ISLAND CIVILIZATION
11A Module #2

Introduction to Module,
DAY1

This module asks you to consider the
“history and future of wilderness and civilization on planet Earth.”
Essential Question: What will civilization look like on planet Earth in the distant future?

Read each statement.
Then, in Column I, write a plus sign if you agree with the statement, a minus sign if you disagree, or a question mark if you are unsure about your opinion.
For most statements, there are no right answers.
Agree= + Disagree= Don’t know=?
1.
I II
_____ _____ Humans lack foresight.
2. _____ _____ Future generations will be thankful for the manner in which we treated the Earth “on our watch.”
3. _____ _____ In 1,000 years, life will be better for humans than it is today.
4. _____ _____ In 1,000 years, the Earth will be a healthier planet than it is today.
5. _____ _____ Having a goal is a vital first step to solving problems.
6. _____ _____ “Wilderness” and “civilization” can coexist in harmony.
7. _____ _____ Life in modern cities is preferable to the life of huntergatherers, who live off the land.
8. _____ _____ “Nature” is an oppressed minority that needs to be liberated.
9. _____ _____ Civilization is vulnerable and may not last.
10.
_____ _____ Wilderness is vulnerable and may not last.
11.
_____ _____ Human progress should take precedence over the rights and needs of other species.
12.
_____ _____ Humans in the future will have the ability to control nature completely.
13. _____ _____ If humans plan well now, life in the year 3010 will be better for humans and all other life forms on planet
Earth

Activity 2- Survey the Text
Consider the following excerpts from the text:
 “The new third millennium we are just entering affords an excellent opportunity to think big about the history and future of wilderness and civilization on planet Earth” (371, par. 1)
 “As a historian I am concerned about how the future will regard what happened to the planet on our watch.” (372, par. 1)

Activity 2- Survey the Text
Consider the following excerpts from the text:
 “What could the human tenure on Earth be like a thousand years from now —at the start of the
Fourth Millennium? My proposal involves some really major changes. I expect it to be controversial.” (372, par. 2)
 “As a starting point, let’s consider wilderness. It’s a state of mind, a perception, rather than a geographical reality, and prior to the advent of herding and agriculture about ten thousand years before the present, it didn’t exist.” (372, par. 3)

Activity 3- Reading with the
Grain
• Chart the text
• Highlight sentences that have key words from vocabulary cards
• Partner-Pass-Read paragraphs 1-4

• Read Chief Seattle’s Speech
– Answer the reading questions
(full sentences with examples from the text)
– Rhetorical Précis
– Reflection summary
“How does Chief Seattle discuss wilderness & civilization”?
• Vocabulary Crossword (use your notecards)
• WHY? By the end of the week, you will produce an annotated bibliography about environmentalism

• Read excerpt from
“Walden” by Henry David
Thoreau
**Check out an 11 th grade textbook**
– Pages 382- 386 (Don’t go past the title ‘Solitude’)
– Write a Rhetorical Précis of
Thoreau’s experiences in nature
– Sentence Pattern 6 practice

DAY 2

Activity 4- Reading with the
Grain
• Chart the text
• Highlight sentences that have key words from vocabulary cards
• Partner-Pass-Read paragraphs 5-8
• When you finish : Complete a SOAPStone summary of paragraphs 1-8

Activity 5: 5 Word Summary

• Read excerpt from
“Silent Spring” by
Rachel Carson
– Write a Rhetorical Précis of
Carson’s excerpt
– Answer Questions

DAY 3

Activity 6- Loaded
Language
• Read paragraphs 9-14
• Complete Says / Does
• Highlight examples of “loaded language”
– Extreme feelings, either negative or positive
– Words with bias and tone
– Words that are used figuratively to show opinion

Activity 6- Loaded
Language
• Example:

Activity 6- Loaded
Language
• Make a chart like the one below.
• Find 5 examples of loaded language
– Describe their connotation
– Offer neutral and substitute words

Activity 7: Allusions &
References
• Underline all the allusions you can find in paragraphs 9-14.
• What kinds of allusions does Nash make in paragraphs 9-14?
• How do these allusions make him more credible?
• Why does he use these allusions? What claim is he supporting?

• Find an article on the environment.
– Write a Rhetorical
Précis of it

DAY 4

• Complete SAYS / DOES
• Underline the different scenarios that Nash proposes for the future

Activity 8 – Different Perspectives

Activity 8 – Different Perspectives

Activity 8 – Different Perspectives

• Write a rhetorical précis of Nash’s article.
• Focus on covering the whole article.

DAY 5

• Create a visual interpretation of each of
N ash’s 4 scenarios . For each visual, add one direct quote from the text that supports your picture.
• Choose a prompt . Each prompt is tied to a rhetorical mode. Write an essay that answers the prompt.

DAY 5

• “Wilderness and civilization can co-exist in harmony.”
• Agree or disagree
• Come up with specific examples to support your opinion

• Choice of Prompts:
1. Write an argumentative letter to Nash
2. Write an argumentative essay about which scenario is likely to happen and why
3. Write an argumentative essay that proposes a scenario of your own

Activity 10: Entering the
Discussion
• Is humanity doomed?
• Is the Earth doomed?
• What will civilization look like in the future?
• Are humans selfish?

• Using Sentence Pattern 8
• Using Sentence Pattern 1c
• Using Sentence Pattern 11 and 11a

DAY 6

Revisions to essay & Annotated Bibliography
DAY 6

• Type your Précis statements into an annotated bibliography
• Thoreau
• Carson
• Chief Seattle
• Nash
• Article of Choice