Short Paper #1: The Power of Place due NEXT Tuesday

“One of the gifts of age, though, is the way it gently dispels all of our heroic notions. The whole time that I thought I was busy taking care of the ranch, the ranch was busy taking care of me” (Houston 168).

For your first Short Paper, I want you to write about a PLACE that shaped who you are today. Not a person or an activity (though you might reference both), but primarily a place where you started to become who you are today. It could be anything from a school, a church, a field, a car, a job, a room, or just an area of land. Just like Houston does in her essay, I want you to consider how a place can “take care of you,” and be an active agent in influencing your attitude, ideas, and personality.

Though a short paper, I want you to have roughly three parts in this essay: (a) a literal description of the place, the way an outsider would see it—what would I see, for example, the first time I walked into the place? (b) a significant experience that was instrumental in changing your relationship with this place, (c) what you feel you most learned or took away from this place. In other words, what do you most ‘see’ when you think of the place today?

NOTE: You can re-arrange the order of the essay, starting with c, then going to a, then b, if you like. Just make sure your essay has all three parts, even if you spend most of the time on b, for example.

THINGS TO CONSIDER / REQUIREMENTS

• Describe the area using specific details, and don’t just tell us how it looks. What smells or sounds accompany the place in your memory?
• Try to experience the place as an outsider, so you can see things you no longer notice. Then help us see what only you see when you go there.
• Talk about yourself—don’t make this a third-person paper. Otherwise, we won’t understand it.
• Quote from at least ONE of the essays in class to make a comparison between your space and theirs. Even though your work might not be as exciting or interesting as Mt. Rushmore, you can use Anderson’s ideas to help your own.
• Use the Quotation Sandwich when citing sources: INTRODUCE SOURCE + QUOTE & CITATION + RESPONSE. (we’ll discuss this in class)
• At least 3 pages long, though you can do more…

PAPER IS DUE IN-CLASS ON TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10^th. Any papers after class are late and are subject to the late paper policy (see syllabus).