Austin Woerner's Memory Palace
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WOC190 Spring 2020 Session 4

Day 1

Tues. Mar. 24

  • Intro to the course, self-introductions

  • Literary writing and concrete details

  • Definitions of home

Homework:

➤ FINISH AND/OR REVISE YOUR DEFINITION OF HOME

If you haven’t yet, finish your "definition of home as a list of concrete details.” Type it up in a Word document (.doc or .docx file) — Times New Roman Font, 12-point font, double spaced. If you wish, make any changes to your definition that you feel would make the reader feel like they’re really “there.” Your list should be ~100 words long, more or less.

Give your file a name that clearly identifies it (e.g. “Zhang San, Definition of Home.docx”) and upload it to our shared Box folder.

➤ READ “THE OLD HOUSE AT HOME” (EXCERPTS)

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Joseph Mitchell, "The Old House at Home"
Joseph Mitchell, "The Old House at Home"

Joseph Mitchell’s classic piece of literary journalism, published in 1940, paints a vivid portrait of a neighborhood saloon in New York’s Lower East Side.

Read this classic piece of literary journalism, which paints a vivid portrait of a neighborhood saloon in New York in 1940. I highly encourage you to read my annotated version. If you have trouble seeing the annotations, please message me!

Come to next class prepared to share your favorite detail — a detail that really makes you feel like you’re “there” — and explain why you like that detail.

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Essay 1: Portrait of a Place
Essay 1: Portrait of a Place

due M-Tu Aug. 30-31 (before your class)

Write a short essay that paints a vivid portrait of a place.

➤ READ INSTRUCTIONS FOR ESSAY 1, PLAN TIME FOR AN OUTING THIS WEEKEND

Your first writing assignment will involve writing about a place from direct observation. This might involve taking a trip out into the city, so make sure you plan time to do this!

Austin Woerner