Date of Project

4-19-2024

Document Type

Honors Thesis

School Name

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

English

Major Advisor

Professor John James

Second Advisor

Dr. Kathy West

Abstract

This project aims to create resonances and synchronicities between the works of science writers Rachel Carson and Carl Sagan and poets John Keats and Mary Oliver. It puts their environmental ethics in conversation with one another with a focus on shared literary practices and ecocritical and ecocentric sensibilities. Is the work of poetry, particularly poetry participating in the Romantic tradition, compatible with science writing? The ultimate goal is to demonstrate the symbiosis between science and literature and the necessity of bridging scientific and poetic discourse in regard to addressing climate and the environment. Each chapter pairs a science writer with a poet, identifies similar threads or themes in their writings, and showcases how these connections come together to elucidate compatible environmental ethics across disciplines.

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