Nature/Nexus 2009-2010
English 456 / Mr. Paul Totah
THE PROGRAM: Nature/Nexus is a one-semester course that explores connections in English, religion & ecology that we discover through the study and experience of nature. We study nature because we are curious about it, and that leads both to a creative response (literature and art) and a spiritual response (prayer and a feeling of connectedness to the divine).
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Students will experience nature first-hand through weekly field trips, read texts that examine the literary quest for meaning through nature, and begin (or continue) their own quests for meaning through their own writing. Students will also explore the sources for ecological living within the traditions of the world’s religions. In addition, 456 has a demanding praxis component; we put theory into practice as we learn how best to care for the earth. Thus, in addition to reading novels and poems, students will write poetry, short stories and essays and keep a journal based on their own experience of nature and their reflections based on those experiences.
Course Objectives: By the end of the course, the student will be able to
• see how the three disciplines of ecology, literature and religious studies are inspired by and related to each other through the study of nature;
• write of that relationship in essays, short stories and poetry;
• learn critical skills such as scientific observation and inductive and deductive logic and how to apply those skills to the creative process and to the student's own spiritual life; and
• appreciate the complex wonder of the natural world, draw creative inspiration from this appreciation, feel a sense of connectedness to God through nature (to find God in all things), and engender a sense of stewardship — of responsibility — as caretakers of the natural world.
STRUCTURE: The course is divided into the following units: Foundations, Dystopia; Sense of Place, Consumerism, Food, Water and Heroes & Alternatives. Central to the entire course is the notion of stewardship, which will come into play both in terms of academic work and volunteer efforts.
REQUIRED TEXTS: The Nature/Nexus Reader, Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, and Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver (summer reading).
REQUIRED MATERIALS: You will also be required to bring to every class a binder (to hold the reader), a notebook in which you can copy the day's assignments and keep your class notes and hand-outs, and something with which to write. Also, you must bring your field notebook on each field trip to take field notes and write first drafts of essays and poems. In effect, the field notebook will serve as a writing journal. Be prepared to turn this in for review. This is an essential part of the course and is a graded assignment.
Homework: All written assignments must be typed on letter-sized standard paper, double-spaced, and in accordance with the English Department style sheet. Expect to write at least one 1–2-page work every week — either a brief essay, story or collection of poems. You may revise any or all creative papers if you choose. We encourage you to rewrite and resubmit your creative essays not so much because your grade will dramatically improve (which it will), but because it is the best way to improve your writing. A majority of homework time will consist of reading in preparation for writing and class discussion.
Late Papers and Make-up Tests: Late papers will not be accepted. If you are absent, you must submit your essay by the second day after your return to school. Tests and quizzes missed because of absence must be made up within one week after your return to class. Making up assignments missed within the allotted time is your responsibility. One-day extensions may be granted twice each semester if the student requests the extension at least 24 hours prior to the assignment due date.
Office Hours: M, W–F, 5th period & 2:30-4 p.m. in room 200 in the Jesuit Residence or by appointment.
Fall semester Grade:
Class Participation 15% A+ = 100%–96.8%, A = 96.7%–92.8%, A- = 92.7%–89.8%,
Writing 40% B+ = 89.7%-86.8%, B = 86.7%–82.8%, B- = 82.7%–79.8%,
Field Notebook 10% C+ = 79.7%-76.8%, C = 76.7%–72.8%, C- = 72.7%–69.8%,
Reading Quizzes 25% D+ = 69.7%–67.8%, D = 67.7%–66.8%, D- = 66.7%–64.8%,
Semester Exam 10% F = 64.7% and less.
Class Participation: You will be graded on both class and field trip participation, including the quality of your discussion, note taking and questioning.
Writing: Each week you will be responsible for a short written work alternating between critical and creative writing. The creative piece may include a brief essay, a work of micro-fiction (a very brief short story), one long poem or several short poems. You may rewrite any or all of these works as often as you wish.
Creative Options
Essay: Just as the authors we will study observe the natural world, reflect on their own lives, and see connections, so, too, may you do the same. Feel free to write very personal subjective essays that deal primarily with your own life, objective essays that focus on the field trip site in general or on one plant or animal we studied, or essays that are both objective and subjective. For the first type, it is possible to write about your own self in the context of the natural world, as you will discover as you read the assigned authors. At any point during the semester, feel free to substitute any essay with your college essay.
Micro-fiction: You may also try your hand at short fiction that may or may not have a basis in actual events. With this kind of paper, keep in mind that it is less plot-driven (with the resolution of a conflict) than character-driven, where you seek to reveal character through the character's relationship with the setting.
Poetry: You will read enough nature poetry to offer you numerous models. As with the above, you need to root your writing in the specific language of nature. See the rules below for more help.
Critical Essays: You will be required from time to time to write critical essays responding to the class projects, readings and field trips. These are formal essays asking for introduction, body and conclusion with supporting evidence from various sources.
Field Notebook: At least once each quarter we will collect your field notebook and give it a grade. High-scoring notebooks will contain the following for each field trip: lists of native and non-native flora & fauna, lessons learned at each field site, sketches and rubbings, and pertinent lesson and vocabulary with definitions.
Reading Quizzes: The reading quizzes are designed to determine if you read and understood the work.
Stewardship Work: It’s not enough to talk about stewardship; our goal is to help you become stewards of the planet. Towards this end, you will work on an individual project for the first semester and a class project for the second semester.
