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Lesson 1 (from Prologue, Part 1: Westward)

Objective

In Prologue, Part 1: Westward, Peter Matthiessen begins his description of his expedition with zoologist George Schaller through the Himalayas in search of the elusive snow leopard. Matthiessen employs a diary-style of writing and vividly depicts the scenery, people, culture, wildlife, and his own existential, personal, and spiritual beliefs and musings. The genre of the book is nature writing. The objective of this lesson is to examine how the genre of the book is revealed through the writing style.

Lesson

1) Class Discussion - Discuss what constitutes nature writing. What is nature writing? How does Peter Matthiessen describe his journey that lends itself to this genre classification? What do books labeled as nature writing have in common?

2) Group Discussion - Divide the class into small groups and have them discuss how the book would be different if the genre was something other than nature writing. If the book...

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