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WebQuest: Contemporary Nature
Writing
Overview: In this WebQuest, you will explore
the writing of several leading nature writers working and writing in the
contemporary United States. You'll have the chance to reflect on the genre of
“nature writing” and compare how this type of writing has evolved in American
literature.
Reading (please update from the syllabus as distributed, all
pages refer to the Norton Book of Nature Writing):
Gary Snyder, “Ancient Forests of the Far West” (663-684)
William Kittredge, “Owning It All” (707-718)
Linda Hasselstrom, “Nighthawks Fly in Thunderstorms” (845-850)
Trudy Ditmar, “Moose” (850-863)
Barry Lopez, “The American Geographies” (914-924)
Scott Russell Sanders, “Buckeye” (924-930)
Gretel Ehrlich, “Friends, Foes, and Working Animals” (944-950)
Emily Hiestand, “Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah” (960-966)
Linda Hogan, “The Bats” (967-971)
John Daniel, “A Word in Favor of Rootlessness” (984-990)
Leslie Marmon Silko, “Landscape, History, and the Pueblo Imagination”
(1003-1015)
David James Duncan, “Northwest Passage” (1022-1027)
Ray Gonzalez, “The Third Eye of the Lizard” (1028-1034)
Gary Paul Nabhan, excerpt from The
Desert Smells Like Rain (1039-1043)
Louise Erdrich, “Big Grass” (1043-1047)
David Mas Masumoto, “Planting Seeds” (1048-1051)
Sharman Apt Russell, “Gila Wliderness” (1052-1062)
Evelyn White, “Black Women and the Wilderness” (1063-1068)
Barbara Kingsolver, “High Tide in Tucson” (1068-1078)
Rick Bass, excerpt from The Ninemile
Wolves (1114-1120)
Janisse Ray, “Built by Fire” (1131-1133), “Forest Beloved” (1133-1137)
Don't
worry about the length of the reading list. Most of these pieces are quite
short, so there is about a total of 150 pages. If you find you really don't
like a piece, you may want to skim it and move on to one that calls to you
more strongly. Each participant in the class should choose one author to
explore more fully. To avoid overlap, “claim” your author on the bulletin
board (first come, first served!). Read the piece you’ve selected especially
closely, write at least one journal entry about it, and if you can, learn
more about your chosen author.
Step
1: Learn about the genre of “nature writing.”
Visit the
following nature writing sites:
“Ten Elements in Nature Writing”
“The Nature of Nature Writing” (from Writing Naturally: A Down-to-Earth Guide to Nature Writing)
Nature Writing: Inspiration for Readers and Writers
“Writing
Nature in a Computer Environment” (a great take on an enduring art form)
And for
another perspective, read: “Beyond Nature Writing: Why the Term Has Outlived Its
Usefulness”
Read
Barry Lopez’s thoughts on "A Literature of Place."
Step
2: Learn about environmental organizations and nature writing
organizations/publications.
You’ll also want
to learn about environmental organizations and nature writing organizations.
Just to get a taste of the organizations that are out there, be sure to look
at the following:
EnviroArts:
Orion Online
Orion Society
Step
3: Explore resources related to the authors that interest you.
You’ll definitely want to learn more about the author you've “claimed” – but
you might want to find out about some of your other favorites as well! We’ve
listed pieces by the authors, pieces about the authors, and interviews with
the authors.
Gary
Snyder
Academy
of American Poets: Gary Snyder
Modern American Poetry: Gary Snyder
Literary Kicks: Gary Snyder
William
Kittredge
William Kittredge
“‘They Were There – Endless Scenes’: An Interview with
William Kittredge”
Linda
Hasselstrom
Windbreak House:
Linda Hasselstrom's website (and info about her writing retreats for women!)
