We’ll be having conferences in pairs for the next-to-last and next-to-next-to-last (or “penultimate” and “antepenultimate” for you English majors out there) sessions on 12/8 and 12/11. Here’s the sign up: first come, first served, and it doesn’t matter who’s your partner:
Pairs Conferences Sign-up
More than a doc, Dropbox Paper is a flexible workspace that brings people and ideas together.
The relationship between Henry and Catherine reflects several relational phenomenons prevalent in the Anthropocene. In one aspect, the feedback loops in the Anthropocene. Henry’s emotional instability creates more stress on Catherine, as she takes on the role of caretaker. In turn, Catherine’s stress increases pressure on Henry to “get it together” because his functionality is a necessity to maintain their family structure. Increased pressure on Henry further pushes his instability, and the cycle repeats. This too manifests in climate change. For example, with higher temperatures brings more drought, which causes more wildfires. Without any trees to absorb carbon, it is released into the atmosphere, which causes more warming, and more drought. Like Henry and Catherines relationship, the cycle then perpetuates itself. Though I would emphasize the term “micro-Anthropocene,” in the sense that the feedback loop in Henry’s context that furthers his instability and, in turn, his marriage, is a single faceted circle. On the other hand, feedback loops in the Anthropocene can look like many, many things. It can be something like drought, a psychological echo chamber (climate change doomscrolling leading to researching even more info, then more anxiety, etc), or even overconsumption in preparation for the worlds end, (which then leads to more demand in production, resources, chemical release, extinction, etc). The range of the Anthropocene’s small deaths are almost incomprehensible, endless. No matter how much you try and think of all the ways we are effected, you can always find something else. The slow erosion of their relationship overtime reflects the slow destruction of our Earth. The “everyday” that some cli-fi writers attempt to portray as a way of truly mirroring the nature of climate change, (as opposed to something coming full force in a large catastrophized event), is something that Offill tackles perfectly. Their relationship imploded as a result a pre-existing pattern that slowly led to Henry’s relapse and infidelity. Similarly, climate catastrophe will be a result of slow increments of worsening climate conditions. As Lizzie passively comments on how “there are fewer and fewer birds these days,” Henry passively asks, “Do you ever think it’s weird that we even have families?” Both instances indicate smaller signifiers leading to grandiose consequences.
I believe that modernist styled writing is a great way to interact with the Anthropocene. With modernism arising out of an emerging psychosomatic response to WW1, and the term “shell shock” (now known as PTSD), I think it corresponds well with the contemporary trauma response in relation to looming climate disaster. Emerging writing styles respond to external reality, these fragmented flashes of life, stemming from modernism, relatively mimic flashback memories you often experience with PTSD. Offill uses fractured moments and conversations to encapsulate an almost incommunicable feeling of overwhelm, fear, and hopelessness in a way that mimics how we react to the realities that plague us today. An example of this appears in a stream of thoughts arising when Lizzie is listening to a podcast on the way home from work. “There are recognizable patterns of ascent and decline. But our industrial civilization is so vast, it has such reach… I look out the window. Something in the distance, limping toward the trees,” I believe this kind of imagery better encapsulates this anticipatory fear of industrialization reaching past the point of ascent. Seeing something from a distance, coming towards you without any way to reach it.. Etc. This kind of poetic way of narration could also be more sustainable to readers. It seeks to invoke feelings in a relatable way that doesn’t entirely overwhelm the psyche, as it could if she were to narrate her entire anxiety spiral. In this way, you are able to sit with Lizzie and interact with eco-fears alongside her; especially considering that you are processing this at the pace of the everyday. More specifically, living alongside Lizzie’s everyday life as a reader.
Research Question : How can we reimagine a utopia through existentialism in the ‘Everyday Anthropocene” in Offill’s novel, Weather
The annotations I have collected were from Hunter Library. With this, I’d like to explain how Jenny Offill’s weather brings up eco-anxiety and a sense of existentialism. By defining what it is, the effects of eco-anxiety, how in Offills novel, Lizzie copes with this feeling, how otehr characters cope. Proper ways to deal with this existentialism. Similar to how Dudley uses Becketts use of tragic comic to NOT deal with the Anthropocene, Dudley uses Atwood’s novel as an example of how tragic comic is useful. I will demonstrate how eco anxiety and existentialism is necessary in order to reimagine a utopia while living in the Anthropocene.
In Weather, how does Offill utilize Lizzie’s conversational narrative style to draw attention to readers on the reality of climate change?
Offill, Jenny. Weather: A Novel. Vintage Books, a Division of Penguin Random House LLC, 2021.
https://jalt.com.pk/index.php/jalt/article/view/500
https://revistascientificas.us.es/index.php/ESTUDIOS_NORTEAMERICANOS/article/view/21977
https://iasj.rdd.edu.iq/journals/uploads/2025/10/08/8b877dc201cd7141d4564d9385cbf730.pdf
https://doaj.org/article/d654e3d264c54d43be93472ed3a49cc6
Mayer, Sylvia. “Narratives of Resilience in Times of Climate Crisis: Angry Optimism and Utopian Minimalism in Kim Stanley Robinson’s New York 2140 and Jenny Offill’s Weather – Doaj.” Journal of the Austrian Association for American Studies, University of Innsbruck, 1 June 2025, doaj.org/article/d654e3d264c54d43be93472ed3a49cc6.
Abarrio, Rubén Peinado. “‘fragmented and Bewildering:’ The New Risk Society in Jenny Offill’s Weather.” Revista de Estudios Norteamericanos, 29 Dec. 2022, revistascientificas.us.es/index.php/ESTUDIOS_NORTEAMERICANOS/article/view/21977.
Aena Munawar, Maryam Raza. “An Exploration of Ecological Flux Causing Malleability of Self-Hood in Jenny Offill’s Weather.” Journal of Applied Linguistics and TESOL (JALT), 6 Mar. 2025, jalt.com.pk/index.php/jalt/article/view/500.
