Michael Kimball 's Writing Career

2. What writing strategy does the author use that you think is effective, and why? For example, does he use examples, or does he make

Michael was brought up in poor project housing that was consumed by drugs, alcohol, and gangs. He was pushed in and out of foster homes forcefully being separated from his mother and siblings. As the movie showed in harsh flashbacks, Michael is deeply affected by the forceful separation from his mother. This constant absence from the mother or other supportive figures leaves Michael unable to make a secure attachment to any strong base. Erikson’s stage of trust versus mistrust is displayed due to Michael’s inability to count on the kindness and compassion of others which leads him to withdraw from his surroundings (p 248). This abrupt memory in life affects Michael in his idea of family and commitment. The harsh environment also kept Michael from attending school, and the times he did there was no support for him to even try in school.

In the short essay, “Becoming a Writer,” penned by Russell Baker, he spoke of a memory from his past that later changed his perception of writing. After reading his piece, I reviewed the response questions listed below the essay to further my understanding of the piece. Almost like looking through a list of prompts as Russell did.

My reflective thoughts on Donald Murray's "All writing is Autobiography", are easily aligned with this work as it continuously offered textual examples to the reader from fiction and non-fictional viewpoints, as to the fundamental notion that all writing is autobiography. Murray without a doubt creates an argument about the affect a person's experience shape the outcome of any work a writer may produce, in which I agree. For example, Donald Murray's poem "Black Ice" is written with an autobiographical voice, although most details did not take place-- he admits, but the poem continued to bring forth an organic rhythm of story telling without any hints of small truths while Murray injects the extra influencing details. Murray

In the article Professional Writing Expertise by author Ronald T. Kellogg, Kellogg argues that in professional writing involves both focusing on the “process” of creating a piece of writing, while also mentally multitasking in the process. According to Kellogg, to actually define professional writing is difficult because the task is “ill structured”, meaning that the actual information behind it is unclear to explain in simplistic terms. This is because the types of texts generated by professionals is so different when compared to each other, such as comparing Romeo and Juliet to a news article. Both are obviously different, but yet still are considered professional. What they do have in common however is that both follow the “process” text

Michael suffers great depression since his dog Ked died. Most of his family and other colleagues address him to see if he is through with Ked’s death, but really he was depressed all along. “I can't tell how sad i really am about Keds versus how sad i am in general”(Cameron 223). In addition, Michael gets sad of unusual things. “I can picture her eating a banana in her tiny office. This, too, makes me sad”(226). Michael gets depressed about Mrs. Dietrich being alone. Also, Michael gets heartbroken about other little things. “I think of her learning to write beautifully as a child and then growing up to be a guidance counsellor, and this makes me unhappy”(227). Michael is not just depressed of his dogs death, but every little problems in his life.

Authors use literary elements and techniques as tools to convey meaning. These devices are the means by which authors bring richness and clarity to a text. They express moods or feelings that allow the reader to connect with the writing. In On Writing, the author, Stephen King makes use of literary elements to tell his story. The techniques King uses are effective in portraying vivid images and feelings in the reader’s mind.

The book “This Boy’s Life” by Tobias Wolff is a memoir written about the author’s childhood memories and experiences. The author shows many different characters within the book. Many of them are just minor character that does not affect the author much in his life choices and thoughts throughout his growth. But there are some that acts as the protagonist and some the antagonist. One of them is Dwight, the protagonist’s or Jack’s stepfather. This character seems to be one of the characters that inhibit Jack’s choices and decisions. This character plays a huge role in Jack’s life as it leaves a huge scar in his memory. The author here spends the majority of time in this character in the memoir to show the readers the relationship between

The syntax that he uses may be more informal instead of formal academic language. He also uses good organizational structure to support his argument. He frequently initiates a new idea with a hook to get the readers attention or a transitionary phrases to segway into new ideas which makes the reading flow well. Then the idea is supported by either an anecdote from people or scholars that were interviewed or a statistic. This helps make his reasoning come across as persuasive and maybe bring resemblance to the readers own experiences that they can relate

He says that the best books to read are that ones that young people read. Implying that we dont have to waste our time with these huge chapter books and their fancy vocabulary. The simplified ones are better.”[3]

“Mick Harte was Here” was a moving story about a girl who was grieving the loss of her younger brother. Not only was this story relatable, but also eye opening. The thoughts that roam a child’s mind when grieving is very important and should be told in a way that can possibly educate parents or peers. We see the main character Phoebe go through the path of grieving when she lost her younger brother Mick. We followed her journey for the first few days of his death and realize just how certain things can trigger an emotion or action.

The main character Micheal Oher’s, who is introduced to us through his rough life growing up. Micheal never knew his father and his mother was a drug addict. HIs mother gave birth to a total of fifteen children, who of course due to her drug addiction raised themselves basically. Michael spent his teenage years running away from a string of foster homes and situations. Michael got tired of foster care

Authors use a variety of writing techniques in their pieces of literature to exemplify their ideas and message to the audience. The use of different writing techniques also helps make pieces of literature more comprehensible and sophisticated. The author of A Small Place, Jamaica Kincaid, uses numerous writing techniques that help to portray the novel’s message. Jamaica Kincaid displays an array of writing techniques in the novel such as repetition, rhetorical questions and the use of “you” to demonstrate her thoughts about colonization.

Michael feels detached from his peers at school and his family at home. He cut everyone out of his life emotionally so, that he will not be able to let them in on the secret of his and Hanna’s relationship. Michael discovers that he struggles to truly connect with any person in a romantic relationship except for Hanna. He concludes that ‘I could never stop comparing the way it was with Gertrud and the way it has been with Hanna’ (Schlink 1997:171). In the novel, he is found to isolate himself from his ex-wife and his

Because of his tactics, he fundamentally surpasses Fordham’s mediocre writing style which can be viewed in the following example. Villelabeitia states, “The banter is a form of speech that mixes Arabic with English. It is widely used among Jordan's Western-educated elites, drawing ire from language purists and exposing a widening social and economic gap in the small kingdom.” This sentence displays the clearness of the author’s ideas expressed through his strong writing style as the reader finds himself receiving the author’s thoughts clearly, making Villelabeitia goal achieved easily. Due to the clarity of the author’s meaning, his claims are furthermore strengthened and