Writing Places

by Paula Mathieu

Part of the Longman Topics reader series, Writing Places encourages students to examine the locations that define their past, present and future. As students begin to think critically and to write about these places, they realize that location is an enormous part of identity – both personally and academically. This collection of readings offers a poignant and, oftentimes, moving variety of essays from writers of all ages, styles, and backgrounds. It is designed to be flexible to any teaching method and any composition class. The text is divided into five chapters. The first chapter is an introduction for both instructors and students to the concept of writing about place. The middle three chapters divide the essays by the period of time represented in the author’s work. The last chapter provides valuable instruction from start to finish for the writing process. It focuses specifically on how to better understand the meaning of place in life and writing. “Longman Topics” are brief, attractive readers on a single, complex, but compelling topic. Featuring about 30 full-length selections, these volumes are generally half the size and half the cost of standard composition readers.

272 pages, Paperback

First published May 20, 2005

Reviews

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the essays were great examples of how a place can be conveyed in a story. I was disappointed in how many student essays (poorly written student essays) were in the book. One in particular, a story about a girl being forced to visit a local landmark to describe it, was painfully whiny and out of place next to works by Junot Diaz and Eric Schlosser.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I completed reading this book for college and I like the fact that not all of the essays came from successful writers. Although some of the essays were long and boring, I really enjoyed reading them all with their different perspectives on things that I would never have thought of in that light.