Unit 1
Exploration 3
Written outside of class
Due Monday 9/23/13

“There’s No Place Like Home”
Or: Investigating how our home place influences literacy

For this Exploration, I want you to write in detail about where you come from. I want you to explore the literal location—the physical and cultural landscape—where you were born, and/or raised. It could be a small town or big city, an affluent or poor neighborhood, the Southwest, the Northeast, etc. I want you to think about how this place has affected your relationship to reading and writing.

Consider the following questions:
What is this place like? Define it in detail (even if you grew up in Boise, and think it might be too familiar). Each place is different for each one of us, and I’m interested in how you picture it. I’m interested in what stands out to you, personally.
What is the culture of this place? Take time to answer this honestly and thoroughly. It might be necessary to categorize or compartmentalize certain aspects of the place to embody the culture. For example, Robinson talks about the “loneliness” and “isolation” of the West in her essay, “When I Was a Child. This is a categorization, and a generalization (there are surely places in the West that are the opposite of isolated—think LA, for example). However, this division allows Robinson to make connections to her own perceptions of the place, and her own influences. You may have to think about the culture of your