American Pastoral
ENGL 277
Spring 2013
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
AMST 219 |
| Certificates: Environmental Studies, Environmental Studies |
Pastoral has a bad reputation. Its meaning is too often limited to idealized depictions of life in a picturesque landscape where the living is easy. In fact, literary pastoral has always incorporated the real with the ideal, the harshness of nature as well as its beauty, the exploitation of land and people along with their mutually beneficial interdependence. In this course we will look at both sides of the pastoral tradition as it manifests itself in two elements of American culture: the wilderness and the farm. Readings will range from Christopher Columbus and Daniel Boone to Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild and Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma, and include novels by Willa Cather and Jane Smiley as well as works by African American and Native American writers. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA ENGL |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (AMST)(ENVS) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Essays by Leo Marx, Annette Kolodny, William Cronon.
Selections from Jefferson, Douglass, Crevecoeur, Boone, Emerson, Thoreau.
Stories, novels, and essays by Willa Cather, Jane Smiley, Charles Chesnutt, Michael Pollan, and others.
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Examinations and Assignments:
Frequent short responses and a research paper. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
This course fulfills the English Department's research seminar requirement for senior thesis writers. This course also contributes to the English major American Literature and Theory and Literary Forms concentrations and is eligible for credit towards the Environmental Studies Certificate. In keeping with all these designations, students will undertake a research project, whose subject may be drawn from American literature or the broader fields of American culture or environmental studies. |
| Instructor(s): Stowe,William W. Times: .M.W... 02:40PM-04:00PM; Location: WYL110; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 19 | | SR major: 3 | JR major: 10 | | |
| Seats Available: 8 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 3 | JR non-major: 3 | SO: 0 | FR: 0 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 3 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 1 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 2 |
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