WE HAVE SET A FRAMEWORK for our discussions of environmental literature. How do Americans see nature and wilderness? What does that view say about their view of America? We have analyzed two paintings and a cartoon, and in all three nature is under our control. Nature bends to our will, and we shape wilderness into the ideal city we imagine, or we use wilderness for the resources we need, as we see fit. How that portrayal contradict what we read in “Death on the Praries”? What we see in “Death Rides in the Forest when Man is Careless?”

MONDAY

Watching “John Muir: In the New World.” Students should take notes: Why is John Muir a pivotal figure in the modern American environmental movement? Students will incorporate direct quotes from the documentary into a paragraph on Muir.
HW: Reading Krakauer's chapter "The Alaska Interior" from his non-fiction Into the Wild. While reading, annotate for vocabulary, write your questions, and annotate for this nature theme in specific: Why are Americans attracted to wilderness, despite the obvious risks it threatens?

TUESDAY

Continuing the documentary today. What similarities do we see between McCandless and Muir? How do they see the natural world?
HW: Student's should finish watching the Muir documentary, taking notes, due Thursday. You can watch the video here.

WEDNESDAY

No school for Yom Kippur.
HW: If not done already, finish the documentary on John Muir.

THURSDAY

Returning to the cover of The Grapes of Wrath, and discussing ‘This Land is My Land” by Woody Gutherie. We will watch a short clip on The Grand Coulee Dan, and Gutherie’s exploration of the West and this great wonder of the world.
HW: Read the handout on Lewis and Clark in the American northwest, and Russian settlements in Alaska (document #8)

FRIDAY

No class for early dismissal.
HW: Reading the chapter "Water” from the excellent memoir Trials of the Earth. How is nature portrayed? How does Mary Mann Hamilton see the American wilderness? On Monday, we will be compiling notes on the way of understanding nature and wilderness so far.