Writing Assignment #4

Many writers are compelled to write to make sense of the world and their place in the world. They write to seek answers to their questions about self and identity and the "other." Through historical, fictional, philosophical, and memoir writings, writers come to know themselves by getting outside of themselves. At their best, they illuminate a path for others to begin their travels to the self and "the Other" (recall our reading at Santa Croce in Florence). You can't know yourself until you get outside of yourself.

Perhaps, then, you can't know a city until you leave it. You must leave your home and your community to then come back and know that home and see it in a different light, from a different perspective, through new eyes.

We have all left our homes and, through travel, you will come to know it in a different way. You will come to know yourself in a different way. Don't expect things to be the same when you return.

You left Rome and returned. You left Florence and returned. Do you know the cities better now? Do you know them differently?Do you see the cities, and also perhaps yourself, differently through "new" eyes?

Your task for writing assignment #4 is to reflect on Rome, Florence (and consider Prato). What did you see, what were your impressions, how did you see the cities differently (leaving and returning). What about your personal discoveries in the cities. We are now almost half way into the program. What are you thinking about in terms of your travels, your home, your time here in Italy? Write assignment #4 and see where it takes you. Use your memories of the places you have been to and your memories of home and community (both in Seattle and here in Roma) to inform your writing. Utilize readings, talks, excursions, your research and rione investigations, and conversations with people. Be ready to see connections. They are there.

Finally, take chances when you write. Be "imperfect". Sit and be still with your thoughts. Writing can be a form of meditation. Good writing can't be hurried. Focus and enjoy the process.

One more thought to take with you (a thought in the form of a list)...
The Odyssey
Canterbury Tales
Augustine's Confessions
The Inferno
The Wizard of Oz
The Catcher in the Rye
The Accidental Tourist
The Lord of the Rings
Enders Game
Clash of Civilization Over an Elevator in Piazzo Vittorio

"There are no new answers, only new questions" (Barbara Grazzuti Harrison, Italian Days, p. 180).