English 100 teaches you what to do with academic arguments—how to
understand them, how to use them, and how to make them. This section of
English 100 will focus in particular on arguments about the environment.
The works we read will provide us with a wide range of such arguments:
scientific claims about the ways that humans and nonhumans affect each
other; political claims about how society ought to behave toward the
environment; ethical claims about our responsibilities toward nature;
and cultural claims about why our relationship to nature matters. In a
series of short papers, you’ll practice analyzing these texts on their
own, comparing how different writers approach similar topics, putting
forward your own claims, and, finally, presenting original research on a
topic of your choosing related to Hawaiian environmentalism. By the end
of the semester, you will not only have mastered the basics of academic
research and communication; you will also find yourself able to
confidently enter environmental debates.