LTWR 346 – Paper #2: Environmental Borderlands
In both Power and Annihilation, the arbitrary Western distinction between ‘humanity’ and ‘nature’ is carefully critiqued. In this paper, I would like you to analyze the arguments being presented: what does it mean when these two categories blur and bleed into one another? In order to focus your paper on a particular aspect of this very large topic, I would like you to choose one of the following subtopics:
Personal Identity (Maybe the ‘individual’ is an idealistic concept…)
OR
Free Will (Maybe we don’t have complete control over our actions…)
For example, suppose I choose free will. In my paper, I might look at the ways in which free will is called into question in both novels. Does Ama have control of her actions? What about the Biologist? I will also think about how this critique of free will breaks down the barrier between our categories of human and nature. Why do we create this “human / nature” opposition in the first place? How do we define the two against one another? What problems arise from this distinction? How does the loss of free will deconstruct the binary? What changes when we can no longer make the distinction between human and nature? Is this a positive or negative change or something in-between? And other questions along these lines!
I have only a few parameters that I would like you to follow:
Engage in synthesis. In other words, produce a paper that reveals the overarching argument across Power and Annihilation, but also demonstrate the subtle differences and disagreements between the two authors.
Feel free to use and cite ideas from as many of our essayists as you would like (Emerson, Thoreau, Austin, Muir, Haraway, Tsing, Hogan, Kimmerer), but please make sure that the primary focus of the paper is a close analysis of the two novels.
This paper should be written in a 12-pt font, double-spaced, with 1” margins on all sides. It should be cited in MLA format. It should contain relevant quotations (and analysis of said quotations) from both novels. Your paper should have a unique title.
This paper should be at least 1500 words in length, but it can be longer.
Category: Environmental literature
We have read a diverse cross-section of American writers regarding human relationships with the nonhuman, or natural, world. These thinkers all work beyond the useful scientific understanding of nature, and focus instead on the often overlooked – but equally important – spiritual, aesthetic, and philosophical perspectives. For this first paper, then, I would like you to place these thinkers in conversation through Madeleine George’s play Hurricane Diane.
Paper Prompt:
There are two parts to this paper:
In the first part, I would like you to explore the following three groups, where in each case, you explain how the writer critiques the human relationship with the nonhuman world, as well as how they imagine positive relationships might be cultivated:
Choose one Foundational American writers (Emerson, Thoreau, Muir, or Austin).
Choose one Contemporary American writers (Hay, Leach, Haraway, Tsing, Hogan, or Abram).
Choose two essays by Indigenous American author Robin Wall Kimmerer, from her book, Gathering Moss.
In the second part, I would like you to carefully analyze Madeleine George’s Hurricane Diane as a case study, demonstrating the concepts you have drawn from the above three groups.
For example, you might begin by using ideas from Muir to describe both a negative and a positive relationship with the natural world. Then, you might construct a negative & positive relation that includes ideas from Haraway. Then, from Kimmerer, you might analyze “The Owner” and “Learning to See” in order to describe a third negative and positive aspect to the relationship. While you may find some similarities across the authors, be sure to also show us the uniqueness of each argument – after all, none of the writers are identical! Finally, you can now demonstrate the major points you have just made through a careful reading of the play, Hurricane Diane.
Parameters:
This essay should include five sources: 1 foundational writer, 1 contemporary writer, 2 essays from Kimmerer, and Hurricane Diane.
This paper should include at least one direct quote from each of the nonfiction sources. You may want more than one quote from Hurricane Diane. Please use MLA citation (parenthetical and works cited).
This essay should be at least 1250 words (about 5 pages), but it may be longer.
Paper submissions can be in the following formats: .doc, .docx, .pdf, .odt, .rtf
The Complete Works Cited Page
(copy and paste only the ones the apply to your paper!)
Abram, David. “Turning Inside Out.” The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World. Vintage, 2017.
Austin, Mary Hunter. The Land of Little Rain. 1903. Project Gutenberg, 2016.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Nature. 1849. Project Gutenberg, 2009.
Thoreau, Henry David. “Solitude.” Walden; or, Life in the Woods. 1854. Project Gutenberg, 2018.
