Module 2

Some Place New

One of the more common travel writing forums today is the online review. We are encouraged by many companies to review where we have been, to share our experiences with others. These serve a marketing function of bolstering “mentions” on the Internet (good or bad, it doesn’t matter), and we increasingly turn to reviews to help us acclimate and understand what to expect before going to a new place (which cuts down a bit on the adventure that people experienced even a few decades ago). Twenty years ago, if you saw an Ethiopian restaurant open in your neighborhood, you might say, “let’s give it a try.” Now, we ask, “let’s check Yelp.”

Part of travel, however, is the sense of adventure, of trying something new. I want to capture some of that in this first assignment by asking you to go someplace you have never been before. Yes, I understand the siren’s call of Yelp or the web to get some ideas, but I hope you do your best to capture that spirit of adventure just a bit.

I also want you to see your writing as public. So much of your effort in school is producing work for a teacher. Yes, it is all meant to help you learn, but it is still work that others could benefit from. So after you compose and revise your review, you will be expected to post it someplace public such as Tripadvisor, Yelp, or Google Guides.

Techniques

Samples

Assignment

Due Dates

  • Review draft due Wednesday, September 23
  • Editorial Comments due Friday, September 25
  • Review revision due Monday, September 28