Semester Exams: These are cumulative tests that ask you, in essay form, to discuss how the course has helped you grow and to document that growth with evidence from the readings, field trips, class projects and your own writing. These are open-book, open-note tests.
OUR HOPE
Our hope is that this course will lead you to a closer relationship with God through a better understanding of yourself and your place in the world. We also hope that you will work actively now and in the future to make our planet a healthier, holier place than it is today. In short, we hope that this course helps you to become saints and to save the world.
Towards that end, this course seeks to help you develop
- A sense of place — of where you live and what lives near you, from the microscopic to the macroscopic;
- A sense of interconnectedness — that you are tied to all living things and that your actions have far-reaching and immediate consequences;
- A sense of stewardship — that you need to change your behavior and encourage societal change that we might, quite literally, save the world.
HOMEWORK FOR THE SEMESTER
NOTE: You may submit one college essay in exchange for any one of the writing assignments
Week 1 (Aug 31-Sept.4)
Day 1 Summer Reading quiz & group work.
Day 2 Summer reading group work
Day 3 Summer reading group work
Day 4 Field Trip: Rodeo Beach
Week 2 (Sep 8-10)
FOUNDATIONS UNIT
Day 1 Essential Questions; Writing Workshop; Writing #1 due (Rodeo Beach)
Day 2 Intro to “Earth in Mind” David Orr
Day 3 “Earth in Mind” David Orr & Alternative Schools discussions
Week 3 (Sep 14-18)
Day 1 myfootprint.org; Writing #2 due (alternative schools) The Land Ethic (subchapters A,B,C
Day 2 (meeting day) “The Land Ethic” (subchapters D,E)
Day 3 “The Land Ethic” (subchapters F,G)
Day 4 FT: Glen Canyon Park
Week 4 (Sep 21-25)
DYSTOPIA UNIT
Day 1 Essential Question discussion & “A Deeper Shade of Green” by Bill McKibben; Writing #3 due (SB Mountain)
Day 2 (meeting day) “Needless Havoc” from Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
Day 3 “The Environmental Consequences of War” handout & video Hidden Wars of Desert Storm
Day 4 FT Heron’s Head & Hunter’s Point Shipyard
Week 5 (Sep 28-Oct 2)
SENSE OF PLACE UNIT
Day 1 Essential Questions; Ohlone Way: “Land and Animals,” & “Ohlone Village” & Neighborhood project discussion; Writing #4 due (dystopia)
Day 2 (meeting day): “Swamp Boy” by Rick Bass
Day 3 FT – 10:30-2:20 to San Bruno Mountain
Day 4 Assembling California p. 3-11, 285-302 & Geologic charts
Week 6 (Oct 5-9)
Day 1 Neighborhood presentations; writing #5 due (neighborhood paper)
CONSUMERISM UNIT
Day 2 (meeting day) Essential Questions; Born to Buy p 9-17 & 69-83 & PPT slides
Day 3 Born to Buy p 91-97, 141-143 & 172-175
Day 4 FT – Cathedral of Consumerism
Week 7 (Oct 12-13 Midterms)
Day 1 “Everything is about Animals”
Week 8 (Oct 19-23)
Day 1 No Class
Day 2 Watch Black Gold; Easy Essays by Peter Maurin Brower Youth Awards 7 p.m. at Herbst Theatre
Day 3 Finish Black Gold; Read Rubbish p 3-13 / explain Trash Survey
Day 4 FT – E-Waste recycling Plant
Week 9 (Oct 26-30)
FOOD UNIT
Day 1 Essential Questions; Fast Food Nation Intro, Chapter 1; Writing #6 (Trash)
Day 2 FFN 2 / Watch King Corn / discuss Nov. 2 homework –cook a meal for family
Day 3 FFN 3 / Watch King Corn
Day 4 FT – Serramonte Farmers Market; FFN 4 & 5
Week 10 (Nov. 2-6)
Day 1 FFN 6&7; Writing #7 (Supermarket reflection)
Day 2 FFN 8 / Watch Supersize Me
Day 3 FFN 9 / Watch Supersize Me
Day 4 FT – Alemany Farms; FFN 10 & Epilogue
Week 11 (Nov 9-13)
Day 1 The Oil We Eat; Writing #8 (recipe, meal reflection & prayer)
Day 2 Power Steer/Swine of the Times / Lunchtime FEAST OF NEXUS
WATER UNIT
Day 3 Plastic Gyre discussion
Day 4 FT – Ocean Beach cleanup
Week 12 (Nov 16-20)
Day 1 Essential Questions; A Dangerous Place 1-38; writing #9 due (water)
Day 2 (meeting day) A Dangerous Place 38-58 & Cadillac Desert
Day 3 Dam Nation & discussion of Glen Canyon Dam
Day 4 FT – Mountain Lake
Week 13 (Nov 23-24)
Day 1 Begin Hetch Hetchy Trial Preparation
Day 2 Hetch Hetchy Trial Prep
Week 14 (Nov 30-Dec. 4)
Day 1 Hetch Hetchy Trial & (Writing # 10) Trial Transcripts due
Day 2 Green Lagoons & Cadillac Desert
HEROES & ALTERNATIVES UNIT
Day 3 Essential Questions; “A Life of Sharing” “Acorn Harvest” & “The Seed Meadow” / Assign final essay
Day 4 FT – Lands End
Week 15 (Dec 7-11)
Day 1: Guest speakers
Day 2: Guest speakers
Day 3: Watch Monumental
Day 4 FT – Sunset Community Garden
Week 16 (Dec 14-18)
Day 1 Watch Monumental
Final Exams