Analysis Of Anne Lamott's 'Exploring Language'

Everyone on the planet has a goal set in life, but only a handful attempt to improve to obtain their goal by studying the subject their goal is in. In my English class, English 101 this quarter I was astonished by how much I had progressed as a writer sharpening my writing skills and also learned a lot about writing that I hadn’t learned before. In my writing portfolio for this quarter I had to write an autobiography essay, a research essay, and this reflection essay to develop my writing skills better. The writing assignments were fun to do because it challenged me to work on essays of different styles that were new to me. The essay assignments helped me grow as a better writer that gave me the self-confidence and skills to take on the world on my own.

Many beginning college students perform poorly on their essays due to the lack of discipline in diction and incorrect usage of words. The inadequacy to write a well written paper leaves a trail of disappointing grades and false confidence. Paul Roberts gives solutions to fix that very dilemma. These solutions contain advice that will enhance your level of writing.

My usual method for writing an essay made it hard for me to start and actually continue into writing it. I would first start out and open a word document; Then, I would try and figure out how I was going to write the entire paper in my head, which made it really difficult sometimes. Starting the essay was definitely my worst enemy because I didn’t know what to start with or how to go about most papers.

Also, I had no problems with essays during my grade school years. I did not need much time to create an essay, or a journal, or something else for my writing class. The older I become, the more difficult it gets for me to write. Perhaps, I have more problems, needs, or other various things in my life that keep me from being able to focus on writing. Therefore, when I read “The Watcher at the Gates” by Gail Godwin, I saw myself there. In this essay, Godwin illustrates examples of many things that may be obstacles to some people to start writing. Also, she suggests several ways that may help people to overcome such a problem.

Have you ever felt incompetent because you wrote a horrible essay, or have you ever saved a whole essay for the night before? Have you ever wanted to die because you are writing the absolute most boring topic ever? If yes was the answer to any of those questions, I suggest taking Writing in the Liberal Arts with Professor Hilsher at Houghton College. It benefited me greatly. Before I took this class, I did not care if my essays were mediocre or boring. I just wanted to hand them in. Writing 101 has changed my perspective on writing. I learned many specific things that cleared my writing up, writing a rough draft first is important, and finding ways to incorporate passions into all pieces makes a difference.

Mostly I will talk about my own experiences with writing, I probably won't use any source because I don't you need to. I first to start things off with defining key terms like audience, genre , purpose and context . I will tell why each one of them is important to writing. Then I give detailed reasons why you, should you use them and what will happen if you don’t. I want to make a sure appeal to everyone with this essay . I will give you my thoughts on what makes a good writing piece and give detailed steps that each writer should take when they write. I want to make it clear that everyone mistakes that there no such thing as a perfect writer. In this essay I will explore this idea I feel this very true because it like you said we can always improve our writing. Then I will write what has influenced my writing and how it change my writing style in general. I read a lot of books during my free time, which really help me grow as a writer, which I will take about in the essay. I will then describe what I think you need to do to be successful in writing and all the things you should not do. You should always write your ideas on paper before typing things like that I will

For as long as I’ve been in English Course, I have struggled with writing. I can think about what I want to say in my paper but when I have to write it, it never turned out right. My main issues have been over-summarization of the points that I am attempting to make and not including any detail what-so-ever, providing smooth transitions into the next topics, and use of personal pronouns when writing essays.

As a writer, especially as an international student, I should make extra efforts to write a good essay. In the class ESL273, I have learned how to write analytical essays with critical thinking, how to create an effective introduction with background information and a clear thesis statement, and how to organize an essay with the writing process skills, such as outlining and brainstorming. In addition, we have peer review activities in the class, which is a good opportunity for me to learn from my classmates and I can identify my writing weaknesses from the feedback. With all these writing skills that I learned from the ESL273 class, I think I have some strength in writing an essay because I am not a beginner anymore.

Have you ever read the first chapter of a book and thought to yourself, what is this person talking about? Writers sometimes get carried away with big words and long drawn out sentences, ultimately missing their own point. When in reality what they’re really doing is taking up space on a page. Great writers recognize that it’s not about the complexity of their words that makes them good at writing, but how effective they are at getting their message across to readers. A writer should understand that the over use of words and drawn out sentences only bores and confuses the reader; making the reader less interested in what the writer has to say. The most important stage when writing an essay is getting your message across to your readers effectively, by avoiding wordiness, redundancy, and word complexity.

During this semester, I have strengthened my writing by trying new writing techniques, learning about purpose, and finding new ways of combating writers block. My first essay in this class was less focused then the essays I wrote later in

No one is born as a perfect writer. To become a good writer, students must learn how academic writing is done. There are plenty of example essays in university libraries, academic journals and online that students can use. As students read through the paper, they should look for the thesis statements and topic sentences. These parts of the essay are used to develop an argument, so students should use them to figure out how the writer is trying to make their point.

Have you ever been so frustrated writing an essay that you set it aside until the last minute? Well, there can be a way to prevent that. One of the most important parts about writing is the process behind it. An essay should consist of an introduction, a body and a conclusion. Even though the process of writing essays seem very mind boggling, it is actually an easy process if following the correct writing steps. It can be even easier if the writer enjoys the topic of the essay. There are certain steps a writer must take to keep a reader interested while showing enthusiasm for them wanting to learn more. These steps follow a set of guidelines including planning, free writing, revising and editing.

This is stupid! Why do we even have to write essays, what’s the point? How do I even start this? That is what my writing and thought process consist of. I complain and procrastinate until the last minute, that’s why this is being done the night before the due date. I’m just like many other students according to Gary Goshgarian introduction to Anne Lamott’s article, “Getting Started”, whose “biggest writing challenge is simply getting started” (Goshgarian, 94). Along with many of my other challenges with writing, I formed the habit of trying to impress my readers with big words instead of just getting to the point? Richer Lederer stated in his article, “The Case of Short Words” that the strength, grace, and charm of small words tend to be overlooked by bigger words (Lederer, 104). What does writing do for me, what is the reason for my writing? Mary Pipher’s article, “Writing to Change the World” answered these questions for me. Writing can impact you readers in ways we may not know. All of these articles provide me with the answers to my question. Writing is a powerful tool used to get a message and argument across; you just have to start writing and it is anything but stupid.

Back in my freshmen year of high school, I cringed at the thought of writing essays. I could not convey my thoughts through my writing efficiently. After sophomore year, I became a bit more confident about my writing. It was not until junior year, however, that my writing drastically improved. IB English 11 enhanced quite a few of my weaknesses and molded me into an analytical thinker. Nevertheless, the process of becoming a capable writer was rigorous.

Writing is more complex than the naked eye can understand. Over thousands of years, writing has evolved, people have created their own styles, and many, many rules have been created. Through reading such as Verlyn Klinkenborg’s, “Several short sentences about writing’, along with Paul Graham’s, “The Age of the Essay”, the reader is taught to ‘notice what you notice’. The main message of these texts were to focus my mind on avoiding all the rules taught during high school, and to rather write well-thought out sentences that can be short but precise. Short sentences get the point across quicker and straight to the point. Klinkenborg strives to get across to the reader that sentences should be reworked, rethought, and possibly even thrown into the sentence graveyard before it is ever written onto paper. This can be seen when he says that, “Most of the sentences you make will need to be killed.” (Klinkenborg, 13). Sentences shouldn’t be meaningless strings of words combined into a prolonged statement called a sentence, but rather should act as a description of something one notices. Both authors get the point across that all pieces of work that were merely forced are easily distinguishable from those that are well-thought out and well-versed through effort and time.