When completed properly, this assignment demonstrates your mastery of one or more of the following student learner outcomes (SLOs), per the official Vernon College syllabus for this course:
Demonstrate knowledge of individual and collaborative writing processes (SLO 1).
Develop ideas with appropriate support and attribution (SLO 2).
Write in a style appropriate to audience and purpose (SLO 3).
Read, reflect, and respond critically to a variety of texts (SLO 4).
Use Edited American English in academic essays (SLO 5).
Work collaboratively to complete various course requirements (SLO 6).
You have learned that writing from an observational perspective involves four main components:
1) presenting information about the subject,
2) organizing information effectively,
3) assuming an authorial role, and
4) conveying perspective.
Choose a place that has special meaning in your life and observe this place for an extended period of time (two to three hours). Consider not only your reasons for finding this place special but also other people who also frequent or visit this place in order to convey multiple perspectives.
Then, write an observational essay in which you convey a specific perspective about this place. Ideas to consider as you brainstorm:
Who is your intended audience? (Think bigger than your instructor; consider a group of peers or perhaps a younger audience who will benefit from hearing about this place.)
What role will you assume: spectator or participant-observer?
How can you demonstrate the importance of this place for your reader? How can you make the reader see the place as more than just a location?
Consider the cultural significance of your subject. Who are the “insiders” and what role does this place serve to a wider community than just yourself?
Do others benefit from this place? How do “outsiders” view it?
Remember, you should offer implied judgment through a combination of showing and telling. The reader should walk away from this essay with a dominant impression of the chosen place.
This assignment should be two to four pages. You should use a thorough, attention-grabbing introduction, body paragraphs that hold the reader’s attention and clearly develop an impression through tone, organization, and vivid details, and a book-ending conclusion that reminds the reader why he or she has dedicated time and energy to reading your essay.
Compose your essay in MLA format using the sample essay we worked through together in the first week of class as guidance. You will only have a Works Cited page for this assignment if you interview someone at the place you choose to observe.
