Full Description
Part of the Longman Topics reader series, Writing Places encourages students to examine the locations that define their past, present and future. As students begin to think critically and to write about these places, they realize that location is an enormous part of identity - both personally and academically. This collection of readings offers a poignant and, oftentimes, moving variety of essays from writers of all ages, styles, and backgrounds. It is designed to be flexible to any teaching method and any composition class. The text is divided into four chapters. The first chapter is an introduction for both instructors and students to the concept of writing about place. The middle two chapters divide the essays by the period of time represented in the author's work. The last chapter provides valuable instruction from start to finish for wiriting about place. It focuses specifically on how to better understand the meaning of place in life and writing. "Longman Topics" are brief, attractive readers on a single, complex, but compelling topic. Featuring about 30 full-length selections, these volumes are generally half the size and half the cost of standard composition readers.
Contents
Preface
For Instructors
For Students
Chapter 1. Where Are We From?
Introduction
"Mom and the Kitchen" by Kimberly Wheaton
"A History in Concrete" by Blaine Harden
"On Being from Fargo" by Tim Lindgren
"The Ship-Shape" by David Sedaris
"The Coffee Shop" by Andrea Casassa
"Say yah to da U.P., eh?" by Kathryn Carey
"Where I'm From" by Felicia Madlock
"The Most Radical Thing You Can Do" by Rebecca Solnit
Chapter 2. Where Are We?
Introduction
"Where I'm Writing From" by Derek Owens
"By Dawn's Early Light" by Ron Fletcher
"A Nation Divided" by Rose Arrieta
"King's Chapel and Burying Ground" by Robin Dunn
"Silence of the Lambswool Cardigans" by Rebecca Solnit
"Robotic Iguanas" by Julia Corbett
"The Effects of Fast Food Restaurants on the Caribbean People" by Alayne Brown
"Refugees Find Hostility and Hope on Soccer Field" by Warren St. John
Chapter 3. Where Are We Going?
Introduction
"Elm City" by Kevin Savage
"My Fake Job" by Rodney Rothman
"Borderland/Borderama/Detroit" by Jerry Herron
"Scientific Applications" by Sonny Fabbri
"On the Range" by Eric Schlosser
"Apocalypse" by Junot Diaz
"How Urban Planning Can Improve Public Health" by Jonathan Lerner
"An Examination of Living Through Enjoyment: Live-Action Role-Play" by Amanda Odum
"Social Movements in the Age of Social Media: Participatory Politics in Egypt" by S. Craig Watkins
"The Flavor of Hope" by Chiori Santiago
Chapter 4. Tools for Getting Places
Techniques
Getting Oriented
Interviewing
Taking Notes as You Observe
Responding to Classmates' Essays on Place or Culture
Tools for Exploring
Mobile Apps
Networked Scavenger Hunts
Bioregional Quizzes
Local Knowledge
Local Organizations
Neighborhood Writing Groups
Hyperlocal News and Blogging
Citizen Science
Maps and Geographic Data
