ENG: Literature and the Environment
Prof: Rachel York-Bridgers
E-mail: Rachel.york.bridgers@utoronto.ca
Course Description
This course offers a survey of literature from the early modern
period to the present that takes as its concern the ethics and
aesthetics of representing “nature” (landscape, human / nonhuman animals, and the environment). The course will begin with
a study of Cormac McCarthy’s widely acclaimed and profoundly
moving The Road, a novel about the plight of a father and son
eking out a spare existence in the wake of an environmental
apocalypse. From this perspective, we will ask, “How did we get
here?” and “From here, where do we go?” We will then consider
a more chronologically ordered selection of works including
country-house poems dating from the 17thcentury, Romantic and
Victorian poetry, American Transcendentalism, wild animal
stories, the “deep terror” tradition in Canadian literature, and
more contemporary works of environmental justice and ecoactivism. We will study a variety of genres: poetry, novels, works
of creative non-fiction, scientific and philosophical treatises, and
short stories as well as a documentary film. This course will also
offer a primer on ecocritical theory: we will pose some vital
questions about the study and practice of ecocriticism: “What is
ecocriticism, and why might it matter?” “What might it mean to
‘practice’ ecocriticism?” and “Is anybody listening?”
Course Objectives
Literature and the Environment is designed to introduce students
to a range of canonical and contemporary environmental “texts”;
provide students with an understanding of different literary,
philosophical, ethical, and aesthetic traditions as they pertain to
the representation of “nature”; introduce students to ecocritical
theory; equip students with close reading and critical thinking
strategies; foster essay research, composition, formatting, and
editing skills; encourage students to think and write creatively
about their personal experiences of and interactions with
“nature”; facilitate student-instructor discussion in the classroom;
facilitate student-student discussion in the classroom and online.
Required Reading
Cormac McCarthy, The Road (Vintage)
Don LePan, Animals (Broadview)
J.M. Coetzee, The Lives of Animals (Princeton U P)
Indra Sinha, Animal’s People (Simon & Schuster)
Derrick Jensen and Stephanie McMillan, As The World Burns: 50
Things You Can Do to Stay in Denial (Seven Stories Press)
Course Texts
All texts are available at the UTM Bookstore (South Building,
lower level). I have also arranged for one copy of each text to be
put on short-term loan; consult the UTM library for borrowing
periods. Second-hand texts are permitted, but do keep in mind
that page references often differ from edition to edition.
Coursepacks will be available for purchase the third or fourth
week of classes through the UTM Bookstore; photocopies or
URLs to online texts will be provided until the coursepacks come
in.
Supplementary Reading
Joseph Gibaldi, MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers
(seventh ed.)
Abrams, M.H. A Glossary of Literary Terms (ninth ed.)
Kane, Thomas S. and Heather Pyrcz. The Canadian Oxford
Guide to Writing: A Rhetoric and Handbook (second ed.)
If you intend to continue on in English, you may consider
purchasing the supplementary texts; otherwise, please refer to
the reference copies at the UTM library as required.
Method of Evaluation
Participation 10%
Article critique Jan. 31 10%
Ghost Bird report Feb. 28 15%
Research Essay Mar. 14 30%
Final exam 35%
Late Policy
Assignments:
Late assignments will not be accepted; assignments must be
submitted in class on the day they are due, except in cases of
sudden or severe illness (for appropriate documentation, see
note on obtaining a UTM medical certificate below).
Essays:
Essays are to be submitted in class on the day they are due. A
penalty of 1% per day (including weekends) will be levied for all
essays received after the due date, except in cases where a
UTM medical certificate is provided. (For a copy of the certificate,
go to “External Links” in Blackboard).
If you are unable to attend class, you may leave your essay in
the English drop box on the 2nd-floor stair landing. Note,
however, that the late penalty in such cases will be levied
according to the date the electronic version of the same essay
was uploaded to Blackboard. Do not e-mail your essay to me
and do not slide late essays under my office door.
You are expected to submit an electronic copy of your essay to
Turnitin.com on the due date (see note on academic integrity
below). Essays submitted to Turnitin.com will not usually be
graded; you should consult the TA to ask if a hard copy of your
paper is also required.
Drop Policy
Please note that the last day to drop winter (S) courses from
your academic record and GPA is Mar. 10th. By that time, you
will have received back your graded creative writing exercise
(valued at 15%).
UofT Portal
It is the student’s responsibility to monitor the English 259H5FLEC0101 website regularly. Discussion questions, assignments,
announcements, grades, contact information for your instructor,
and other course-related materials will be posted on the website.
Be sure to check the Portal before class to ensure that you bring
the correct texts and / or handouts.
Course URL:
http://portal.utoronto.ca
In order to access the Portal, you will need a UTORid (printed on
your T-Card) and a UTOR e-mail account. To activate your
UTORid, go to www.utorid.utoronto.ca
Participation Policy
Students are expected to have read the assigned text(s) prior to
class, bring the assigned material with them, and be prepared to
discuss the reading(s). The 10% participation grade will reflect
the student’s engaged and respectful participation in class
discussion, online discussion, and in-class group work.
Academic Integrity
Plagiarism—presenting the work or ideas of another person as
your own—is a serious academic offense and will not be
tolerated by either the instructor or the University.
Academic Honesty (reproduced from the UTM Calendar)
http://www.utm.utoronto.ca/regcal/WEBGEN87.html
Honesty and fairness are considered fundamental to the
University's mission, and, as a result, all those who violate those
principles are dealt with as if they were damaging the integrity of
the University itself. When students are suspected of cheating or
a similar academic offence, they are typically surprised at how
formally and seriously the matter is dealt with - and how severe
the consequences can be if it is determined that cheating did
occur. The University of Toronto treats cases of cheating and
plagiarism very seriously. Examples of offences for which you
will be penalized include (but are not limited to):
·Using
any unauthorized aids on an exam or test (e.g., "cheat
sheets", etc.)
