Prompt: Place Essay

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Observation (100 Points)

Purpose:  To draw from a variety of observations that will allow you to focus on possibility through observation. Your essay will rely heavily on selective description and perspective.
Instructions:

  • Select a “place,” and describe it in detail. This could be where you grew up, a place you feel most connected to, somewhere that has had an impact on your life in some way – even digital places like facebook or a particular website.
  • Your description could include landscape, cultural aspects, family connection, important relationships, and the sense of community.
  • Drawing on what you’ve learned in the observation activities and the reading, write about how this place has influenced you.
  • Think about your audience. It would be helpful to imagine that you are trying to make this place familiar to your classmates. Help them see it through your eyes.

Requirements

  • 4-5 pages
  • MLA Format
  • Works Cited (if you reference the readings or other sources)

Optional Formats:  Most of you will write traditional essays, but if you’d like to do something a little different, there are a few optional formats:

  • Place-based Brochure: Design a brochure to describe your “place.” This must be one page, front and back with images and design elements. In addition, you’ll need to write a 2 page paper on the experience of writing and creating the brochure.
  • Place-based Website: Design a website to highlight your “place.” It should include at least 3 links and at least 1,000 words of content. In addition, you’ll need to write a 2 page paper on the experience of writing and creating a website.
  • Other: If you have an idea for a multi-media approach to this assignment, see me and we’ll try to work something out.

Grade Breakdown

  • MLA Format, correct citations and works cited entry (10)
  • Organization and description (30)
  • Content – this paper needs to be more than just a summary of the place you choose; use material and examples to support your ideas (50)
  • Neatness/grammar – you will not be graded on every comma, but if the meaning of your sentence is lost in grammatical error, it will count against you (10)

LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW IF YOU USED THIS PROMPT IN YOUR CLASS. HOW DID IT GO? WOULD YOU DO IT AGAIN? DID YOU MAKE ANY MODIFICATIONS?

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