Short Paper #2 assignment--due Thursday, October 31st

Short Paper #2: A Mountain Isn’t a Mountain

“I realized I didn’t understand what a mountain was…they were, I now realized, layered and complex, inexplicable and analogous to nothing” (63).

PROMPT: For your second short paper assignment, I want you to write about an experience when you confronted something that was larger, more complex, and “analogous to nothing” you had ever experienced. It doesn’t have to be something big, like walking the PCT, but it should be something that turned out to be complex and challenging in ways you didn’t expect. Why was this? Why weren’t you as prepared as you thought? What about it surprised you? How was it an experience that even though you were told about it, or had even seen it from a distance, you simply had to confront to understand? Describe the experience as if you’re going through it for the first time: tell us what you saw and what it felt like, assuming we’ve never seen or felt it, either.

TO CONSIDER: Remember, this doesn’t have to be a ‘win’ for you: you could have failed or quit the experience. It might be a job that you realized just wasn’t for you. Or a relationship, a class, or a move to a new town or city. But even when you throw in the towel, the experience can still stay with you. What did it help you see or understand? How did it shape some aspect, large or small, of your outlook? Would you ever do it again (if you quit), and why has it become an important part of your life (if you didn’t)? If you continue to do it, what did you not understand until you actually ‘got on the trail’ and ‘hiked’ it?

THE BOOK: Strayed’s Wild introduced this conversation, so make sure you’re responding to it. Use a passage or two from the book to help you discuss your own experience, seeing things in terms of her own experience. Try to see how you’re both on the same metaphorical journey, walking the same ‘mountain.’ However, DON’T use the quote above on page 63, but find your own connections and ideas. There’s a lot to draw from in the book!

REQUIREMENTS:

• At least 3 pages, double spaced
• Describe and explain the experience: don’t assume we know
• Quote from the book, and make meaningful connections
• Due next Thursday, October 31st by 5pm