ENST 101 - The Art of Reading and Writing

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

Although the content of each section varies, this course may not be repeated for credit; see the Freshman Handbook for descriptions.

Topic for 2016/17a: Thoreau in His Time and Ours. Henry David Thoreau’s influence on American environmental thought, political ideas, and literary culture is enduring.  he course examines some of his ​own​ writings including Walden, “Essay on Civil Disobedience,” excerpts from his “Indian Notebooks,” and from his lifelong Journal. We also read and write about twenty-first-century works in his tradition, including Cheryl Strayed’s book Wild (and the recent film made from it), as well as some contemporary journalism. Twentieth-century writers could include John Muir, John Burroughs (with a field trip to his nearby retreat Slabsides), Earnest Hemingway, Annie Dillard, and Gary Snyder. Photography and landscape painting influenced by Thoreau are also considered. Thoreau himself was a great prose stylist, and can provide a model for our own writing, including journal writing.

Open only to freshmen; satisfies the college requirement for a Freshman Writing Seminar.

Two 75-minute periods.