The Wilds of Literature
Immerses students in literature that represents the interaction between humans and nature as joyous, sublime, revelatory, and mutually sustaining. Without denying the damage humans have wreaked on the environment, explores the role that pleasure, resilience, wonder, and hope might play in helping us to envision new modes of engagement with one another in an ever-changing environment. Students are enjoined to follow the example of authors — such as Henry David Thoreau, Annie Dillard, and Lauret Savoy — by selecting and visiting a local natural site, and writing about the experience. May be repeated for credit with permission of instructor if content differs.
Spring 2002 · End of Nature
Topics
- Introduction: The Image of Nature in Genesis.
- Forster, E. M. “The Machine Stops.”
- Shakespeare. The Tempest. (continued)
- Defoe. Robinson Crusoe.
- Defoe. Robinson Crusoe. (continued)
- Hume, David. Dialogues on Natural Religion. (continued)
- Rousseau. Excerpts from On the Origins of Inequality.
- Wordsworth. Selections from The Prelude. (continued)
- Thoreau, Henry David. Excerpts from Walden.
- Thoreau, Henry David. Excerpts from Walden. (continued)
- Darwin. Selections from On the Origin of Species.
- Darwin. Selections from On the Origin of Species. (continued) Frost, Robert. Design, Come In, The Most of It.
- Wells, H. G. The Island of Dr. Moreau.
- Wells. Selections from On the Origin of Species. (continued)
- Williams, George. “A Sociobiological Expansion of ‘Evolution and Ethics’.”
- Faulkner, William. “The Bear.” In Go Down, Moses.
- Le Guin, Ursula K. “Vaster Than Empires and More Slow.”
Readings
- Cicero. Excerpt from On the Gods: The Discourse of Balbus.
- 5 · Shakespeare. The Tempest. (continued)
- 7 · Defoe. Robinson Crusoe. (continued)
- Linnaeus. Excerpts from The Economy of Nature .
- 9 · Hume, David. Dialogues on Natural Religion. (continued)
- Rousseau. Excerpts from On the Origins of Inequaltiy. (continued)
- 12 · Wordsworth. Selections from The Prelude. (continued)
- 13 · Wordsworth. Selections from The Prelude. (continued)
- Chap. 1. “Economy.” pp. 7-18 up to “. . . one kind at the expense of the others’; p 23, from “As for shelter . . .” to p. 26, “. . . the children’s teeth are set on edge”; p. 32, from “. . . Though we are not so degenerate . . .” to p. 36, “. . . to the exclusion of thinking for myself”; p. 38, from “I thus found that the student . . .” to p. 58, end of chapter.
- Thoreau, Henry David. Excerpts from Walden. (continued):
- Chap. 15. “Winter Animals.” From p. 187, “Squirrels and wild mice disputed . . .” to p. 188, end of chapter.
- Keats. The Grasshopper and the Cricket, To Autumn.
- Chap. 4. Pp. 88-102; pp. 106-16; pp. 124 to end of chapter.
- Darwin. Selections from On the Origin of Species. (continued):
- Chap. 7. Pp. 196-210 (. . . “variability; but as the case stands there is none.”); pp. 226 to end of chapter.
- Frost, Robert. Design, Come In, The Most of It.
- 20 · Wells, H. G. The Island of Dr. Moreau. (continued).
- 23 · Faulkner, William. “The Bear.” In Go Down, Moses.
- Faulkner, William. “The Bear.” In Go Down, Moses. (continued).
Prerequisites & course information
Prereq: None Acad Year 2027-2028: Not offered Acad Year 2028-2029: U (Spring) 3-0-9 units. HASS-A Can be repeated for credit.
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026–2027
- MIT OpenCourseWare ↗Spring 2002
- MIT OCW syllabus ↗
- MIT OCW readings ↗
- MIT OCW calendar ↗
- Historical MIT OpenCourseWare offering. Named reading entries and schedule topics are automatically extracted from the linked source pages.