Literature and the Environment

Student Learning Outcomes, Goals, Objectives:

Students successfully completing this course will be able to:

• The ability to read critically and discuss the aesthetic, rhetorical, or cultural qualities in texts.
• The ability to develop convincing, well-supported print or digital projects.
• The ability to understand the relationship of literature or rhetoric to history or culture.
• The ability to incorporate research into a print or digital project.
• The ability to understand and implement a literary or rhetorical theories.
• Understand and enjoy some of the best contemporary novels in U. S. literature.
• Understand and enjoy some of the best contemporary fiction.
• Get a handle on recent developments in environmentalism.
• Improve the skills of reading literary texts in their various contexts by writing about these works and by analyzing them.

Course Grading Information:

Activity/Performance Measure	Percentage/Points
Paper #1	20%
Paper #2	20%
Paper #3	20%
Paper #4	20%
Paper #5	20%

Grading Scale

Percentage	Letter Grade
93.0 and above	A
90.0 – 92.9	A-
87.0 – 89.9	B+
83.0 – 86.9	B
80.0 – 82.9	B-
77.0 – 79.9	C+
73.0 – 76.9	C
70.0 – 72.9	C-
67.0 – 69.9	D+
63.0 – 66.9	D
60.0 – 62.9	D-
Below 60.0	F

Attendance/Participation:

No late papers—and any other kind of late work for that matter—accepted. However, if you foresee any deadline-related problems, please contact me ahead of time. We shall work together to find a solution.

By submitting an assignment, each student is acknowledging their understanding and commitment to the Academic Integrity Policy on all major work for the course.

Students need to be familiar with, and abide by, the relevant standards, expectations, and policies described in UNCG’s Undergraduate Bulletin.

Note on plagiarism: Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of others’ materials both in form (wording) and substance (ideas). Any paper bearing a student’s name signifies that the student is the author, namely, that the words and the ideas are his or hers, with exceptions indicated by quotation marks and paraphrases. Evidence of plagiarism will result in one or more of the following: a failing grade for the assignment, an “F” for the whole course, and/or a report filed with the Dean. Also, students must consult the UNCG policies on plagiarism. NEVER ATTEMPT TO COMPLETE AN ASSIGNMENT WITHOUT HAVING FIRST READ THE BOOK IT IS BASED ON. NEVER USE AN AI PLATFORM SUCH AS ChatGPT. That would be cheating. You would get an “F” for it and likely for the entire course. A report may be filed with UNCG.

UNCG seeks to comply fully with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Students requesting accommodations based on a disability must connect with the Office of Accessibility Resources and Services (OARS) in 215 Elliott University Center, (336)334-5440, oars.uncg.edu.

See UNCG policy regarding Religious Obligations.

Course Materials Purchased by the Students:

• Cormack McCarthy, The Road (2006)
• Paolo Bacigalupi, The Windup Girl (2009)
• Ian McEwan, What We Can Know (2025)
• Ling Ma, Severance (2018)
• Omar El Akkad, American War (2018)
• Feder, Helena, ed. Close Reading the Anthropocene (2021)