An “Aha”
Moment from Linda Hasselstrom (video clip)
Linda
Hasselstrom (at CowboyPoetry.com)
Linda Hasselstrom, “The Only Place”
Trudy
Dittmar
Visiting
Writers Series: Trudy Dittmar (video)
Barry
Lopez
“Paying Attention: An Interview with Barry Lopez”
Another interview with Barry Lopez
. . . and yet another interview with Barry Lopez
Scott
Russell Sanders
Brief Overview (from his faculty page at Indiana
University)
Scott
Russell Sanders’s Home Page
Scott Russell Sanders, “The Most Human Art: Top Ten Reasons Why We'll Always Need a
Good Story”
Gretel
Ehrlich
Gretel
Ehrlich’s Home Page
Powells.com Interviews: Gretel Ehrlich
Emily
Hiestand
Introduction to Emily Hiestand
Emily Hiestand, “Real Places” (essay
in The Atlantic Monthly)
Emily Hiestand, excerpt from Angela,
the Upside-down Girl and Other Domestic Travels
Linda
Hogan
Linda
Hogan’s Home Page
Poetry
Foundation: Linda Hogan (note that there are two tabs at the top of the
page: “Biography” and “Poems, Articles, & More”)
9 poems
by Linda Hogan
Voices from the Gaps: Linda Hogan
Storytellers: Linda Hogan
John
Daniel
John Daniel’s Home
Page
Audio
recordings of poems and book excerpts
Leslie
Marmon Silko
The Write
Stuff: An Interview with Leslie Marmon Silko
Voices from the Gaps: Leslie Marmon Silko
David
James Duncan
David James Duncan’s Home
Page
David James Duncan, “How Much Gold Is a River Worth?”
Powells.com
Interviews: David James Duncan
Ray
Gonzalez
Overview of Ray Gonzalez
The
Poetry Foundation: Ray Gonzalez
Gary
Paul Nabhan
Gary Paul Nabhan’s Home Page
An EcoBooks
Featured Author: Gary Paul Nabhan
Gary Paul Nabhan, “Mother
Mountains”
Louise
Erdrich
Modern American Poetry: Louise Erdrich
Voices from the Gaps: Louise Erdrich
David
Mas Masumoto
Home Page for David Mas Masumoto and his
family’s farm
Brief overview of David Mas Masumoto
David Mas Masumoto, “Defying Time”
Sharman
Apt Russell
Sharman Apt
Russell’s Home Page
Works
by Sharman Apt Russell at On Earth Magazine
Rick
Bass
Rick Bass, “Round River”
“A Paint Brush in One Hand and a Bucket of Water in the
Other: Nature Writing and the Politics of Wilderness” (an interview with Rick Bass)
Barbara
Kingsolver
Barbara Kingsolver’s Home
Page
New York Times
Featured Author: Barbara Kingsolver
Janisse
Ray
Janisse Ray’s Home Page
Janisse Ray: “This
I Believe” (video)
Journal
Prompts
Journal Prompt #1: If one of the writers particularly
inspires you, write about your place/space imitating this author's style.
Journal Prompt #2: Take a favorite from one of the
passages, copy into your journal, and take off from there.
Journal Prompt #3: Write a letter to one of the
writers featured this week.
Journal Prompt #4: Imagine you have a chance to
interview one of these writers. What would you ask?
Essay Topic
Focusing on
one or two of these authors, define “nature writing,” and show how this
writer (or these writers) do/does or doesn’t/don’t meet this definition. As
always, be sure to include resources from the WebQuest (you’ll want to cite
at least one of the pieces on nature writing in Step 1). See the Essay
Guidelines for more detail about research, sources, length requirements, and
documentation. Essay due to Dr. Tate via email by Wednesday, May 8, at 3:00
p.m.
“American Transcendentalism: An
Online Travel Guide” was produced by students in ENGL 446, American
Transcendentalism, and ENGL 447, American Literature and the Prominence of
Place: A Travel Practicum. These courses were team-taught in the Department of English at Shepherd College (now
Shepherd University), Shepherdstown, West Virginia, in Spring 2002 by Dr.
Patricia Dwyer and Dr. Linda Tate. For more information on the course and
the web project, visit “About This
Site.” ©
2003 Linda Tate.
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