English 1010: Assignment 4
Observing a New Activity / New Place
Observe a new activity/location to search for hidden meaning, significant issues, and important aspects of the subject, imparting to the reader why this particular subject is of interest to the general public.
Length: 4-5 pages
MLA Format Guidelines according to syllabus
- Communicate effectively in written English;
- Reason abstractly and think critically;
- Incorporate primary research into writing.
- Write in standard edited American English, free from major lapses in usage, mechanics, and spelling
Write an essay about your first-time observations trying an activity or visiting a place that you’ve never tried/been to before. Perhaps it is:
- Experiencing some aspect of a new-to-you culture as Perry does in “Red Raiders Fans” (CEL 109-111) or
- Visiting a new place as Oomen does in “Heart of Sand” (CEL 97-100) or Flores in “Onward, Gamers, Onward!” (CEL pg. 616-617)
Think of something that has always interested or intrigued you in some way:
- taking an art or cooking class,
- trying a new restaurant or form of exercise such as yoga or CrossFit,
- attending a community or sporting event you’ve never been to, etc.
- ?????? Get creative! The sky is the limit as long as you are observing a new activity and drawing the readers into the experience.
You will be able to incorporate skills that you used with the first & second essays (narration, description, dominant impression), but you will also practice new skills like primary research (presenting information gathered from personal experience). This time, you are writing about an activity that your readers can actually experience for themselves rather than only through your memories; you should capture the experience by carefully choosing and detailing the activity itself, scenery, and people present—help your readers learn about this activity (and potentially want to try it themselves!) in an engaging way.
Purpose and Audience:
- Your purpose is to inform your readers about a new-to-you activity. While informing, you want to keep your audience’s attention, so choose unique details and angles.
- **NOTE: This is important! The only information that will appear in your observation essay is information gathered by YOU during YOUR experience. DO NOT, under any circumstances, use online or print sources.
- Imagine your audience as local citizens–workers, parents, high-school students, college students, etc. who would be interested in experiencing this activity/visiting this place themselves.
What kind of activity should you choose as your subject?:
Your subject must be an activity that meets the following criteria:
- Your subject must be an activity/place with which you are unfamiliar such that you will have to experience it for the first (and maybe second) time to get an engaging perspective and interesting information on the activity.
- Do not choose an event at someone’s home such as a private birthday party or wedding. It should be an activity which any of your readers could try / a place any of your readers could visit.
- It must be an activity/place that you can feasibly do/visit in the timeframe of this assignment–you must be able to do the primary research within this module (i.e., do not try to profile a trip to Hawaii if you are not actually going to Hawaii this week).
How do you gather information about the place?
You will use primary (first-hand) research, which means you will conduct the research yourself. The information gathered will come from personal observations. You will participate in the activity first-hand, observe closely and take notes, and perhaps interview at least one person associated with the activity.