AMH 3931-0352

History of Sustainability, Dr. Davis

Spring 2012

Take-Home Essay 1

To complete the essay, you are required to write (using third-person language only) a maximum five-page essay addressing the prompts below. You must use twelve-point font (Times New-Roman is the most economical with space), default margin settings (or 1"), and double-spaced lines (not 1.5 or 1.75 but 2 in the space setting). You will need to put a lot of thought not only into the content of the paper, but also into the presentation of your response. Your essay needs to be written in a single seamless narrative, without rephrasing the questions and without listing answers in bullets. Draw on assigned readings and classroom lectures only. Do not use any other sources.

Succeeding at this task means that you will want to employ an economy of words in tightly constructed sentences and paragraphs. You should write in clear and concise language that conveys only information that is relevant to the subject. In other words, avoid becoming bogged down in minutiae, but provide the information necessary to show that you have a comprehensive understanding of the reading materials. When you respond to the questions, always think in terms of historical significance and draw on the course readings that cover the period that you are asked to discuss. Organize your paragraphs thoughtfully, ensuring they introduce a main point and remain focused on that point.

(Remember to follow the rules in the Writing Mechanics Exercise. Retrieve it from your class notebook and put it on your desk next to your computer before your begin.) Write this paper as if you are writing to educate someone who has no familiarity with this topic or the course readings. If you quote from one of the readings, either note the author’s name in the sentence or the source title and page number in parenthesis at the end of the sentence. For example: According to Donald Worster in The Wealth of Nature, “We have no full history of the word, but its origins appear to lie in the concept of ‘sustained-yield.’” (Note that book titles are put in italics not in quotation marks. Article and chapter titles are put in quotation marks. Additionally, a quote within a quote, as “sustained-yield” appears here, is placed within single quotation marks. This is the only reason for using single quotation marks. )

· Discuss the varied and complex meaning of sustainability. This discussion should also address the meaning of sustained or sustainable yield. What are the problems with sustainable yield according to Donald Worster and Robert Goodland?

· Drawing on the reading from William Cronon’s Changes in the Land, discuss the more sustainable relationship of New England Indians with the natural world and how the ecological relationships of European settlers undermined the indigenous way of life.

· In what way, according to William Cronon, is wilderness a constructed place? What was the traditional western image of wilderness and how did Romanticism, through art and literature, change that image?

· What, according to Jennifer Price, had been the complex lesson that has come from the extinction of the passenger pigeon? (Don’t forget about the connection to natural resources.)

· Sum up by explaining how Romanticism and how extinction as examined by Price have a place in the history of sustainability.

Good luck!