·Representing someone else's work or words as your own plagiarism
·Falsifying documents or grades
·Purchasing an essay
·Submitting someone else's work as your own
·Submitting the same essay or report in more than one course
(without permission)
·Looking at someone else's answers during an exam or test
·Impersonating another person at an exam or test or having
someone else impersonate you
·Making up sources or facts for an essay or report.
As a student it is your responsibility to ensure the integrity of
your work and to understand what constitutes an academic
offence. If you have any concerns that you may be crossing the
line, always ask your instructor. Your instructor can explain, for
example, the nuances of plagiarism and how to use secondary
sources appropriately; he or she will also tell you what kinds of
aids - calculators, dictionaries, etc. - are permitted in a test or
exam. Ignorance of the rules does not excuse cheating or
plagiarism.
All students should also consult Margaret Proctor’s essay, “How
Not to Plagiarize,” which can be found at
http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/plagsep.html.
In the interests of promoting academic integrity, the instructor
requests that all students submit (in addition to a hard copy) an
electronic copy of each essay to the Turnitin.com website:
http://www.turnitin.com/static/index.html.
You will need to create a student account prior to submitting an
essay to Turnitin.com. When registering as a new user, cite the
class ID # and password listed below.
class ID #: 5913270
password: litenviro
Please also review carefully the following policy:
Normally, students will be required to submit their course essays
to Turnitin.com for a review of textual similarity and detection of
possible plagiarism. In doing so, students will allow their essays
to be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com
reference database, where they will be used solely for the
purpose of detecting plagiarism. The terms that apply to the
University's use of the Turnitin.com service are described on the
Turnitin.com web site.
E-Culture Policy
·All e-mail correspondence will be sent to your University of
Toronto e-mail account, so you will need to ensure that you
check that account regularly. Your UTOR e-mail can also be
forwarded to another e-mail account; for instructions,
go to https://www.utorid.utoronto.ca/
.
·For all queries, the subject line of your e-mail should indicate
clearly the topic of your message / question and must include the
course number (e.g. “Essay assignment, ENG259H5F”). The
body of your e-mail must include your full
name.
·I will attempt to respond to e-mails within 48 hours. If you do
not hear back from me within that time, resend your message to
ensure that I received it.
·The instructor is available to assist students with their
assignments, but students must observe the following guidelines:
E-mail queries regarding should be submitted well in advance of
the essay due date; do not expect to get an immediate response
to a last-minute e-mail.
Student Conduct
·Essays should be submitted at the beginning of class. If you
arrive at the end of class to submit your essay, do not interrupt;
please wait in the hall until class is dismissed.
·No student may pick up work on behalf of another student.
·If a student misses a class, it is his / her responsibility to review
the missed material with a classmate; the instructor is not
responsible for reviewing the subject of the missed class, and
lecture notes will not be posted or otherwise circulated.
Academic Resources
The Robert Gillespie Academic Skills Centre (Room 390, Hazel
McCallion Academic Learning Centre) offers a range of
workshops, seminars and individual consultations to
help students develop the academic skills they need for success
in their studies. For further information or to make an
appointment, visit the Centre’s website at
www.utm.utoronto.ca/asc or contact them at 905-828-3858.
AccessAbility PolicyStudents with diverse needs are welcome in
this course. Students with questions about disability / health
accommodations are encouraged to contact their instructor and /
or the UTM AccessAbility Resource Centrewhen the course
begins. The AccessAbilityResource Centre staff can be
contacted by phone (905-569-4699), e-mail
(access@utm.utoronto.ca), or in person (Room 2047, South
Building).
Assessment Criteria
Please refer to the assessment criteria for short assignments
and essays posted on the course website. In addition, a
comprehensive grading rubric will be attached to your
graded essays.
Course Calendar
Jan. 10 Introduction and Overview:
Bressler, “Ecocriticism” (Blackboard and handout) Leopold,
“Good Oak” and “Thinking like a Mountain” (handout)
Jan. 17
McCarthy, The Road
Jan. 24
Jonson, “To Penshurst” (Blackboard; hereafter “Bb”)
Gray, “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” (Bb)
Wordsworth, “Tintern Abbey” (Bb)
Jan. 31
Coleridge, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” (Bb)
Shelley, “Mont Blanc” (Bb) Jeffers, “Hurt Hawks” (Bb)
Article Critiques Due
Feb. 7
Thoreau, “Walking” (Bb)
Austin, “The Land of Little Rain” (Bb)
Feb. 14
Film screening: Ghost Bird
Feb. 21
READING WEEK
Feb. 28
RGASC workshop; Coetzee, The Lives of Animals
Ghost Bird Reports Due
Mar. 7
LePan, Animals
Mar. 14
Alexius, Romantically Apocalyptic
http://romanticallyapocalyptic.com/
Author’s Talk by Vitaly S. Alexius
Writing Workshop
Mar. 21
Carson, “A Fable for Tomorrow” and “Elixirs of Death” (Bb)
Williams, “The Clan of One-Breasted Women” (Bb)
Walcott, “Ruins of a Great House”
Walker, “South: The Name of Home” and “The Right to Life...”
(Bb)
Essays Due
Mar. 28
Sinha, Animal’s People
Apr. 4
Jensen and McMillan, As The World Burns
Term Review / Exam Preparation