Now that you’ve learned about ecocriticism, practiced this methods of analysis with “Dear Phantom Children,” and reviewed some examples, you will complete a theoretical response to a text using ecocriticism as your approach. You will read three different texts below. Choose one text and respond to the questions in a short essay (500-750 words).

I have included questions to guide your reading. You may choose to respond to some or all of these questions; however, your response should be written as a short essay, and you will need to come up with a thesis statement about your chosen text. Post your short essay as a response to the Ecocriticism Theoretical Response discussion board. I have included the theoretical response assignment instructions at the end of this chapter.

1. Excerpt from Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro (2021)

That was one reason why we always thought so much about being in the window. Each of us had been promised our turn, and each of us longed for it to come. That was partly to do with what Manager called the “special honour” of representing the store to the outside. Also, of course, whatever Manager said, we all knew we were more likely to be chosen while in the window. But the big thing, silently understood by us all, was the Sun and his nourishment. Rosa did once bring it up with me, in a whisper, a little while before our turn came around.

“Klara, do you think once we’re in the window, we’ll receive so much goodness we’ll never get short again?”

I was still quite new then, so didn’t know how to answer, even though the same question had been in my mind.

Then our turn finally came, and Rosa and I stepped into the window one morning, making sure not to knock over any of the display the way the pair before us had done the previous week. The store, of course, had yet to open, and I thought the grid would be fully down. But once we’d seated ourselves on the Striped Sofa, I saw there was a narrow gap running along the bottom of the grid – Manager must have raised it a little when checking everything was ready for us – and the Sun’s light was making a bright rectangle that came up onto the platform and finished in a straight line just in front of us. We only needed to stretch our feet a little to place them within its warmth. I knew then that whatever the answer to Rosa’s question, we were about to get all the nourishment we would need for some time to come. And once Manager touched the switch and the grid climbed up all the way, we became covered in dazzling light.

I should confess here that for me, there’d always been another reason for wanting to be in the window which had nothing to do with the Sun’s nourishment or being chosen. Unlike most AFs, unlike Rosa, I’d always longed to see more of the outside – and to see it in all its detail. So once the grid went up, the realisation that there was now only the glass between me and the sidewalk, that I was free to see, close up and whole, so many things I’d seen before only as corners and edges, made me so excited that for a moment I nearly forgot about the Sun and his kindness to us.

I could see for the first time that the RPO Building was in fact made of separate bricks, and that it wasn’t white, as I’d always thought, but a pale yellow. I could now see too that it was even taller than I’d imagined – twenty-two stories – and that each repeating window was underlined by its own special ledge. I saw how the Sun had drawn a diagonal line right across the face of the RPO Building, so that on one side of it there was a triangle that looked almost white, while on the other was one that looked very dark, even though I now knew it was all the pale yellow colour. And not only could I see every window right up to the rooftop, I could sometimes see the people inside, standing, sitting, moving around. Then down on the street, I could see the passers-by, their different kinds of shoes, paper cups, shoulder bags, little dogs, and if I wanted, I could follow with my eyes any one of them all the way past the pedestrian crossing and beyond the second Tow-Away Zone sign, to where two overhaul men were standing beside a drain and pointing. I could see right inside the taxis as they slowed to let the crowd go over the crossing – a driver’s hand tapping on his steering wheel, a cap worn by a passenger.

The day went on, the Sun kept us warm, and I could see Rosa was very happy. But I noticed too that she hardly looked at anything, fixing her eyes constantly on the first Tow-Away Zone sign just in front of us. Only when I pointed out something to her would she turn her head, but then she’d lose interest and go back to looking at the sidewalk outside and the sign.

Excerpt from Klara and the Sunby Kazuo Ishiguro is all rights reserved and is used under a Fair Use rationale. This passage comes from an excerpt in The Guardian published in 2021. 

Questions

1. How does the passage depict the relationship between technology (AFs) and the natural world (the Sun)?Consider the role of the Sun as a source of “nourishment” for Klara and Rosa. What does this suggest about the interdependence between technological beings and natural elements?
2. What does the longing for the Sun’s “goodness” reveal about the characters’ connection to the environment? Explore how the AFs’ desire for the Sun’s light reflects broader themes of environmental sustenance and well-being. How does this parallel human dependence on natural resources?
3. How is the urban environment portrayed through Klara’s observations from the window? Analyze Klara’s detailed observations of the outside world, including the RPO Building and the passers-by. What do these observations tell us about the interaction between urban life and the natural environment?
4. What significance does the glass window hold as a barrier between the AFs and the outside world? Discuss the symbolic meaning of the glass window in separating Klara and Rosa from the natural and urban environments they observe. How does this reflect broader themes of isolation or connection in the context of environmental and technological interaction?
5. In what ways does the passage challenge or reinforce the notion of anthropocentrism? Consider Klara’s and Rosa’s roles as observers of the human and non-human elements of their environment. How does their perspective as artificial entities affect the narrative’s portrayal of human centrality in relation to the natural world?

2. The Song of Wandering Aengus

Theoretical Response Assignment Instructions

Instructions

Grading

• 15 points: theoretical response
• 10 points: online discussion (5 points per response) OR class attendance.