Paper #1 Assignment: Why Are You Here? (due Friday, Sep.2nd)

NOTE: The reading/questions for Tuesday are in the post BELOW this one...

Paper #1: Why Am I Here?

The first three essays from BATW 2021 are about people traveling for very different reasons, though each one realizes that where they go is less important than what it reveals about the world around them (and inside them). Common to each one is the personal connection that we lost during COVID-19, and why travel can help us see ways to connect with other humans beings even in a pandemic. However, like Meg Berhnard says at the end of "Water or Sky?", "For the first time in a long time, I didn't need to walk away. I didn't need to move. There was nowhere else to be" (163).

For your FIRST ESSAY, I want you to answer the simple question, "why are you here?" Here means college, of course, but also at this stage in your life: why have you made the choices you have to get here? Are you already making other plans for the future? Is this a step towards those plans, or do you feel you're on the wrong track? Who helped you make this decision? Are personal connections important to you as you make these life decisions? Or do you feel too isolated and unable to rely on those around you? In short, reflect upon why you've traveled here, if this journey feels 'right,' and where you want to end up at the end of it.

REQUIREMENTS: You must use at least ONE of the essays from class in your paper, though you can use more. By "using" them, I mean you have to quote a significant passage that helps your reader understand something about your own situation. So ask yourself, which essay do I most connect to? Where is a passage or an idea that relates to my own life/journey? Help the reader understand your experience by having a 'conversation' with someone else's. 

Your paper should be at least 2-3 pages double spaced at a MINIMUM; you can do much more if you want. And remember, you can REVISE this paper after you turn it in, so don't worry about turning in perfection. Instead, do the best you can in the time you have, but turn in a complete or near-complete paper (don't turn in a paragraph and say, "it's the best I could do!"). 

Think about the ideas we've discussed in class and use them in your essay when they help you. Also, examine how each essay begins and structures their own story. In short, TELL A STORY, and don't simply write an essay. 

DUE FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2nd BY 5pm (in my box or via e-mail). 

For Tuesday: Jamison, "The Warmth of a Lost World" (from BATW 2021), pp.38-49

A Traditional Turkish Bath 

For Tuesday's class, answer TWO of the following for our last essay before we take a short break from reading and work on Paper #1! Remember to look up words you're not familiar with (or can't remember), and think about the Title and the Opening Paragraph.

Q1: This essay is also a mini-history lesson about Turkish baths and Turkish culture. Why do you think the author does this, considering the essay is really about how COVID is making it difficult to visit the baths like she used to? In other words, why is the historical context important? 

Q2: Jamison writes that "Visiting the hammams of Istanbul was like taking a rigorous course in pleasure itself, a syllabus committed to exploring the granular texture of bodily enjoyment, and to proving that pleasure holds its own pathways to meaning, that it might matter most at precisely those moments when it seems most out of place" (44). What do you think she means by this? Why in a world experiencing COVID-19 and lockdowns, are Turkish baths and the pleasures they offer so important? Why do we need to read an essay about them when people are literally dying or being hospitalized?

Q3: She also writes that in the baths, its easier to understand who people really are, since "everyone's impassivity is cracked open--at least in brief glimpses--by physical extremity and pleasure" (47). Why do the baths allow us to see people in a more true or honest light? What does she think they really do to people?

Q4: Obviously, we can't go to a Turkish bath (or hammam) in Ada, Oklahoma, so we can't completely understand what she sees and feels there. But based on what she's writing about, where could we have a similar experience here, or even in your own hometown? Where can we feel that "there are literally 7 billion other ways to be alive besides the particular way I am alive" (48)? 

For Thursday: Bernhard, "Water or Sky?" (from Best American Travel Writing 2021), pp.155-163

"The End of the World"--the tip of Spain in Fisterra, in Spain

 As before, answer TWO of the questions below for class on Thursday. Also, try to look up words you don't know...we'll have a collaborative 'quiz' on some words before class that you can include in your questions. 

Q1:  Our first author used travel as an excuse to eat, and through eating, discover different people and cultures. Why does this author travel? What do you think he means when he writes, "I wanted to be in motion" (156). 

Q2: Related to the above, why do you think the author is writing about the death (or suicide?) of a young German man he didn't even know? Why retrace his steps and meet his mother and write an article about him? How might this, too, be related to his reasons for traveling?

Q3: Though Max was German and from a town most of us can't pronounce, much less have ever heard of, what makes him similar to many young people today? Can you, as a college student, relate to some of his fears and anxieties? Why might the modern world be creating more Maxes than ever before? 

Q4: In many ways, the best part of traveling is coming back home. How does writing this story allow the author to do this? Consider the end of the essay, when he writes, "For the first time in a long time, I didn't need to walk away. I didn't need to move. There was nowhere else to be" (163).  

For Tuesday: Best American Travel Writing: Galuten, "Food, It Turns Out, Has Little to Do with Why I Love to Travel (84-90)

For Tuesday's class, read this short essay from your Best American Travel Writing book. Then, answer any TWO of the following questions and bring them to class with you on Tuesday.

Remember, these aren't yes/no questions, and I want you to think about them rather than just say "yes, I think this." Try to think out loud on paper and consider some of the 'gray areas' of the questions--the things that don't have an obvious answer. We'll discuss your answers in class on Tuesday.

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1. In general, why does Galuten like to "discover a new city, stomach first" (84)? Why might food, for him, give a unique insight into the culture and personality of a town or city? In other words, what does food tell us (or him) that simply talking to people wouldn't?

Q2. He describes the experience of eating alone in his car like "being single and reconnecting with an ex only to both immediately discover that there's nothing there anymore--two empty vessels with no connection beyond a memory" (86). Why does taking the place and the people out of the equation seem to ruin the food? What was he 'tasting' before that's no longer there?

Q3. According to Galuten, "This disease has been a reflection and amplifier of all of our weak points" (89). How does this essay underscore one of the scariest and most tragic things about the pandemic? And how might it relate to other things we've lost without realizing it?

Q4. Beyond food, what is Galuten really saying in this essay about the importance of human contact and connection? In a world that is increasingly making everything from shopping to educating more isolated and anonymous, why should we be worried? What are we losing besides someone to talk to? 

Welcome to the Course!

 This is the official blog for our Freshman Composition 1 course, where you can find everything you'll need for the class: the daily readings, questions, paper assignments, handouts, and other announcements. Remember that the first post you see is the most recent, and you only need to scroll down to find older ones. If you miss class, the next day's assignment will appear shortly after our scheduled class time. 

Be sure to buy both books for the course as soon as possible: The Best American Travel Writing 2021, and Devoured. We will start reading the first one next week, so your first set of questions will appear on Thursday. 

If you need any help, you can always come to my office just before or after class, or during my regular office hours (see syllabus). You can also e-mail me at any time at jgrasso@ecok.edu. 

See you in class!