PAPER FOUR PROMPT

Technology and Nature in New England
R. S. Deese
Boston University
Fall, 2009
Paper 4: One Question, Three Sources (1250-1500 words)
Initial Draft Due in Class November 23, 2009
Second Draft Due Online December 2
FINAL DRAFT DUE IN PRINT December 11

Question X:




The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost



Imagine you are standing at this fork in the road with David E. Nye, Carolyn Merchant, and ____________. What light can the metaphor of “two roads” shed on the choices we make about our use of technology and our relationship with the natural world? In your essay, be sure to present a detailed discussion of how each author might use this metaphor to explain his or her ideas about technology and nature, and then conclude with your own interpretation.


Question Y:




The year is 2014. Having completed your degree from BU, you now are sitting in the bar of the Lunar Sands Casino with David E. Nye, Carolyn Merchant and __________. The view is, needless to say, spectacular. As you gaze at the earth rising slowly above the lunar horizon, each of you has decided to place a substantial bet on the future of human civilization and life on earth fifty years hence. What outcome does Nye bet on, and why? What outcome does Merchant bet on and why? How would _________ bet, and why? And finally, what outcome do you think is a safe bet for the world in 2064, and why?