Director, Environmental Studies
Professor of English

TERMS YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR

Test on American nature writing

English/Environmental Studies 243: Introduction to Nature Writing

Fall 2006

For examples of answers, click here.

Paragraph explanations. 10 points.

“Nature writing” (general nature, taxonomies, and Barnhill’s ecosystem approach) and “ecocriticism”
> See "Surveying the Landscape," as well as outline of taxonomies and ecosystem approach and outline of seven elements under "Outlines of Reading"
> See also the Glossary and PowerPoint outline on nature writing and ecocriticism

“Nature,” “wild,” and “wilderness”
> See the Glossary

Nature and the sacred: ways nature and the sacred have been related AND themes in spiritual nature writing
> See "Spiritual Dimension of Nature Writing" and the outline of it under "Outlines of Reading"
> Also see the Glossary

Short answer: 2-3 efficient and clear sentences. 3 points each.
>> See the Glossary and relevant PowerPoint outlines listed at the course homepage.

History

Transcendental dualism

Enlightenment, humanism, and mechanism

Romanticism

Puritanism

Transcendentalism

Ideology of progress

Frontier spirit

The new environmentalism of the 1960s

Nature Writing

Nature writing

Ecocriticism

Seven elements of nature writing

Themes in spiritual nature writing

Terms

“Nature”: two definitions of the term (dualistic, comprehensive)

Nature and the sacred: what is sacred: three traditions (sacred Other, sacred place, monistic)

Anthropocentrism versus biocentrism

Intrinsic/inherent value versus instrumental value

Preservation versus conservation

Wild and wilderness

Deep ecology

Dates: just list dates for the following writers. 1 point each.

Henry David Thoreau: 1817-1862

John Muir: 1838-1914

Mary Austin: 1868-1934

Rachel Carson: 1907-1964

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