assignment 1 instructions

1. Assignment One: Sense of Place
Being aware of your sense of place and having the ability to analyze the physical features of
your environment allows you to envision yourself as an active presence within your
community and begin to interact with it on a more rhetorical level. For this assignment, you
will adopt the persona of a professional blogger reflecting on your photo submission to the
National Geographic “Sense of Place” contest. This assignment is the least formal and most
creative of the semester; you should write it as you would a professional blog entry. This
means that although this is not a purely academic, closed-form essay and you will be
writing within a less formal genre, you will still be expected to use professional language
and follow the conventions of Standard English grammar.
Task:
This assignment asks you to write a 2½ to 3 page (double spaced) descriptive essay which
explores your sense of a specific place that holds significant meaning for you. This place
could be a room in your childhood home that triggers a nostalgic remembrance of your
past or your favorite place on campus that serves to represent your current and possibly
future path, to name a few ideas. Accompanying your essay will be a photograph, which
visually represents the thematic content of your essay. Your chosen photograph should
show your audience the physical place, as well as the feeling it gives you that you convey in
your essay.
Within your essay, you should be able to balance a dynamic reflection with a rhetorical
description of this environment, showing your reader specifically how and why this
specific place evokes these emotions and reflections. Using descriptive language, your
writing should be able to show your reader the sensory details of this place while also
providing reflection on why this place is special to you.
Formatting:
As you will be adopting the ethos of a professional blogger, I ask that your essay does not
follow MLA formatting guidelines. However, your essay should include a creative title and
your name at the end of your piece, and it must be written in a legible, 12-pt. font. Other than
that, I encourage you to be creative with the design and format of this assignment. Your
photo should be included in the same document at the beginning or end of the essay or
within the text itself (“Wrap text”  “Through”). The photo should be no larger than 3”x4” or
4”x3”. Your essay will be submitted to the Blackboard site as a Word Document
Due Dates:
Rough Draft is due on Sunday, June 18th
by 11:59 pm. You must submit two (2) copies of the
same Word Document: one to the assignment drop-box and one to the Unit 1 Peer Review
forum on the Discussion Board.
Final Draft is due as a Word Document by 11:59pm on Sunday, June 25th
.

2. Evaluation Rubric (Final Draft only)
Use of Senses
Use of imagery and detail so that the reader feels like
he/she is experiencing the physical space. The description
included is used rhetorically to communicate the overall
theme of the essay.
30
Consistent Style and Voice
Language communicates a consistent feeling and personal
meaning connected to this place. Essay is written in the
semi-formal language of a professional blog post.
30
Clear Theme
The details of the place, as well as the style and
organization of the essay communicates a consistent
theme and/or memory attached to this place. This theme is
also visually represented in the thoughtful inclusion of a
picture.
30
Mechanics and Formatting
Adheres to the standards of Standard Edited English:
punctuation, syntax, complete sentences, etc. Assignment is
a full 2½ - 3 pages.
10
Total. 100