Annie Dillard

The desire to attain a pensive repercussion to readers through the work of literature is limned in Richard Wilbur's, The Writer. The poem follows the progression and contemplation of a father’s daughter who is aimed to write a story in the peace and serenity of her home. As he observes her, he finds that she types at unequal rates, breaking at certain intervals sometimes puzzled to regain her thoughts. “Young as she is, the stuff / Of her life is a great cargo, and some of it heavy: / I wish her a lucky passage.” The father believes that her message is to be of significance and that she should not fret when stuck in a state of absence. He only desires the best for his daughter and acknowledges that despite the length of time needed, one should

"To write to be a writer, I have to trust and believe in myself as a speaker, as a voice for the images. I have to believe that can communicate with images and words that I can do it well. A lack of belief in my creative self is a lack of belief in my total self and vice versa- I cannot separate my writing from any part of my life. It is all one" (95).

“By which I mean not a “good” writer or a “bad” writer but simply a writer, a person whose most absorbed and passionate hours are spent arranging words on pieces of paper. Had my credential been in order I would never have become a writer. Had I been blessed with even limited access to my own mind there would have been no reason to write. I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at what I see and what it means.”

Mr. Bill Ezzard has never had a moment where he could say “Writing isn't my thing.” He has always been a huge fan of writing. Ever since he was a kid, writing was something he enjoyed. That is why he became a writing teacher. Ezzard went to college knowing he wanted to do something with his writing skill, but was lost with an idea of what. He was visiting his school counselor one day, and she asked him what he wanted to do in life. He thought for about a minute, and then it clicked: he wanted to be a writing

Throughout the book, Dillard holds a fair bit of dark humor, as well as an almost childlike curiosity. While dwelling in Virginia's Roanoke Valley, she observes all parts of nature, the light and the dark, the beautiful and the unnerving. Her book is full of almost stream of conscious writing, mixing with a lyrical wording about what she observes and experiences throughout her one year in a cabin.

This literature has been the cause for celebration, even being included in required literature for high schoolers today. Books such as The Great Gatsby have inspired people to keep living, despite the everyday struggles. However, some infinities were not meant to be. Ernest Hemingway’s spark was snuffed by his own hand, and Fitzgerald undone by his own heart, believing himself to be a failure. Through these instances, writing seems to be inexpressibly linked with the darkness of humanity, but can create the brightest of horizons. Perhaps this is why a raven is like a writing desk? because the raven, although dark, can create light through the intervention of the writing desk? Two characters, so alike yet so different, seem to personify this juxtaposition of being. Lily from The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd and Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger both share and differ in traits in regards to their

But I then thought, I shouldn’t talk about writing. Few of this graduating class will wish to be writers, and those that do should by no means be encouraged. Weave a circle round them thrice, and close your eyes holy dread, because who needs the competition? What with the proliferation of Creative Writing courses, a mushroom of recent growth all but unknown in my youth, we will soon have a state of affairs in which everybody writes and nobody reads, the exact reverse of the way things were when I was composing dolorous verses in a rented cupboard on Charles Street in the early

Although aspiring writers can learn the basic components of what Stephen King considers great writers to possess good vocabulary, proper grammar, and the elements of style, experience and insight cannot be taught. Thus, while it is impossible to make a competent writer out of a bad writer, and while it is equally impossible to make a great writer out of a good one, it is also impossible, despite lots of hard work, dedication, and timely help, to make a good writer out of a merely competent one. Given that many have taken writing courses and still aren't and never will be great writers, it is obvious that there is something inherent in great writers that goes beyond mere learning.

Almost everyone seemed to be trying not to drift into a deep slumber while the teacher continued to lecture on English grammar points for the day, oblivious to the fact that her students were not paying attention. It was a rather quiet afternoon, which is quite unusual when you have forty-eight young ladies in the room. I was sitting on the corner in the right side of the room, drifting into thoughts of writing. This was the day that I first started writing, I did not know what I was doing. All I knew was that I had pent up emotions that I needed to write through certain characters that I made up in my mind. Emotions that I was not able to let out. I had tried to write on a journal, but it only depressed me. Having to recount all the bad things that happened day by day was too much for me. As Toni Morrison, a well-known novelist, editor and professor had said, “If there’s a book that you really want to read, that hasn’t been written

In “The Writing Life” by Annie Dillard, she uses quite a bit of emotion in describing what being a writer is like for her. To her, being a writer is so much more than just writing. She believes that being a writing is bringing a story to life and she is trying to tell other people that writing is a work of art and should be cherished. I believe that the author's purpose for writing this was to praise the art of writing and to encourage us to appreciate writing on a new level.

Sarah Lawrence’s advocation of creative and open development of study is a deeply involved educational approach, which not only academically advances students, but personally cultivates them as well. The school’s ingrained importance of involvement and communication between teachers and students assures me that my education would be nurtured and advanced at Sarah Lawrence. Writing has served as a deep passion of mine for a majority of my life, and has become apart of my immediate identity. I believe it opens up the mind’s understanding of any and all topics, and is a release of thought and opinion at an analytical and personal tier of thinking; this belief seems to be held by Sarah Lawrence as well, which enkindles my want to become a student

Over the course of many years, I have written numerous essays, short stories and many other types of papers for school, work or personal pleasure. These were written either for an assignment or for a personal goal. The author’s arguments are factual. I may not be able to recall exactly when my passion for writing sparked, but I do know it was most likely instilled in me by my father. My father was one thesis from his doctorate in education. When he passed away, I was fortunate to find and read his thesis that was never presented. As my grandchildren are now learning to write, I am hopeful that I can assist in teaching them the importance of writing.

Magnifico, A. M., (2010) ‘Writing for Whom? Cognition, Motivation, and a Writer's Audience’, Educational Psychologist, 45 (3) pp. 167-184

In his poem “So You Want to be a Writer”, he pleads with his readers to not try to be writers— to not force words on a page that were never meant to be there in the first place. He believed that a person’s purpose was either made clear to them or it was not, but to force any particular future onto another was easily the greatest crime against humanity.

What classroom never failed to meet the sound of distasteful, classical music, embody hundreds of huge, intimidating books, and reak of abandoned flowers left by the far window sill weekly? Anyone that has attended De Queen schools in the last century can answer this question without being hesitant, considering Mrs. Wanda Smith has been teaching since dinosaurs roamed the Earth. As a result of Mrs. Smith’s 9th grade English class, I’m currently in college having to constrain myself to write papers. The significance in the beginning of my hatred for writing was going to impact tremendously due to the constant use of it in my future. Writing is used in our everyday lives, compelling it to be very consequential for the inevitable as a whole as well. Therefore, assuming that I had let this adversity continue to frustrate me, I wouldnt be as successful as I am anticipating to be.