In the first quarter of American Literature, we have used short stories written and published in the last decade, as well as a variety of daily activities, exercises, and conversations, to confront a series of cascading, urgent, contemporary questions: what is home? What does it mean to be “at” home? Is home always a place? If it is, is it always a place that is safe, comfortable, loving? A few weeks into the quarter, you endeavored a “Where I’m From” poem in which you attempted to answer these questions on your own behalf. Now, for your summative assessment for this unit, you are asked to return to this poem––and these questions––to further reflect on the places, people, ideas, experiences, and things that have heretofore defined––for better or for worse––your experience of home.
This writing should be intimate and purposeful, reflective and profound. In it, you should identify a particular line sequence or stanza of your original “Where I’m From” poem that best encapsulates your relationship to the idea of home, and expand upon it in 500-1000 words. The organization and structure of your essay is up to you, but it should include a brief introduction exploring the stakes of the essay, as well as a conclusion that ties up your narrative/argumentative/reflective/what-have-you loose ends, and, of course, you should take care to make reference to the portion of your poem that you are reflecting upon, as well as defining your ideas of home in order to make your writing make sense to the reader.
