Loren Eisely asserts that "We cling to a time and place because without them man is lost, not only man but life." He describes his own "place" as "the shade of a nonexistent tree." Eisely's tree functions as a metaphor, which is a common function of physical places in literature (e.g. A River Runs through It). In his case, the material existence of the tree turns out not to be of overriding importance. We also see nature functioning in this way in the poems we have read thus far in class.
For your first essay, describe/narrate/evaluate a place in the natural world based on your memory of it as it existed ca. 10 years ago. (Try to select a place that you will be able to revisit by the end of Spring Break, some place that you have recently been able to revisit, or a place that you have been familiar with for some time. A subsequent assignment will ask you to compare the physical state of your "place" today with its condition as you describe it in the present essay. )
[Conceivably, you have never formed an attachment to a particular place in the natural world. If not, it is time to do so. If you should fall into this category (you have my sympathy), part of your task will be to discover a place. Take a drive through the Ellett Valley (avoiding the "Smart Road" construction) or a walk through Toms Creek Basin. Take a hike up to the Cascades. These examples will provide you with grist for the second part of this project, since all are threatened by development. While you may not see either transformed too dramatically in the next few weeks, you should be able to imagine possible futures for them by doing a little reading about proposed plans (the Smart Road, various subdivision projects, Interstate 73, etc.).As yet another alternative, you might select a place to write about based on its seasonal appearance and activity--late summer--and then plan to contrast that with an autumn "take." ]
Your essay needs to express a clear sense of its own thesis: "what am I talking about?" (subject), "what am I trying to do in this essay?" (purpose), and "how am I going to do it?" (method).
The paper should be 3-4 pages (750-1000 words) in length.
As part of this essay, you will each carry out two peer evaluations/critiques of colleagues' drafts. [This will constitute a possible 5 out of the 15 points possible on this essay. These evaluations should be substantive (ca. 250 words) and should specifically address these criteria]. By Friday, January 28, Midnight, each of you will post a draft of your first essay to the class e-mail list (1106.00@ebbs.english.vt.edu). That day in class, you will have drawn the names of two fellow students whose drafts you will critique. It is essential that everyone turn in your draft on time, or you will inconvenience and handicap the people who will be evaluating it. Be sure to include your own e-mail address at the top of your draft. By midnight of Monday, January 31, you will send copies of your critiques back both to the individuals (not to the list) and to me.
Once you have received the evaluations of two of your colleagues, along with my comments on your draft, you should then begin to revise your own essay. Please turn your final drafts in to me (at: dmosser@vt.edu). If your e-mail program does not allow formatting, you should indicate titles of books and other items that you would normally italicize/underscore by placing underscoring on either side of the target, e. g., _Paradise Lost_. Since "text only" formatting does not display the usual paragraphing structures (5-space-indented first lines, for example), please indicate paragraph breaks by inserting two returns. This will place a line of space between paragraphs. Please be sure to title the file with your last name and "essay1" (i.e., for the first essay): e.g., "smith.essay1." If everyone labels their essays as "essay 1" without including your name to differentiate them, dire consequences are possible.