Develop a paragraph (minimum 250 words) that either summarizes and analyzes a particular space on your college campus OR summarizes and analyzes the campus as an inclusive or non-inclusive space. Use Wallace Stegners The Sense of Place or Brent Staples Night Walker to either set up your summary and analysis OR to support it. What conclusion do you come to about one of these questions: Is the UO campus a place? Is the UO an inclusive campus? To help you develop your paragraph:
If you choose a space on the campus to summarize and analyze, then think about a space that is significant to you. You might choose a particular building, a specific area in a building, a lab, your favorite study carrel in the library, a lovely spot outdoors, a residence hall, the rec center, the track. ( for me it would be the knight library which is a 4 story library directly on campus) Keep in mind that it doesnt have to be a physical space: perhaps a significant space is a virtual or digital space. In that case, youd also want to consider if a virtual space can be a place.
If you summarize and analyze the inclusivity of the campus, then, like Staples, you want to consider it within the physical (or virtual) space of the campus. You might also think about a particular space on campus and whether, like Staples, its a space where you feel safe and like you belong. Staples inquires into race and place, but you might consider other factors like gender and sexuality or the intersections of these. But you are thinking about how a particular body moves through a physical or virtual space.
Give detail in your summary of the space. Help your reader to feel like they are there.
Dont just nod to Stegner or Staples. Integrate the text specifically and meaningfully into your analysis by either using a specific point to set up your paragraph or to support your analysis. Introduce the author and essay fully.
