"Homeplace" by Scott Rusell Sanders

In the essay "Homeplace" the author Scott Rusell Sanders points out the issue about how often times people in our culture tend do a lot of moving and exploring rather than remaining in one place and finding the precious value of that land. First, Sanders speaks about the Millers, a family who lived in Ohio and truly saw their home as more then just a house; their home was their life, memories, it was everything to them. Though the family home suffered from three harsh tornadoes they refused to move out and kept rebuilding it every time. He couldn't comprehend why they remained there and didn't flee and later realized why stating, "... it was a particular place, intimately known, worked on, dreamed over, cherished" (339). The determination of the family to stay there shows that people can really learn to appreciate everything about their home and be more familiarized then those who move a lot. He believes that those who stay put in a single location will be more knowledgeable of the world . Though many might argue his point of view he rebuttals by exclaiming," ...to understand your life as woven into the local life does not prevent you from recognizing and honoring the diversity of other places, cultures, ways" (341). Hence, Sanders believe that those who move frequently are harming our world even more because by their leaving their homes, the government takes over to create shopping centers and what not creating bigger problems for people. People should stop seeing their home as just a house but more of a place where they build thousands of memories. Homes are to be cherished.

This essay really captivated my attention. I thought that the points the author addresses are great. It made me think about one of the homes i used to live in when i was small. I remember it was my favorite place to be as a kid, so many memories in that place and sadly we had to leave that place which made me really sad because i loved that home and i was really adapted to it. I think he's right when he says that if you stay in one place for a longer period of time you will be more knowledgeable of it and learn to cherish it more. However, i didn't really like that he included other author's and parts of their pieces and views because it kind of threw me of  bit. Other then that I really liked reading this essay!