Writing Places (A Longman Topics Reader)

Table of Contents

 

Topical Contents                                                                                                                              ix

Preface for Instructors                                                                                                                    xiii

Acknowledgements                                                                                                                          xv

Preface for Students                                                                                                                        xvii

 

 

CHAPTER 1  Where Are We From?                                                                  1

 

                Kimberly Wheaton, Mom and the Kitchen                                                                           4

 

                Catherine Black, The Joy of Mud                                                                                       8

 

Virginia Di Tata, A Bridge Between Two Cultures                                                             14

 

                Blaine Harden, A History in Concrete                                                                                18

 

Tim Lindgren, On Being From Fargo                                                                                  24

 

                David Sedaris, Our Perfect Summer                                                                                  30

 

                Andrea Casassa, The Coffee Shop                                                                                   38

 

Gian-Karlo Casimiro, Get Off at 161^st and Transfer To the Truth                                     44

 

Felicia Madlock, Where I’m From                                                                                        48

 

Matthew O’Conner, Circles                                                                                                 51

 

 

CHAPTER 2    Where Are We?                                                                         57

 

                Derek Owens, Where I’m Writing From                                                                         61

 

Gabriela de la Huerta, En Mi Cucina/In My Kitchen                                                            75

 

                Emily Keane, Structured Chaos                                                                                          77

 

                Ron Fletcher, By Dawn’s Early Light                                                                                  81

 

                Ray Gonzalez, Hazardous Cargo                                                                                      85

 

                Rose Arrieta, A Nation Divided                                                                                           92

 

                Mathew Dudley, The Dope on Head Shops                                                                     102

 

                Ian Frazier, Someplace in Queens                                                                                   107

 

Robin Dunn, King’s Chapel and Burying Ground                                                              116

 

                Shawn McGrath, Punk Isn’t Dead, But the Fans

                Just Might Kill It                                                                                                                  122

 

                Rebecca Solnit, The Silence of the Lambswool

                Cardigans                                                                                                                           130

 

                Julia Corbett, Robotic Iguanas                                                                                           134

 

                Jeffrey A. Lockwood, Becoming Native                                                                             139

 

CHAPTER 3   Tools for Getting Places                                                            147

 

                Rodney Rothman, My Fake Job                                                                                  150

 

Sonny Fabbri, Scientific Applications                                                                                 166

 

Eric Schlosser, On the Range                                                                                           171

 

Chiori Santiago, The Flavor of Hope                                                                                 186

 

Rebecca Solnit, The Orbits of Earthly Bodies                                                                   190

 

Marcus Renner, The People’s Freeway                                                                           193

 

Bill McKibben, Serious Wind                                                                                              203

 

Erin Komada, Auburn Renewals                                                                                       207

 

Stephan Doheny-Farina, Virtual Vermont: The Rise

Of the Global and the Decline of the Local                                                                       212

 

William McDonough and Michael Braungart, A New

Geography of Hope                                                                                                          225

 

 

CHAPTER 4   Tools for Getting Places                                                           239

 

                Getting Oriented                                                                                                               239

 

                Interviewing                                                                                                                      240

 

                Taking Notes as You Observe a Place                                                                           244

 

                Responding to Classmates’ Essays on Place                                                                 245

 

                Locating Aerial and Topographical Photos                                                                      246

 

                Bioregional Quizzes                                                                                                         247

 

                Accessing Webcams                                                                                                       248

 

                Letterboxing                                                                                                                     249

 

                Neighborhood Writing Groups                                                                                         249

 

                Chambers of Commerce, Historical Societies,

                                And Colleges or University Archives                                                               249

 

                Online Databases                                   

                                                                                                                                                         250

 

                Credits                                                                                                                             000