Travel Writing: Honors
Dr. Christine Macdonald
General Education: Skills - Written Communication - UD
Course Description:
“Wherever you go, there you are.” This cliché implies that people cannot change themselves or their perspective by changing their location. In this course we will explore the potential and limitations of travel as a means to facilitate different types of journeys: physical, cultural and psychological. We will study concepts such as the tourist gaze and the sublime as we analyze a variety of travel narratives. Since this is a course in writing, you will be asked to try different drafting and revision techniques designed to help you write more quickly as you discover the complex ideas that lurk beneath your initial impressions. In addition to rhetorical analyses of language and visuals, you will craft a literary journalism project on a topic of your choice that combines creative nonfiction techniques, research, and personal experience. Please enroll in this course only if you are willing to engage, discuss, ponder, read, write, revise, share and laugh. You need not have traveled extensively to take this course.
*Prereq. You MUST have WRTG 1100, 1150 or WRTG 1250 or AP score of 4 or 5 in English Language & Composition.