Please respond to one of the following questions:
A. Watch this advertisement for Monsanto (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JVMzVnZ3C8)
and then analyze the add in terms of the message it sends about Monsanto and about the culture the "robots" visit.
B. Pollan writes: “The problem of monoculture may itself be as much a problem of culture as it is of agriculture. Which is to say, it’s a problem in which all of us are implicated…which is to say our desire for control and uniformity. So much of what I’d seen in Idaho…goes back to that perfect McDonald’s French fry at the eating end of the food chain” (227). How we can go about changing the global taste pallet? Or even the American pallat? Is this even possible?
C. How would you classify Pollan's style of writing? Is he a philosopher? A scientist? A Historian? Back up your classification with specific evidence from the text.
Please use the comment link below to respond to the question.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Pollan: Potato Chapter 183-210. Due Monday, February 23, 9:00 PM
Please respond to one of the following questions:
A. How can we characterize Ireland and English based on their reaction to the potato? Or, what do we learn about a culture from its food choices (for instance, what can we say about America based on our penchant for fast food)?
B. In what ways is genetic engineering a good thing?
C. On pages 195-96, Pollans writes that nature has always exercised a kind of veto over what culture can do with a potato; now, however, man can actually produce variability. He writes: “For the first time, breeders can bring qualities at will from anywhere in nature into the genome of a plant” (196). How does this new-found power redefine what it means to be a "plant?"
A. How can we characterize Ireland and English based on their reaction to the potato? Or, what do we learn about a culture from its food choices (for instance, what can we say about America based on our penchant for fast food)?
B. In what ways is genetic engineering a good thing?
C. On pages 195-96, Pollans writes that nature has always exercised a kind of veto over what culture can do with a potato; now, however, man can actually produce variability. He writes: “For the first time, breeders can bring qualities at will from anywhere in nature into the genome of a plant” (196). How does this new-found power redefine what it means to be a "plant?"
Monday, February 16, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Pollan: Pages
Please respond to one of the following questions:
A. What did Tulips represent/mean in Holland early on (17th century, before tulipmania)? Why were Tulips a good fit for the Dutch? In other words, what can we learn about the Dutch based based on the Tulip?
B. After it was discovered that virus caused the magnificent color breaks, the Dutch went about eliminating the virus, thereby eliminating the tulip they so prized. What does it say about the Dutch that beauty was based upon a weakness? Do we do anything similar--prize something that may not be the healthiest?
C. How does income reflect people's perception of beauty or does it?
D. Pollan distinguishes Apollonian vs. Dionysian ideas of beauty. How does the Tulip fit into or perhaps blur these two views? Which view, in your opinion, do we value today?
A. What did Tulips represent/mean in Holland early on (17th century, before tulipmania)? Why were Tulips a good fit for the Dutch? In other words, what can we learn about the Dutch based based on the Tulip?
B. After it was discovered that virus caused the magnificent color breaks, the Dutch went about eliminating the virus, thereby eliminating the tulip they so prized. What does it say about the Dutch that beauty was based upon a weakness? Do we do anything similar--prize something that may not be the healthiest?
C. How does income reflect people's perception of beauty or does it?
D. Pollan distinguishes Apollonian vs. Dionysian ideas of beauty. How does the Tulip fit into or perhaps blur these two views? Which view, in your opinion, do we value today?
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Pollan: Intro and Pages 61-79. Due Wednesday, Feb. 11
Please respond to one of the following questions:
A. Why are flowers consistently considered beautiful and laden with such heavy meanings? (e.g. Roses are often associated with love). Are we born with a disposition to love flowers?
B. What similarities do you see between Pollan's view of the human-nature relationship and that of Oates?
C. What is the relationship among the garden, the forest, nature, wild for Pollan as he tries "to pin down exactly what distinguishes the garden in bloom from an ordinary patch of nature?" (73). And where do humans and civilization fit into Pollan's schema?
To answer any of these questions please hit the "comment" link below.
A. Why are flowers consistently considered beautiful and laden with such heavy meanings? (e.g. Roses are often associated with love). Are we born with a disposition to love flowers?
B. What similarities do you see between Pollan's view of the human-nature relationship and that of Oates?
C. What is the relationship among the garden, the forest, nature, wild for Pollan as he tries "to pin down exactly what distinguishes the garden in bloom from an ordinary patch of nature?" (73). And where do humans and civilization fit into Pollan's schema?
To answer any of these questions please hit the "comment" link below.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Oates: "Against Nature." Due Monday, February 9
Answer any ONE of the following questions:
A. Do you agree with Oates' characterization of nature in the opening section? Why or why not?
B. In the second and third sections of her essay and again in the concluding two sections, Oates recounts personal experiences with nature. How do Oates' experiences of nature change over time? How are they related? In an essay about writing about nature, what does this personal dimension add?
C. What does she mean when she says on page 4 "Nature is mouths, or maybe a single mouth" and then, at the opening of the next paragraph "nature is more than a mouth--it's a dazzling variety of mouths." Is she contradicting herself? Discuss her characterization of nature in this section.
To respond to this post simply click on the "comment" link below. If however, you would like to add additional material to your post (links, images, video) you need to create a new post.
A. Do you agree with Oates' characterization of nature in the opening section? Why or why not?
B. In the second and third sections of her essay and again in the concluding two sections, Oates recounts personal experiences with nature. How do Oates' experiences of nature change over time? How are they related? In an essay about writing about nature, what does this personal dimension add?
C. What does she mean when she says on page 4 "Nature is mouths, or maybe a single mouth" and then, at the opening of the next paragraph "nature is more than a mouth--it's a dazzling variety of mouths." Is she contradicting herself? Discuss her characterization of nature in this section.
To respond to this post simply click on the "comment" link below. If however, you would like to add additional material to your post (links, images, video) you need to create a new post.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Nature Poetry, due by Wednesday, February 4 at 9PM
Focus on your assigned poem, thinking about how that poem writes the environment or nature? What is nature or the environment in the poem? What is the relationship between humans and nature in the poem? What kind of language is used? What is being said about nature? What is the speaker’s connection to nature? Does the speaker see nature in spiritual terms? Political terms? Philosophical terms? What kind of connection can you make between your poems, or the poems generally, and Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek?
You can submit your post by clicking on the "comment" link underneath this post.
You can submit your post by clicking on the "comment" link underneath this post.
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