Depicting a place Tips on depicting a place If possible, visit or revisit the place you plan to depict so that you can observe details firsthand instead of relying on memory. As you are observing your subject (or recalling details about it), take some notes. Then look through your notes for what journalists call an "angle": a way of focusing your material on a central idea or dominant impression. Consider your audience. How will readers benefit from hearing about the place you have chosen to depict? Think about your overall strategy for the paper. Do you want to take readers on a tour? Share your own experiences visiting the place? Keep both yourself and your readers out of the picture by focusing just on the place itself? In your introduction, give readers a sense of the significance of your subject. End your introduction with a thesis (as in the first sample paper) unless the point of the paper is so clear that the thesis is implied (as in the second sample paper). NOTE: Check with your instructor to see whether an implied thesis is acceptable. In the body of the paper, give readers enough details so they can experience the place you have chosen to depict. Select details to support your central impression of the place, whether positive or negative. In the conclusion, encourage readers to visit the place you have depicted (or, if your purpose is to discourage a visit, emphasize why). Sample paper: John Curley Sample paper: Mary Kenny Back to the assignment Assignments list