Casper, The Mercy Journals: Bacigalupi, "The Tamarisk Hunter"

Literature and Contemporary Culture:
Stories of a Climate Future
Instructions:
Length: 750-800 words - may exceed this length if necessary but will be
penalized if under the length requirement.
Students should compose a clear, well-organized, and unified discussion that

clearly responds to the chosen prompt. Please keep introductions and
conclusions to a bare minimum.
As a take-home assignment, essays should be free of errors, and edited as

needed to be make the writing as effective as possible, specific, and precise.
Students should not cite secondary sources for/in this exam.
~~~
The paper required you to prepare the works studies on the following topic:
“the specific guidance each work offers the reader about

climate crisis, guidance both practical and ethical, in answer to
the question, “What can I do?”
Students must include a discussion of each of the following (extent may

vary)
Casper, The Mercy Journals; Bacigalupi, “The Tamarisk

Hunter”; Miyazake, Princess Mononoke; Newitz, Autonomous;
Millet, “Zoogoing”
Topics:
Choose ONE of the following:
Option A: Shape your material around ONE of the following statements in

some way. Refer to the passage as needed, but do not quote it at length.
1. Creatures who have traveled with us through the ages are now
apparently doomed, as their habitat—and the old, old habitat of
humans—falls before the slow-motion explosion of expanding world
economies. If the lad or lass is among us who knows where the secret
heart of this Growth- Monster is hidden, let them please tell us where
to shoot the arrow that will slow it down. (G. Snyder, The Practice of
the Wild, 5)
2. For literature possesses certain special abilities, very different to those
of science. It can convey us into the minds of other people, and even
— speculatively — the minds of other species. It can help us to imagine
alternative futures and counter-factual pasts. It is content with partial
knowledge in ways that science is not. Crucially it can, in author and
environmentalist Bill McKibben's phrase, make us feel things “in the
gut”— fear, loss and damage, certainly, but also hope, beauty and
wonder. And these last are, I think, the most important emotions in
terms of our environmental future: our behaviour is more likely to be
changed by promise than by menace. We will not save what we do not
love. (R. Macfarlane in Nature, 2013)
3. Shallow ecology might thus be regarded as very much the mainstream

wing of environmentalism. Deep ecology, in contrast, rejects
anthropocentrisma and takes a “total-field” perspective. In other
words, deep ecologists are not aiming to formulate moral principles
concerning the environment to supplement our existing ethical
framework. Instead, they demand an entirely new worldview and
philosophical perspective. (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy,
“Environmental Ethics” a) “Deep Ecology”)
a. “Anthropocentrism” refers to the belief or assumption that humankind is
central, exceptional, or superior to other life forms. Deep ecologists, then,
demand this be rejected, where as “shallow ecologists” may not.
Option B: Shape your material around one of the following rubrics. If it
helps your response, please feel free to use any idea you like from the
passages above.
1. Rank the works we’ve studied according to how deeply they informed
your sense of “what you can do.” You might think of this in terms of
how much they challenge your thinking or behaviour, or in terms of
how important you regard the message, and why. Begin with the least
significant and end with the most.
2. Rank the works in terms of how relevant you think they are in helping
you/us make sense of how to live after the two “black swan” eventsa
that have bookended this university term – the Australian bushfires
and the current pandemic (just assume rather than spell out what
these events are so you can focus on the literature). Begin with the
least relevant and end with the most.
A “black swan” event is an unforeseen event that goes well beyond the
normal in terms of its harmful consequences.
3. Discuss the works in terms of the most significant human obstacle
(whether in thinking or in behaviour) that stands in the way of acting in
harmony with the natural world in each case. What can you conclude
about how to live from how this obstacle is dealt with (or not), whether
by the most, or the least admirable character? Comment on any
significant similarities or differences.

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Literature and Contemporary Culture:

Stories of a Climate Future

Students should compose a clear, well-organized, and unified discussion that

As a take-home assignment, essays should be free of errors, and edited as

“the specific guidance each work offers the reader about

Students must include a discussion of each of the following (extent may

Casper, The Mercy Journals; Bacigalupi, “The Tamarisk

Choose ONE of the following:

Option A: Shape your material around ONE of the following statements in

3. Shallow ecology might thus be regarded as very much the mainstream

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