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WOC190 Spring 2021 Session 3

Day 2

Tues. Jan. 12

  • Share favorite details from McSorley’s

  • Key concept: “Characterization”

  • Intro to Essay 1: Portrait of a Place

Homework

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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 Essay 1 instructions, start working on it if you can

Your first essay, due Tues. Jan 19 (a week from today), will require you to go out into the world, find an interesting place, and write about that place from direct observation. For this to be a meaningful experience, I recommend you budget some time between now and then to visit the place and observe it.

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E. B. White, "Here is New York"
E. B. White, "Here is New York"

E. B. White’s classic essay published in 1948, one of the most famous literary essays about New York City.

➤ READ EXCERPTS FROM “HERE IS NEW YORK” AND “SHORT CUTS”

As you read, find one good example of each of these things, and come to class ready to share it:

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Susan Orlean, "Shortcuts"
Susan Orlean, "Shortcuts"

Journalist Susan Orlean paints a portrait of her neighborhood hair salon.

  • a scene (whatever you understand that to mean)

  • a sentence that mostly consists of abstract language (whatever you understand that to mean)

  • a sentence that mostly consists of concrete language (whatever you understand that to mean)

Austin Woerner