Today’s activity is intended to start you on the path of exploring place for your first essay assignment. We will be making observations about three different “places,” and writing a blog post designed to get you thinking about the specific place you will write about in your essay.
- Place #1: The Exterior World
- We will be walking to a viewpoint on campus. If you are unable to complete this portion of the assignment with the class, you may find an outdoor place on your own and follow the same instructions.
- Write some observations about this place. What is it about THIS place that makes it different from every other place? What qualities of this place might people admire? What qualities might they detest? Make both concrete and abstract observations.
- Place #2: The Interior World
- We will travel as a group to the Wood Center. If you are unable to complete this portion of the assignment with the class, you may go to the Wood Center on your own.
- Write some observations about this place. What is it about THIS place that makes it different from every other place? What qualities of this place might people admire? What qualities might they detest? Make both concrete and abstract observations.
- Place #3: Up to You
- We will leave some time at the end of class for you to choose a place and go there. If this is a place on campus, you may leave the group and go to make similar observations. If it is a conceptual place (i.e., a digital place, a place from your childhood, etc), feel free to stay in the Wood Center and jot down some observations to use later.
- It would be very smart to choose a place that you might write about for your first essay.
- Place Post – on Blog – Due 2/1/2011
- Write a 500 word compare-and-contrast paper about the three places you’ve visited. Think about John Haines’ essay and how place shaped his experience. How might these three places shape you?
- At the end of your post, write in one sentence where HOME is for you.
LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW IF YOU TAUGHT THIS LESSON IN YOUR CLASSROOM. HOW DID IT GO? WOULD YOU DO IT AGAIN? DID YOU MAKE ANY MODIFICATIONS?