Length: 4-6 pages, 1500-2000 words
Purpose: Our second paper will be a longer, more complex exploration of one primary text, or exhibit, that engages a claim made by a writer other than yourself. Since professional scholars and researchers nearly always engage previous work in their writings, this paper will serve as an introduction to the dominant forms of argument found in academia—and allow you to experience writing as a member of that community.
Task: In his essay, “The Trouble with Wilderness,” William Cronon argues that we should regard the tree in an urban park with just as much reverence as we do the tree in the wilderness: his major claim is that the value of the natural world does not reside in its separateness from human cities and civilization. Using Cronon’s major claim (and any other elements of his essay you which to include),write an essay of 1500-2000 words in which you discuss the role of the wilderness-civilization relationship in your own experience of nature in the urban landscape of Boston. Along with Cronon, you should refer to at least one other textual source (Mitchell, Thoreau, Hultgren, Woolfson, any of the articles we have read from the Boston Globe, the Atlantic, etc.) You should also include your own observations of Hall’s Pond and/or the observations made by peers.
Other options for approaching the paper:
How does Hultgren’s concept of a “migratory sense of place” apply to Hall’s Pond? What value might this concept have in Boston/other cites especially as they have been affected by the pandemic? For this option, you may also include references to Cronon.
Does Hultgren’s concept of a “migratory sense of place” (and/or his concept of rootedness) conflict with Mitchell’s concept of place intimacy, or querencia? To make an argument in reply to this question, use specific examples from Hall’s observations.
Using Cronon, Hultgren, and any of the other sources we have discussed, craft an argument about the ways in which we move through the city affect our sense of attachment to it. Consider the ways in which both humans and non-human animals may be affected by these movements.
How might conflicts between the needs of humans and the needs of non-human animals be addressed, especially in the post-pandemic city? To answer this broad question, consider 2-3 related, specific examples from our readings. You should also include your own experience at Hall’s and possibly other spaces in the city.
Comments:
For this assignment, dualism or a migratory sense of place may serve as a points of departure for your own argument. How does Cronon’s “dangerous duality” (which separates nature and civilization) apply to your understanding of urban nature? How does Cronon’s dualism help you to understand, describe, analyze, or critique your own experience of the urban landscape?
Your essay should have an introduction composed of common ground, problem and claim, a body in which you develop your argument using evidence from your own observations, and a conclusion.
Please follow formatting guidelines given on the syllabus and cite using MLA style. Include a Works Cited list.
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~Hyper/WALDEN/toc.html
^ thoraeu’s walden
