Max's post: Faulkner

Faulkner’s story “the bear” is about a succession of hunting seasons where a group of hunters try and track and kill a bear they deem “Old Ben”. In the beginning “Old Ben” is portrayed as a beast having “furious immortality” in which “ran not even a mortal beast but an anachronism indomitable and invincible”. But as the story wears on the hunters get closer and closer to killing him, readers get to see that he isn’t impregnable. Do you think that Faulkner is using “Old Ben” as a symbol for nature and how humanity attempts to dominate and control it? The nearer the hunters draw to the kill, the harder it gets for them to survive and prosper. Do you think that there is any meaning in this? Is Faulkner saying that the more we exploit nature the harder it will be for us?

Tara's post: Dickinson: 280

Well after "reading" Emily Dickinson, and then rereading, I was overwhelmed with the dense metaphors and unusual use of capitalization and punctuation within the poems. Looking specifically at poem 280, it is noticed that Dickinson's poems have a tendency to focus on the morbid aspects of life, that of death, illness, and the act of dying. I envisioned a funeral taking place while I was reading, with the mourners passing the coffin to pay their respects, followed by the service and then the closing of the coffin. It is as though the speaker is the deceased, and is looking at those mourning his/her death.



"As all the Heavens were a Bell,

And Being, but an Ear,

And I, and Silence, some strange Race

Wrecked, solitary, here-"

-Taken from 280



From the above passage, I seemed to grasp that the speaker is unable to engage with the others since he/she is deceased, but this different point of view is one that can only be gained once one has died. Is Dickinson stating that death is not the end of life, but rather a different form in which the body may be deceased, but the soul lives on? How does the soul as an eternal figure tie in with the religious language that Dickinson portrays in this poem, as well as others?

Song of Myself

"For every atom belonging to me as good as belongs to you." (l. 3)

How would you describe the status of the body in Whitman's poem At what points in the poem does Whitman have a strong bodily presence and at what points does he seem bodiless? To what extent is Whitman's "Me" dependent on his physical self? How does he relate to other people: as bodies? as souls? Find an example to discuss that seems important, or relevant, or weird.

Reading Whitman for the first time can be a disorienting experience. In addition to responding to the question above, feel free to post questions that came up for you while reading.

Thoreau/Leopold essay questions

Listed below are essay topics for the assignment due Thursday, Sept. 25. You should choose one of the following topics as your starting point for a 4-6 page analytical essay. Although you should pay close attention to the stated questions as you plan the essay, I encourage you narrow the topic and tailor it to your own argument; you need not address every element of the essay topic. Above all, you should ground your essay in detailed close readings and specific quotations and evidence, and you should structure your essay around a sharply articulated argument.

You may design your own essay topic if you wish, but you must clear it with me first.

For this Thursday, Sept. 18, re-read or skim your chosen text and collect pieces of evidence that might work to support a paper on one of these topics. This will not be quick: it should take at least an hour or two. Make a list of the evidence that you find. You can be generous and creative: each piece doesn’t necessarily have to fit the topic exactly; the idea is to collect anything that might be useful, and worry later about which pieces you’re actually going to use.

You should list at least 10-20 bits of evidence—these can be as small as a single word or phrase, or as large as a few paragraphs. You do not need to give the entire quotation, but you should indicate with a few words or a sentence what the quotation says and how it might be important. Look for both literal and figurative evidence (e.g., if you are writing on Thoreau and houses, examine his actual description of his and other houses, but also look for metaphors that use the idea of a house).

Bring three copies of your evidence list to class.

1. How does Thoreau define 'home,' and to what extent does he apply the notion of home to his house at Walden? Is his house his home, or is 'home' a more fluid concept for Thoreau? How important is it that Thoreau dwells in a particular place? Do other people and beings have homes? In studying Thoreau's definition of home, you might consider images of hospitality and/or property.

2. Examine the status of reading (or the figure of the reader) in either Thoreau or Leopold.
-For Thoreau: analyze his copious use of literary, religious, and cultural allusions. Choose either a particular type of allusion (i.e., Classical mythology, Eastern religions) or analyze the intersection of different allusions in a single section. How does he intertwine the 'natural' and the everyday with the world of art and myth, and for what purpose? How do these allusions relate to the status of actual books--for example, as the libraries of translated classics in his contemporaries' homes, or the physical books that are object of exchange in the marketplace?

-For Leopold: Although Leopold is less wildly allusive than Thoreau, he, too, frequently uses literary and cultural allusions. Analyze their role in his work; how does the divide between Leopold's ordinary life and these cultural myths inform his theories? How does he use allusions to appeal to readers' ethical development? How do specifically American "spit-rail" folk figures such as Daniel Boone relate to European and/or ancient references? The opening sections of "The Land Ethic," which refers to The Odyssey, the Bible (e.g. the Mosaic Decalogue, or the Ten Commandments), and American pioneers like Daniel Boone and Simon Kenton, would be a good starting place.

3. Analyze ideas of agriculture and farming in Thoreau and/or Leopold. Leopold owns a (defunct) farm; Thoreau (hypothetically) considers buying one. Leopold manages forest land and animal populations as his profession; Thoreau 'farms' his land at Walden. How does each of them use ideas of agriculture and animal husbandry? What is the relationship of cultivated land or "crop" animals (as Leopold puts it) to their wild counterparts?

4. Analyze the role of gender in either Leopold or Thoreau. To what extent are their concerns, their theories, and their language particularly masculine, or not? What role does the feminine (either actual women/girls or female-ness, figuratively speaking) play in their work? Possible angles for your analysis: the role of sexuality and reproduction; the sentimental vs. the scientific; or American cultural myths and their association with gender.

Sand County Almanac

How important is Aldo Leopold as a character and a "self" in A Sand County Almanac? How autobiographical or personal is this text? By extension, to what extend do you see SCA as anthropocentric (human-centered) vs. ecocentric (environment-centered)? Is Sand County a place, defined by Lawrence Buell as "space humanized," or a space, "the material world taken on its own terms"?

Point to specific examples or passages, interpret the question as you see fit, and try to respond to your fellow commenters in your response.

Assignment: Nature Meditation

Due in class Thursday, September 11

Your assignment is to “go to the woods” and write a 3 page meditation on nature using some of the techniques of Thoreau and/or Leopold. This piece should reflect your own perspective—you need not imitate every element of Thoreau or Leopold's style—but use their work for inspiration and guidance.

Find a place on Stonehill’s campus to sit or walk and contemplate your surroundings. Do not rush this process! You may want to take notes or make sketches while you are there. I highly recommend the Chet Raymo nature trail as a place to begin, though you can choose your own spot. You can see a map of the trail here (marked #3).

This site also has some information about the history of the Stonehill campus and its ecosystem, which might be of use to you.

Walden and Place

Peggy Noonan laments "the end of placeness" in her op/ed piece, marking it as a recent trend. To what extent do you think Thoreau would agree with Noonan that a strong sense of place is vital to understanding ourselves and maintaining "American culture"? How important is it that Thoreau is from a specific place (Concord, Walden Pond) as opposed to a more generalized place (any agricultural area near a city; any pond)? How does Thoreau define place, anyway?

Two ways of addressing this question:
-How does Thoreau use place-names (like Walden Pond) to privilege the specificity of place?
-Thoreau often uses references to other times, places, cultures, and works of literature; does this change our understanding of what place means?

Use specifics in your response!
See you tomorrow.