Open Educational Resources
Document Type
Assignment
Publication Date
6-2026
Abstract
This assignment examines how writing cultivates attention by asking students to describe their commute to campus, first from memory and later through deliberate observation. By comparing the two accounts, students reflect on the selective nature of perception and how conscious attention alters what they notice and record. A final rewriting exercise inspired by Raymond Queneau’s Exercises in Style demonstrates how language, perspective, and form shape the interpretation of experience, reinforcing the connection between observation and craft.
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Comments
More information on the John Jay Distinguished Teaching Academy can be found here: https://johnjaydistinguishedteaching.commons.gc.cuny.edu/