Haraway, Donna. “Sympoiesis.” Staying With the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene. Duke University Press, 2016, pp. 58-67.
Hay, John. “Dispossession.” The Immortal Wilderness, Norton, 1987.
Hogan, Linda. “What Holds the Water, What Holds the Light.” Dwellings: A Spiritual History of the Living World. Norton, 1995.
Leach, Amy. “The Round Earth Affair.” Things That Are. Milkweed Editions, 2012.
Muir, John. “The Wild Parks and Forest Reservations of the West.” Our National Parks. 1901. Project Gutenberg, 2019.
Tsing, Anna Lowenhaupt. “Arts of Noticing.” The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins. Princeton University Press, 2015, pp. 16-25.
LWR 346 – Paper #1: A Critique of Human-Nonhuman Relations
We have read a diverse cross-section of American writers regarding human relationships with the nonhuman, or natural, world. These thinkers all work beyond the useful scientific understanding of nature, and focus instead on the often overlooked – but equally important – spiritual, aesthetic, and philosophical perspectives. For this first paper, then, I would like you to place these thinkers in conversation through Madeleine George’s play Hurricane Diane.
Paper Prompt:
There are two parts to this paper:
In the first part, I would like you to explore the following three groups, where in each case, you explain how the writer critiques the human relationship with the nonhuman world, as well as how they imagine positive relationships might be cultivated:
Choose one Foundational American writers (Emerson, Thoreau, Muir, or Austin).
Choose one Contemporary American writers (Hay, Leach, Haraway, Tsing, Hogan, or Abram).
Choose two essays by Indigenous American author Robin Wall Kimmerer, from her book, Gathering Moss.
In the second part, I would like you to carefully analyze Madeleine George’s Hurricane Diane as a case study, demonstrating the concepts you have drawn from the above three groups.
For example, you might begin by using ideas from Muir to describe both a negative and a positive relationship with the natural world. Then, you might construct a negative & positive relation that includes ideas from Haraway. Then, from Kimmerer, you might analyze “The Owner” and “Learning to See” in order to describe a third negative and positive aspect to the relationship. While you may find some similarities across the authors, be sure to also show us the uniqueness of each argument – after all, none of the writers are identical! Finally, you can now demonstrate the major points you have just made through a careful reading of the play, Hurricane Diane.
Parameters:
This essay should include five sources: 1 foundational writer, 1 contemporary writer, 2 essays from Kimmerer, and Hurricane Diane.
This paper should include at least one direct quote from each of the nonfiction sources. You may want more than one quote from Hurricane Diane. Please use MLA citation (parenthetical and works cited).
This essay should be at least 1250 words (about 5 pages), but it may be longer.
Paper submissions can be in the following formats: .doc, .docx, .pdf, .odt, .rtf
The paper is due on Canvas by the end of the day (midnight) on Sunday, April 2nd!
Feel free to email, or visit me during my office hours, or talk to me after class if you have any questions. (see the next page with works cited help!)
Best of Luck!
The Complete Works Cited Page
(copy and paste only the ones the apply to your paper!)
Abram, David. “Turning Inside Out.” The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World. Vintage, 2017.
Austin, Mary Hunter. The Land of Little Rain. 1903. Project Gutenberg, 2016.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Nature. 1849. Project Gutenberg, 2009.
Thoreau, Henry David. “Solitude.” Walden; or, Life in the Woods. 1854. Project Gutenberg, 2018.
Haraway, Donna. “Sympoiesis.” Staying With the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene. Duke University Press, 2016, pp. 58-67.
Hay, John. “Dispossession.” The Immortal Wilderness, Norton, 1987.
Hogan, Linda. “What Holds the Water, What Holds the Light.” Dwellings: A Spiritual History of the Living World. Norton, 1995.
Leach, Amy. “The Round Earth Affair.” Things That Are. Milkweed Editions, 2012.
Muir, John. “The Wild Parks and Forest Reservations of the West.” Our National Parks. 1901. Project Gutenberg, 2019.
Tsing, Anna Lowenhaupt. “Arts of Noticing.” The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins. Princeton University Press, 2015, pp. 16-25.