Week 5

The writer spends time gathering impressions, making observations, collecting detail–over an hour, a day, a week, months, years –perhaps a lifetime. The writer must find or "invent" an angle on the subject of his focus to make its interest or significance apparent in the course of the essay or report. Whether the focus is on an individual, a place, or an event, the writer must have an idea that makes the selection, emphasis, and organization of details revealing. The writer's task is to characterize the subject and the thinking behind that characterization.

The places we have lived or traveled, those that sustain us in the here and now, and those that intrude on our imagination, the real and imagined landscapes of our lives, these are our subject today. What is it like to be . . . here . . . or there? What can we see? hear? touch? smell? taste? Where are we? Mansion, mall, boulevard, barnyard, bar? Is this a place where kids play in the street and dogs bark excitedly? Do folks here sit on the porch, or do they live behind privacy gates? Or what then? You might describe your home or a place where you feel at home. And how does it compare to other homes, other places? What makes it distinct precisely? What gives it character? What kinds of life, what kinds of people and things and activities does one find here? What's the local hangout like, or your favorite beach spot? What is the one place you cannot pass without slowing down to look, and why? What place(s) would you miss most or least, remember with the greatest fondness or the least? Describe one or another of the place features of South Florida. Read some of the local history literature available on the web, in the library or bookstore. There is no place without some history–cultural and civic, geological and natural–and stories of honored people and celebrated events. In South Florida, there are scores of interesting businesses and services provided, from restaurants and yoga studios to head shops and tattoo parlors, etc. What has the natural environment to offer? For those interested in the outdoors and geological features of landform and water course, plants, trees, animals, etc., the natural world is an excellent and always timely focus.

Some paragraph examples follow here:

In Europe, Florida is known as Orlando. For many decades, she's been touted as "Vacationland." But the last winter here was cold and wet and many vacationers vowed they would not return, never return, for Florida had become too "unreliable" as a destination. If the sky's not blue and the sun don't shine, what's the point of coming down after all? –Joy Williams, "Florida"

What you have envisioned of Alaska is true: The vast and craggy mountains, retaining their snow cover year round; the wildlife–bears, moose, snowshoe hares–even city dwellers encounter on occasion; the long, bright nights of summer followed by the eternal twilit winter. And the cold. Growing up in this place, I read all the works of Jack London, and I remember my amazed recognition of his landscapes–their heavy great silence, their ruthless temperatures, the leaden fog they made of one's breath. These were not the total of my experience, but they were London's most clearly drawn images, and at nine years old I was astonished by his accuracy, his devastating clarity of perception. – Natalie Kusz, "Fire in the Valley"

St. Louis possesses a set of charms that make it a city far more worthwhile to see than, say, Kansas City or Milwaukee or Cincinnati. The most compelling man-made landmark in the United States is the St. Louis Gateway Arch, a startling engineering feat, finished in 1965 after seven years of construction. It stands at 632 feet from base to apex. It is, perhaps, as a spectacle the great American rune, an ineffable symbol of the enigma of the great American adventure, the linchpin of East and West that defines what the Middle West is. –Gerald Early, "St. Louis"

A New York snow turns to slush in the rain, and every pedestrian navigates to find some footing, as a river opens at each crossing. They watch a pioneer test the snow, to see if it is good for footing or has a false crust. I see a beautiful young woman in a mouton coat and elegant reddish-brown, ringletted hairdo hesitate at the corner, then plunge in with her black leather shoes, like ballet slippers, resigned to getting wet. A old black woman seems to be remembering country skills as she attempts a crossing. –Phillip Lopate, "Manhattan, Floating World"

Writing Assignment (#5): Writing about place means bringing to a reader's mind the particular aspects that define the essence of your subject place or setting, and the stories, collective and personal, that serve to define it. We stand on whatever ground, sit on beach or barstool with some view before us and people and conversation all around us (or not), stroll streets and walkways–some particular, some not–swim in this pool or climb that tree, eat these mangos, smell these jasmine blossoms, marvel at the moon, swelter in the heat and the dust and the grime, shiver in the ice of the air-conditioned, or luxuriate in the balmy, sub-tropical night air.

In 500 words, conjure a precise and compelling portrait of a place you know well here in South Florida. You might compare or contrast it with other places, real or imagined, to make the characterization distinct; provide some historical or geographical context, or stories that illustrate the significance and importance of the place. Find a news tie-in or special interest slant, whether it be of kite-surfing or gardening or film festivals. Try to put some area and/or activity of interest here on the map for readers.

Underline your thesis idea if it is stated, or type it out at the bottom of the page if it is implicit (clearly suggested but nowhere actually stated). Title the essay. Double space the lines and tab indent for each paragraph–introductory, body, and concluding.