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Titel
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Man and Nature
In this unit students read texts that have to do with the relationship between people and nature. We open with a short text that reflects on the Christian world view and reflect on how this can still be seen to reflect how people in the English speaking world approach the natural world today. We move on to short story analysis and essay writing with a text that explores themes of individual responsibility and compassion in the face of capitalist degradation of the environment. This allows us to discuss the genre expectations we have of the short story, before we move on to Minecraft and how to analyze computer games. We play the opening of the game, notice the game mechanics and genre, and then we move on to consider the frontier setting of Minecraft as a mirror of especially American values, such as individualism, industry and self-reliance. Students also discuss whether it makes sense to criticize Minecraft for being a colonialist fantasy. The unit then turns to romantic poetry, and students engage with a Wordsworth and a Blake poem which together exemplify the tendencies that characterize the age. The unit finishes with a screening of Jurassic Park (1993) and students practice presentations on cinematic devices, visual symbolism, and themes.
Key concepts include:
- Domination, cultivation, the Garden of Eden, sin, short story genre traits, characters, narrator, theme, message, symbolism, point of view, conflict, dilemma, gameplay, sandbox, open world, on rails storytelling, early game, mid game, late game, home-out-home, first person, platform, shooter, sim(ulator), survival mode, quest, the frontier, individualism, colonialism, truth in nature, pantheism, the spontaneous overflow of powerful feeling, poetic genius, language of the common people, dualism, contrasts, the cult of childhood, nostalgic longing, industrialization and political revolution, cinematic devices
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