Introduction

The life of an average American is much different today than it was in the times of the early settlers. Today people live in one of three general types of areas: urban, rural, or suburban. The urban lifestyle is different in many ways from that in the suburbs. These differences impact the inspiration of artists and writers alike.

For this exercise, you will explore life in the city and life in the suburbs. After exploring these two different types of place, you will write about a personal experience that relates either to the city or to the suburbs.

Suburb and City Life

What Is A Suburb? (http://www.answers.com/Suburb)
The Suburb in Literature (http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=79031122405991)
The City (http://www.carfree.com/city_life.html)

Directions

Start with definitions of "suburb" found on Answers.com. Read through the information presented about the suburbs. After you have finished with that section, go to Michael Brooks's review of "Suburbianation: Reading Suburban Landscape in Twentieth-Century American Fiction and Film," by Robert Beuka , found on H-Net, and read about how the suburb has been portrayed in some pieces of literature. Finally, for comparison, go to "Life in the City" on carefree.com and read about life in the city.

1.	Once you have finished exploring the Web sites, write about a personal experience that relates to either the city or the suburbs.