My First Person - Original Writing

Furthermore, according to Duncan Carter’s article, Five Myths About Writing, “Years of well-intentioned English teachers have responded to students’ first drafts as if they were supposed to have been perfect. Combined with a pedagogy which suggests that revision is a form of punishment, it is not hard to see where students get the idea that good writers don’t have to revise” (Carter, 82). Growing up, high school teachers make it seem as if revising and editing your paper is the worst thing ever. Any student who worked long and hard on their assignment and turned it in to get revised, would hate to receive a paper back with nothing but red marks and errors written all over them. This initially gave people the mindset of forgetting about editing their work if all it did was tear them down and point out their mistakes.

In Anne Lamott’s excerpt “Shitty First Drafts,” Lamott exhibits her own professional experience writing food reviews for California magazine while giving her audience a peek of her “shitty” drafting process. Lamott’s title is unique and not something you would expect to be reading in a college course. Nevertheless, this piece is effective in comforting the audience of students when it comes to writing drafts. Initially when I read the title I was uncertain what the content would be. However, after reading the first paragraph I understood the purpose behind “Shitty First Drafts”. Lamott’s purpose was to comfort her audience and does so almost immediately by saying “all good writers write shitty first drafts.” This statement alone sets a relaxed

She comically writes about her struggles with the inner critics telling her their opinions on her writing. Lamott advises that in order to get to a well written final draft, it is imperative to silence inner critics in order to begin the writing process. Lamott uses her own experience as a food critic to describe how she would attempt to begin her writing process but could not produce anything useful. She then shares her key to overcoming this block: to just start writing. Lamott’s entire essay is focused on this idea.

In Fred Stenson’s “In Search of a Modest Proposal” the author states, using his daughter’s first essay assignment as an example, that essays are inherently personal and should reflect the author’s own ideas, and that essay curriculums are flawed in their formulaic approach to teaching what is supposed to be a creative form of writing. Stenson’s essay uses a liberal amount of sarcasm to get his point across, and coupled with a reliance on personal examples his overall argument loses some efficacy. However, most of his irony and sarcasm are effective in their emotional appeals, and when coupled with more convincing examples and reference to authority that directly support his claim, they make for a compelling debate that is hard to refute.

It is essential to understand that classes taken in grade school do not give students a full understanding of each subject. With the topic of writing, there will always be a new lesson to learn, an aspect to improve, or a differing way to explain. Author Craig Vetter states in Bonehead Writing, “This is your enemy: a perfectly empty sheet of paper. Nothing will ever happen here except what you make happen.” Each story, essay, or response comes from a writer’s experiences. With each attempt at a new piece comes an underlying story of emotions the writer is facing. Each person’s writing is unique and the ideas people have are related to their past experiences and what they believe to be familiar with when deciding which writing style to use. As a high school student, I have learned many things about writing that helped me become the improved writer I am today, but the most essential advice I have received is practice makes perfect. Although there is no actual perfect way of writing, I have discovered that each essay I write, my writing improves. It is easier to spot mistakes, find areas to improve, and ponder elevated word choice to use.

However, before the ultimate chance to succeed presented itself, there were months of hard work, assignments, practice tests, and passages to read. The road to success would not be easy, and there were frequent stops along the way. Writing an essay in forty minutes?! That was outrageous, Fran thought at first. Fortunately, Mrs. Belles would diligently meet or surpass her students with the effort she put into teaching; she consistently encouraged and taught her students in detail what they needed not only to pass the AP exam, but also prepared them for writing essays in college. In addition to knowledge, Mrs. Belles bestowed the gift of confidence upon her students, which Francine reports to be priceless and something

If exceptional grades and numerous excellence awards are to indicate anything, I have succeeded academically thus far. However, such achievements are only possible because of my work ethic and determination. I pride myself on submitting my best work, pitting myself against my past performances. I remember my tenth grade English class; I was writing essays every week. I took every critique from my teacher and considered it for the next piece. Experience I gained from that class carried over into eleventh grade, where I achieved the highest English grade I have ever made. Even now, I look back at my older essays to help me write, so I know what works and what to avoid. Perseverance through school and desire to improve have carried me well, even through activities outside of my education.

“The Novice as Expert: Writing the Freshman Year” reflected my writing experience while I transitioned from elementary writer to a critical writer. Sommers and Saltz write, “freshmen need to see themselves as novice in a world that demands ‘something more and deeper’ from their writing than high school” (Sommers and Saltz 134). This line highlights the hardship that most students face when trying to write successfully. My earlier written works were much weaker than my current pieces because I often wrote for the sake of passing the class. While developing my writing, I focused on the new ideas that were introduced rather than limiting my argument to familiar techniques and ideas. Because of my new attitude towards writing, I began to demand

In literary education, from childhood to maturity, individuals are taught how to write not to improve themselves as critical thinkers, but to fulfill the requirements given to them in a prompt. Whether to analyze or argue, this form of writing has led to a cease of literary improvement in students today, making many question the effectiveness of writing classes. Mike Bunns, in his article “To Read like a Writer”, explores this topic and stresses the necessity for young readers to critically examine the author’s choices in order to improve their own pieces of work. Bunns effectively argues to his audience of college students that improved comprehension comes from focusing on the rhetorical choices authors decide to make in their compositions by tying personal narratives with repetitive questioning throughout his article.

