasis will be placed on active student participation in class.