Ken Hiltner
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  • Walden
    • Beginning
    • Preface
    • Table of Contents
    • Editor’s Introduction
    • Economy
    • Where I Lived & What I lived For
    • Reading
    • Sounds
    • Solitude
    • Visitors
    • The Bean-Field
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    • The Ponds
    • Baker Farm
    • Higher Laws
    • Brute Neighbors
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    • Former Inhabitants & Winter Visitors
    • Winter Animals
    • The Pond in Winter
    • Spring
    • Conclusion
    • On the Duty of Civil Disobedience
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ENGLISH 23

(A.K.A. CLIMATE CRISIS 101)

Week #5

Making waste (of the planet)

Weekly Assignments

Reading

This week’s reading is Chapters 2-7 of Vance Packard’s classic 1960 study of consumerism: The Waste Makers. A PDF of the entire book is available online. (You are only required to read Chapters 2-7.)

After reading it, please comment on it in the weekly Canvas reading discussion.

Films

Please watch either the documentary The True Cost or “The Ugly Truth Of Fast Fashion” (from Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj) according to these guidelines:

1) If you have not taken Eng 22 (Intro to L & E) in in 2020, 2021, 2022, or 2023, please watch The True Cost. It is available for viewing on GauchoSpace (GauchoCast). If you are not enrolled in the class, it can be rented for a relatively modest fee from YouTube, Amazon, Google, etc.

2) If you have taken taken Eng 22 in in 2020, 2021, 2022, or 2023, please instead watch The Ugly Truth Of Fast Fashion on YouTube, which streams for free online.

After watching one of the above films, please go to Canvas to make a comment on it.

Lecture videos

The following lectures will be delivered live in Campbell Hall during the Tuesday class period. If you miss class or would like to review them (for exam prep, for example), here they are. For your convenience, they can be accessed below as either PDFs, audio podcasts, or YouTube videos.

Reading 5, The Waste Makers (2024)

download as a PDF / watch as a video / listen to as a podcast

Note that, while listening to this section being narrated, you could also read along. Some people find that such “Immersion Reading” helps them concentrate and learn better. Feel free to give it a try.

In addition, please watch, read, or listen to the following lecture on your own:

Film 5, The True Cost (2024)

download as a PDF / watch as a video / listen to as a podcast

Note that, while listening to this section being narrated, you could also read along. Some people find that such “Immersion Reading” helps them concentrate and learn better. Feel free to give it a try.

Note that, because of the midterm, there are no additional video lectures for this week. Please use the time that you would have allocated for watching additional lectures to prepare for the midterm.

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