Essay #2—Environment

English 104-007

Draft Due: February 27, 2007

Final Due Date: March 6, 2007

Length: 5-7 pages

Sources: 4-6

 

Follow the criteria in the syllabus for paper formatting (font, margins, name, etc.). Don’t forget a title and your works cited page.

 

The very word environment instantly, for many Americans, conjures up debates surrounding energy (consumption, production, sources, etc.), recycling, the ozone, the ocean, and a host of ecological disasters ranging from hurricanes in the South to mudslides and forest fires in the West. Our friend the Oxford English Dictionary, however, does not take such a narrow approach to the word—instead it broadens the nuances and potential hidden within the concept of “environment.” My favorite of the 3 major definitions (each with sub-definitions) is this one:

 

The conditions under which any person or thing lives or is developed; the sum-total of influences which modify and determine the development of life or character.

 

Take a moment and consider the complexity of this definition. How do you fit into the word “environment?” What is your environment? Is it your dorm? Your house? Your city? State? Country? Your family? Friends? Race? Gender? Government? How is your environment a reflection of who you are? If our environments are reflections of who we are, then how would someone read, for example, your room as a mirror of your tastes and values? How would someone from another country read the United States as an environment?

 

To further complicate notions surrounding environment I want you to find the intersections between your environments (assuming you probably occupy more than one). How do you influence your environment(s) and, conversely, how does it (do they) influence you? Once you begin to investigate these intersections it would probably be worthwhile to see if there are connections between environment in terms of environmentalism (“the environment”) and the definition offered by the OED.

 

Each of the authors we’ve read in this section discusses their affinity for their environment using thick and vivid description. I would like for you to explore this type of writing style. Regardless of the subject you’re approaching, see if you can make what you’re describing as real as possible for your reader. I caution each of you to think about what you want to explore earlier versus later. For some of you the environment you’ll want to explore will be your hometown. If this is the case you’ll need to make plans for travel, which always means that you’ll need to make arrangements well in advance. I encourage you to use photography to supplement your essays in meaningful ways. Likewise, this might be a good essay for you to interview people from your environment, especially the older people in your life (think of nursing homes from your hometown and your grandparents as particularly rich sources of information). You might also use this paper as a chance to check out archives for old pictures and articles both in your hometowns and locally. For example, if UK is your environment you might explore its history—when was it founded? What did the campus look like in 1900 versus 2000?

 

Remember that you have access to a ton of technology—feel free to use it. Your Penguin Handbook offers many options for archival research and we have both cameras and voice recorders in the Writing Program Office that I can check out for you. Don’t forget that museums are always up for grabs too…

 

Back to Syllabus