Readings | Writing and the Environment | Comparative Media Studies/Writing

Textbooks

Packer, Nancy, and John Timpane. Writing Worth Reading. Boston, MA: Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press, 1997. ISBN: 9780312061012.

Ross, Carolyn, ed. Writing Nature. Boston, MA: Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press, 1995. ISBN: 9780312103910.

Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 2002. ISBN: 9780618253050.

Perelman, Leslie C., et al. The Mayfield Handbook of Scientific and Technical Writing. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 1997. ISBN: 9781559346474.

Lec #	Topics	READINGS
1	Introduction
2	Mairs, Nancy. "On Being a Scientific Booby," and John Muir, "3 Short Pieces." In Writing Nature. Levi, Primo. "Carbon." In The Periodic Table.	Mairs, Nancy. "On Being a Scientific Booby," and John Muir, "3 Short Pieces." In Writing Nature. pp. 230-235 and 29-32. Levi, Primo. "Carbon." In The Periodic Table. New York, NY: Schocken Books, 1995. ISBN: 9780805210415.
3	Writing Worth Reading. pp. 66-68 and 193-194. Lopez, Barry. "Gone Back into the Earth." In Crossing Open Ground. Leopold, Aldo. "Thinking Like a Mountain." In Sand County Almanac. Sample Student Narrative Essays	Writing Worth Reading. pp. 66-68 and 193-194. Lopez, Barry. "Gone Back into the Earth." In Crossing Open Ground. New York, NY: Scribner, 1988. ISBN: 9780684188171. Leopold, Aldo. "Thinking Like a Mountain." In Sand County Almanac. New York, NY: Ballantine Books, 1986, c.1949, pp. 129-133. ISBN: 9780345345059. Sample Student Narrative Essays: (PDF) (Courtesy of Helana Kadyszewski. Used with permission.) (PDF) (Courtesy of Mike Wongchaowart. Used with permission.) (PDF) (Courtesy of Noel Davis. Used with permission.)
4	Thoreau, Henry David. "Brute Neighbors," and Lewis Thomas, "Ponds." In Writing Nature. LeGuin, Ursula. "A Very Warm Mountain." In Writing Nature.	Thoreau, Henry David. "Brute Neighbors," Lewis Thomas, "Ponds," and Ursula LeGuin, "A Very Warm Mountain." In Writing Nature. pp. 93-111 and 117-129.
5	"Rhetoric: Writing About Personal Experience," David Quammen, "The Face of a Spider," and Alice Walker, "Am I Blue?" In Writing Nature.	"Rhetoric: Writing About Personal Experience," David Quammen, "The Face of a Spider," and Alice Walker, "Am I Blue?" In Writing Nature. pp. 193-204 and 235-247.
6	"Developing the Paragraph." In Writing Nature.	"Developing the Paragraph." In Writing Nature. pp. 142-145.
7	"Case Study: A Student's Personal Essay." In Writing Worth Reading. In class: Essay Workshop	"Case Study: A Student's Personal Essay." In Writing Worth Reading. pp. 106-113.
8	In class: "Cadillac Desert." (Video)
9	"Arguing." In Writing Nature and Selections from Conflicts of Interest.	"Arguing." In Writing Nature. pp. 487-516. Selections from Conflicts of Interest. pp. 528-540.
10	Ward, Diane Raines. "Sweet Water." In Water Wars. Stegner, Wallace. "Glen Canyon Submersus." In The Sound of Mountain Water. McPhee, John. Excerpt from Encounter with the Archdruid. In class: "Cadillac Desert." (Video)	Ward, Diane Raines. "Sweet Water." In Water Wars. New York, NY: Riverhead Books, 2003. ISBN: 9781573229951. Stegner, Wallace. "Glen Canyon Submersus." In The Sound of Mountain Water. Doubleday, 1969, pp. 121-136. ISBN: 9780385071383. McPhee, John. Excerpt from Encounter with the Archdruid. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1977. ISBN: 9780374514310.
11	Opposing Points of View on Specific Water Conflict Writing Worth Reading. pp. 428-430. In class: Exercise Workshop	Opposing Points of View on Specific Water Conflict Writing Worth Reading. pp. 428-430.
12	Writing Nature. pp. 541-560. "Las Vegas, A Guilty Pleasure." (Sample Student Essay) Writing Worth Reading. pp. 114-131 and 91-98.	Writing Nature. pp. 541-560 "Las Vegas, A Guilty Pleasure." (Sample Student Essay) (PDF) (Courtesy of Mike Wongchaowart. Used with permission.) Writing Worth Reading. pp. 114-131 and 91-98.
13	"Making the Argument." In Writing Worth Reading.	"Making the Argument." In Writing Worth Reading. pp. 152-170.
14	In class: Essay Workshop
15	Bring in list of ideas for research essay In class: Library Session
16	Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. pp. 1-127. In class: Student-led discussion of chapters in Silent Spring	Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. pp. 1-127.
17	Writing Worth Reading. Skim pp. 333-352. Read "Reading and Taking Notes." In Writing Worth Reading. Independent research for your own paper	Writing Worth Reading. Skim pp. 333-352. Read "Reading and Taking Notes." In Writing Worth Reading. pp. 355-362.
18	"Documenting your Sources," and "Suggesting Recurrent Themes." In Writing Worth Reading. "Vanishing Frogs." (Sample Student Essay) Research for your own paper In class: Discussion of Plagiarism	"Documenting your Sources," and "Suggesting Recurrent Themes." In Writing Worth Reading. pp. 376-381 and 435-438. "Vanishing Frogs." (Sample Student Essay) (PDF) (Courtesy of Mark Rosen. Used with permission.)
19	Stewart, Meg. "Dredging to Keep New York-New Jersey Harbor Alive." In The Earth Around Us. Research for your own paper In class: Oral Presentations	Stewart, Meg. "Dredging to Keep New York-New Jersey Harbor Alive." In The Earth Around Us. Edited by Jill S. Schneiderman. New York, NY: W.H. Freeman, 2000. ISBN: 9780716733973.
20	Research for your own paper "Writing a First Draft." In Writing Worth Reading. In class: Oral Presentations	"Writing a First Draft." In Writing Worth Reading. pp. 365-372.
21	Research for your Own Paper Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. pp. 276-297. In class: Oral Presentations	Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. pp. 276-297.
22	In class: Oral Presentations
23	In class: Essay Workshop
24	In class: Introduction Revision Workshop
25	In class: Style Revision Workshop
26	In class: Reading and Listening to Favorite Works Celebrating the successful completion of 21W.730	Track down one of your favorite books, stories, or poems, and select a passage or poem to read in class.