assignments ENGL 101 Writing Rhetorically: THE BIG VISIT
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Overview. Much like writing about people, essays about a place attempt to understand one thing through the description of another—namely, essays of place offer writers an opportunity to understand how a particular place and time has shaped them, affected them, moved them, given them something to say. Your goal, in this essay, is to identify such a place in your life. Of course, how do you get there? Well, it is always useful in the essay to figure out what your question is: what are you trying to understand by exploring this place and your connection to it?
There is one rule about this paper. Just like you had to be able to talk to the person you interviewed, you need to be able to visit the place you want to write about. If there is a place you want to write about that you can't visit, than you need to be able to produce artifacts about the place. In other words, you need to be able to produce pictures, objects, and people who have been to the place to interview in order to collect data to write your essay from.
Details. The above a place to start. Where do you go from there? The Big Visit also has some components to it that, once understood, can help you construct your text.
Ethnography
I call this essay “ethnographic” for a reason. Ethnography is the work of the anthropologist. Traditionally, ethnographers would go to a culture—often times a third world culture—and spend many, many years observing that culture, studying its ways, identifying patterns in behavior. They studied everything: language, rituals, artifacts, relationships. The hallmark of this writing is something that Clifford Geertz, an ethnographer himself, called “thick description”—a particularly visual way to describe the layers of observation that went in to the work of the ethnographer. Of interest now is the idea of auto-ethnography. Auto-ethnography is where anthropologists or interested writers explore the complexity of belonging to the particular cultures that they find themselves a part of. The idea is that you can discover a tremendous amount about the significance of a place in your life and, potentially, in the lives of others, by paying careful attention to the world around you. Thus, thinking of your essay of place as an ethnographic project (at least in part) can be helpful. Essays of place have several very ethnographic characteristics:
The layers of observation in ethnography make the important things about a culture apparent to readers. In an essay, though, the writer is more conscientiously reflective. Metaphor is the effort of a writer to make us understand one thing by explaining it in terms of something else. Trying to use people, artifacts, scents, smells, scenes, and images in your essay to help you explain what it is you really mean is not only useful, it is, in fact, what an essay is supposed to do. It is the balance between the ethnographic and the metaphorical that will make for good essays of place.
Other things:
HOW I WILL EVALUATE THIS PAPER
This paper is worth 10% of your grade. In order to earn a "B" on this paper, you need to turn in/show up for the following:
In order to earn an "A" on this paper, you need to complete all of the requirements for earning a "B" and
In order to earn a "C" on this paper, you must turn in/show up for the following:
There is one rule about this paper. Just like you had to be able to talk to the person you interviewed, you need to be able to visit the place you want to write about. If there is a place you want to write about that you can't visit, than you need to be able to produce artifacts about the place. In other words, you need to be able to produce pictures, objects, and people who have been to the place to interview in order to collect data to write your essay from.
Details. The above a place to start. Where do you go from there? The Big Visit also has some components to it that, once understood, can help you construct your text.
Ethnography
I call this essay “ethnographic” for a reason. Ethnography is the work of the anthropologist. Traditionally, ethnographers would go to a culture—often times a third world culture—and spend many, many years observing that culture, studying its ways, identifying patterns in behavior. They studied everything: language, rituals, artifacts, relationships. The hallmark of this writing is something that Clifford Geertz, an ethnographer himself, called “thick description”—a particularly visual way to describe the layers of observation that went in to the work of the ethnographer. Of interest now is the idea of auto-ethnography. Auto-ethnography is where anthropologists or interested writers explore the complexity of belonging to the particular cultures that they find themselves a part of. The idea is that you can discover a tremendous amount about the significance of a place in your life and, potentially, in the lives of others, by paying careful attention to the world around you. Thus, thinking of your essay of place as an ethnographic project (at least in part) can be helpful. Essays of place have several very ethnographic characteristics:
- They are the result of “thick description”—details of the people and artifacts that you find in this place. Lots of details.
- They look at the place in its entirety—good and bad.
- They consider the time of this place as well as the space.
- They consider the position of the observer in the place—in other words, you are aware of the waves you are making in this place that you are a part of.
The layers of observation in ethnography make the important things about a culture apparent to readers. In an essay, though, the writer is more conscientiously reflective. Metaphor is the effort of a writer to make us understand one thing by explaining it in terms of something else. Trying to use people, artifacts, scents, smells, scenes, and images in your essay to help you explain what it is you really mean is not only useful, it is, in fact, what an essay is supposed to do. It is the balance between the ethnographic and the metaphorical that will make for good essays of place.
Other things:
- Papers should be 1500 words, or about 5 pages, double-spaced, in 10 or 12 point fonts, with one inch margins all the way around.
- Do not use a cover page. Instead, put your name, date and ENGL101 in the upper left corner and call it a day.
- Always, always, always have a title. A good one.
- See syllabus for specific dates regarding the workshop for the draft of this paper and due date when you will turn it in to me.
- You will get feedback on the draft in a one-on-one conference and will be expected to be completed for the midterm portfolio.
HOW I WILL EVALUATE THIS PAPER
This paper is worth 10% of your grade. In order to earn a "B" on this paper, you need to turn in/show up for the following:
- Show up for your writing fellow meeting to discuss draft at least once.
- Show up for your conference with me.
- Show up for the workshop in class (see the syllabus for when that is) with a complete draft of your paper.
- Turn in the workshop worksheet your reader filled out during the workshop.
- Turn in your revision plan reflection that you completed in response to your reader's workshop comments
- Turn in a 1500 word draft to me in the midterm portfolio (see the syllabus for when that is) .
In order to earn an "A" on this paper, you need to complete all of the requirements for earning a "B" and
- Write thoughtfully about how you used your revision suggestions in your paper as part of your reflection on what you feel is successful about the paper and what you want help with.
- Turn in a 1500 word draft to me that reflects the ideas we discuss in class about writing about a place: strong, original thesis about what this place represents to you, and, metaphorically, what it represents generally, use strong ethnographic methods to prove your point.
In order to earn a "C" on this paper, you must turn in/show up for the following:
- Show up for your conference with me.
- Show up for the workshop in class (see the syllabus for when that is) with a complete draft of your paper.
- Turn in a 1500 word draft to me in the midterm portfolio (see the syllabus for when that is).