109H: Place in Context For this unit, you will be writing a reflective analysis of a place of your choice.

Please read the following criteria (below) for analysis carefully. The place that you choose to write on should be one that you can explore through each of the criteriaif your place does not lend itself to this type of analysis, you might have to re-think your choice. This essay is in the genre of creative nonfiction; in other words, you should see this essay as part personal and reflective, and part scholarly. It is personal in that you should use I and descriptive language, and scholarly in that you will be brining in sources to discuss your place. You should use the Barnes and Corder essays as models for this type of writing on place. Criteria for Your Analysis of Place: Finding a Larger Significance for Writing about Your Place: Your narrative on place should speak to your own experience, but it should also work to move outward toward an audience of readers. You need to ask yourself: Why am I composing on this place in particular? What do I want my readers to understand about this place, about life, after they finish my piece? Remember in the Barness The Ashes of August she had many themes for writing: the paradox between the hostile and secure feeling of her hometown, the relationship between gender and place, and the relationship between history and place. You should be able to identify themes for your writing as well. Describing the Place as an Insider to Outsiders: Remember, you are familiar with your place. You know it well. You are an insider. But, most of your readers will be outsiders to your place. You need to keep your perspective as an insider, but also adopt the perspective of an outsider in your descriptions. How would you endeavor to describe your place to readers? What details will you focus on? The placement of objects? The layout of the landscape? The weather at certain times of year? What are the smells of your place? The noises? Try to use figurative language: metaphor, simile, and personification in your descriptions. Both the Corder and the Barnes pieces do an excellent job of transporting the reader to the place. Reflecting on Your (and Others) Emotions in Place: Reflection will be an important aspect of this narrative. You may want to talk about how this place evokes many emotions in you. You may want to talk about how your emotions have changed over time in and toward this place. You want your readers to get a sense of this places significance for you through a description of your emotional experience. Reflection on Movement in Place: Think back to the de Certeau reading here. He believed that movement creates the place, that the place is given new life through the actions of people. How do people move through this place? Who typically visits this

place? Are some people privileged more than others in this space? How do the people give this space character? Making the Explicit Connection Between Place and Time: Your reflection should include a sense of the places past, present, and future. Your piece should transcend current time, in other words. This can be done specifically through use of research, oral history, or folklore. How has the place changed (or remained the same) over time? What are some of the traditions or events that are held in this place? What are some historical figures or peoples that have influenced the sense of the place? How might this place be seen or experienced in the future? Both Benjamin and Barnes use their research to explain the history of their placesthis history allows the reader to understand the place in further depth. Seeing the Mythical and Fantastical Elements in Place (optional): When we start to focus in on a place, we often begin to see it as something more than it is, sometimes we create an alternate reality for this place through myth and fantasy. De Certeau was interested in this element of place, specifically in the pages on spatial stories. How might your place transcend ordinary perception and experience? Remember Barness concept of the heroes of the forest fires as mythical characters, and also how Corder saw his surroundings as a cosmology? Pictures, Sketches, other multimedia (optional): For this assignment, I encourage you to incorporate visual elements in your analysis of place. You may embed them in your document or attach them at the end. You may also refer to them in the writing. For example, you might analyze an old photograph to reflect on an experience in this place. Please remember that your visuals do not count in terms of the papers length. Incorporating Research on Place: For this paper you will need to include at least two sources. One must be scholarly, library source: a book or a journal article. Other sources can be popular: a newspaper or magazine article, a film, or a fiction book. Your sources can be on the place directly, objects that are found in your place, or on the larger themes of your paper. Works Cited: Because you are using sources in this paper, you must include an MLA formatted Works Cited Page and also provide in-text citations for readers. Length: This paper should be 5-7 pages double-spaced, Times New Roman, 1 margins