Tutorial 1: Daily geographies of me
21 January 2011
14:48
In this tutorial, you will start to think more critically about your own identity, how it is constituted in the places and spaces around you, and how it, in turn, co-produces those spaces and places.
Critical thinking - Putting it all together
Identify the assertion of the argument.
Does the author use any emotive or biased language?
What is the author asking you to accept or do?
Is this belief or action reasonable?
Identify the evidence used in support.
Is the evidence relevant to the assertion made?
Is the evidence from a credible source?
Is there additional evidence that would weaken the assertion?
Look for missing links between the assertion and the evidence provided.
If there is a missing link, is it reasonable?
Look for ambiguous words that require more precise definitions.
Do any words lack definitions?
Are those words used consistently?
Does the author compare one situation to another?
Are the items alike in the relevant respects?
Does the author apply a general principle to a specific case?
Is the principle applicable?
Does the argument recommend a particular action?
Would this action have any undesirable effects?
Your geobiography
Spend a few minutes thinking about your own geobiography – how do you exist in the world? You might want to focus on a specific day that you experienced recently, or consider more broadly your 'average' day.
After you've decided what you are focussing on, write a paragraph or two of this geobiography. You should write in the first person (i.e. use "I" and "me"), and try to use flowing prose. You can use poetry or pictures too, if that's what you want to do.
Consider the geographies of your everyday life (places, spaces, people, environments, cultural artefacts, landscapes, media, politics, interests, emotions, etc. that you are related to) – what makes you YOU? Why?