Maria P. Rey's, Letter to West Port High School's English Department, was written for an assignment in her English Composition course at the University of Florida in late October of 2009. In Rey’s letter, she tries to entice her former teachers to re-evaluate how and what they are teaching to their students. Rey explains that her former instructors are not teaching their students a standard format, but that she actually received conflicting guidelines from different teachers. Rey continues with describing to professors the four rules that obstructed her ability to be a good writer. The first of these are the five paragraph essay model that is taught in most schools. Rey believes this method can inadvertently cause issues for a writer. One being

The blinds on the windows are shut, it feels like a prison cell as I sit under the spotlight. The darkness outside makes me feel somber and alone. I stare at the glowing screen and think to myself, “It’s just me and this paper.” In December of my junior year in high school, I was assigned a persuasive essay on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter; it was my first academic essay of the year. My previous experiences with academic writing were both stressful and unfulfilling; when the essay topic was announced, I felt only resentment and anger, I remembered my past tribulations. With my mother’s help, this essay was different; after I submitted it to the teacher, I possessed a new perspective on academic writing. From my experience, I learned that strong writing skills are vital to communication, critical thinking, and life outside of the classroom.

I think it very rare, if not impossible, for a writer to have a naturally sophisticated style. We all begin at an elementary level writing sentences such as ‘I like cats’ to explain our thoughts. This is because sophisticated writing is hard; even as I try to begin this paper, I have difficulty putting my thoughts into writing I deem worthy enough to read. In author Mike Rose’s novel, Lives on The Boundary: A Moving Account of the Struggles and Achievements of America’s Educationally Underprepared, he describes his struggle to overcome wordiness, grammatical errors, and inaccurate usage of literary devices. Through his teacher’s individualized help, he gained the skills needed to better develop his style.

After a grueling first quarter, I was completely miserable, with terrible grades, low self-esteem, and no end in sight. I was hanging on to the hope that there would be some epiphany moment, a moment where suddenly my writing soared, along with my grades. That change did happen, but not all at once‒ it began during the third quarter, when my teacher, Ms. Boynton, asked me to stay after class, along with five other students. She asked if we would each be interested in participating in The Atlantic and College Board Essay Contest, in which we would each submit an analysis of a famous American speech. I was truly stunned that she had chosen me over so many other students in the class, since I had felt so lost for so many weeks, but it was exactly what I needed as motivation to keep on improving my writing. As I worked closely with her on my contest submission and other class work, I came to realize how much she cared about me and wanted to help me succeed. With that being said, she never made it easy; she continually pushed me, knowing that I could always do better if I set my mind to it. Last September, I began her demanding course with the intention of purely surviving, not necessarily thriving, but that

From the early beginning of the school year to the current day, my writing skills and knowledge have improved and broadened over time. If not drastic, the change is noticeable nevertheless. For almost an entirety of eighth grade, assignments of varying difficulty challenged me to a degree. To be frank, some seemed as though they were beyond my comprehension and ability. However, determination amalgamated with knowledge obtained in advance helped me to overcome my doubts, for I exceeded my expectations; surprisingly good grades and comments are a delight, owing to the fact of that I don’t tend to think of myself as being proficient at writing. Consequently, the assignments given to me this school year shaped me into who I am as a writer.

“Welcome Class to Composition one.” Those words were voiced by my professor, Mrs. Robinson, on the first day of school. Initially, I thought to myself, do I even belong in this college course class. Before school had even begun, the stress over the summer about my English skills was eating me alive. Why? Well, in my past English classes I received A’s on all of my essays, but this college class did not seem so easy. Also, I was always fascinated by all the arts and sciences, but English never struck interest in me. I never thought that I could write any decent essays. The reason I insecure about my writing skills was because of the ACT. Since the ACT is the talk about how smart an individual is, my ACT score was not very high. As the course continued, the first essay approached quickly. I remember being stressed about this essay because of my writing insecurities. Although I managed to acquire a decent grade, I promised myself to strive to make myself a better writer. I started to read Norton Field Guide to Writing handbook also known as the yellow book, and slowly but surely started to develop knowledge of good writing skills and tips to improve my essays. This allowed me to grow as a writer and slowly my insecurities started to dwindle, and I began to gain confidence in myself. I never would've thought that the next time I took the ACT that my English score would be my highest. When getting my score back and realizing that I had improved so much, I began to wonder how I