Paper #1 Assignment: The Lost Tourist

 

NOTE: The questions for Wednesday are BELOW this post, so scroll down to find them.

“This poor foreigner,” I heard her say to her husband, shaking her head, as I was heading out the door. But that was the last time she’d refer to me as foreigner. I’d always be one, but the next time I came in to buy something, she called me Luo Yi Lin, the name I’d been given by a Mandarin tutor just after I’d arrived to China” (Rogers 219).

Each of the three essays for this week is loosely about the idea of translation: or, how travel forces us to become “lost” in another culture, and adapt to ideas and customs which might seem strange and even distasteful (wearing the veil, showering in public, turning off the GPS). But the point of travel, as Kushner says in his article, is “if you don’t lose yourself, you’re never going to find yourself” (147).

So for your first ‘conversation’ paper, I want you to write an essay about a culture you had to enter into and become accepted in, much like traveling to another country. This could be a school, a job, a sport, an activity, or some other subculture within our society. Explain why you wanted to ‘travel’ there, what culture shock you experienced, how you learned the ‘language,’ and how you eventually adapted (or are adapting) to its rules. Be as specific as possible, and assume you’re writing to someone who doesn’t know or understand this culture as well as you do. You might think of it as a guide to someone following in your footsteps (a new employee, or someone just starting your sport, etc.); what do they need to understand about the rules and expectations of this society? And what will they gain from doing so?

As you write, I want you to use connections and examples from at least TWO of the essays to show that you’re all sharing the same conversation of travel. Whether you travel to Turkey or to a job at Sonic, you’re entering a unique culture that requires you to learn, adapt, and bump up against a strange environment. Use comparisons and illustrations from the essays in the form of quotes to help illustrate/explain what your experience felt like. Be sure to introduce and cite these quotations according to MLA format (we’ll discuss that in class).

BASIC REQUIREMENTS

• At least 3-4 pages, double spaced, 12 pt. font
• Use at least 2 of the essays in class in the form of contextualized quotes integrated into your paper
• Connection to the conversation of travel: make sure we understand how your experience relates to the overall theme
• Due Friday, June 8th by 5pm: e-mail is fine, since campus might be closed