Reflection: John Didion And Lee Gutkind

Throughout the course of the quarter I amplified my capacity to not only write but also to to be able to judge and edit my own writing. In all three projects we were given the chance to make

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.

Nonfiction is easier to believe than fiction. It is likely that we find interest in what we read when the book is nonfiction rather than a fiction book. However, fiction helps you think more while processing the text you are trying to comprehend. Thoughts like, “what if this happened to me,” “How would I react,” tend to come up. I have learned more about East LA and how gang violence was, and is still a major issue. Literature influences change. If Luis didn’t encounter writing, or poetry he may still be involved in

A quality literary nonfiction book should have relevant anecdotes that allow the reader to connect with the experience stated. For example, an anecdote should have emotion tied into it that sets up the reader for the next idea, but if the anecdote is about one thing and nowhere in the book does the author go back to the anecdote, then it is irrelevant and becomes an obstacle for the mind and its understanding of the argument that has been discussed.

From writing thoughtful poems to research papers, I have experienced composing a diverse portfolio of literary analysis and criticisms throughout the school year. I started out the year writing minimally. By the end of the year, I noticed I was able to express my ideas and thoughts in a more clear and concise way on paper. Ultimately, each composition allowed me to widen my horizons as a writer and see how I could improve as a writer.

[1] How do I . . . Write a Reflection? [Online] Available from: http://www.trentu.ca/academicskills/documents/Reflectivewriting.pdf [12/01/15]

The literary canon is those works considered by scholars, critics, and teachers to be the most important to read and study, which collectively constitute the “masterpieces” of literature. (Meyer 2175) In the past there has been much debate on whether non-fiction should be considered for inclusion in the canon, but non-fiction writers being considered part of the canon is not unheard of, and is already a reality – George Orwell, Henry David Thoreau, Ernest Hemingway- all had a significant body of non-fictional work and are well respected, well established members. Sonja Livingston’s work is part of a genre called creative non-fiction. As stated in his article for The Writer, Lee Gutkind states, “Creative nonfiction-also called "new

Book are magnificent things. Fiction books are created with such details, they only hold small or no real life facts or events. In contrast, nonfiction books do the complete opposite. Nonfiction books contain facts or events from the past that occurred, they are also incorporated with details to make the story more interesting, to give it more imagery, feel, and a better tone. When an author does so, they manage to make the book have a “timeless quality,” which is incredibly important to a nonfiction book. An author is capable of getting this quality in their books by incorporating the facts or events, alongside rhetorical strategies to give life and meaning to their book. Not every author can manage to do this, although, the author by the name of Erik Larson did so, in his book, The Devil in the White City: Murder,

Reflecting as a writer and thinker I have noticed tremendous improvements in my work. My whole thought process and way of viewing topics has changed, giving me a better understanding when I write. In the beginning of the term I ran into many problems in College Writing I for instance, I was not too familiar with writing in MLA format and struggled reaching the page count. I found myself to procrastinate when papers were assigned making my anxiety levels increase. Despite my struggles as a writer and thinker, I learned how to overcome these obstacles. I learned to be open minded and looking at topics from another perspective.

This year I have learned a lot from College Writing, this class has taught me a lot about my own writing and what makes a good essay. I have learned a lot about myself as a writer and as a person throughout the course. In this reflection of the past semester I will be going through my past papers and talk about what I liked and how I could’ve made them better. I will also be going through the activities that have shaped my writing the most. Hopefully, I will be representing how I have grown as a writer throughout the year because of this class. Before taking this class I was already relatively confident in my writing abilities and was excited to take the class. Now that the course is completed I am even more confident in my writing because of all the new techniques and helpful tips I learned.

Capote wrote what he considered to be the first nonfiction novel. Simply defined a nonfiction novel is one in which an event is reported using traditional literary and rhetorical conventions to expose broader truths

As I became older and a more advanced reader, my preference for books changed. When I was in Elementary School, nonfiction books were uncharted-territory; I would never dare or even attempt to read them. Whenever I went to a library, I would immediately zoom over to the realistic fiction and fantasy books and completely ignore nonfiction. This changed in Sixth Grade. My English teacher, Ms. Oshman had put multiple nonfiction books on display. I hadn’t been able to find a book that I had enjoyed recently, so out of sheer curiosity, I picked up a book titled “Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition” by Karen Blumenthal. I only read a few pages, but I was fascinated. Then, I stopped only checking fantasy and fiction books, and

In my life there has been a crossroads at which I could either, become illiterate and not go very far in life or, I could learn to be literate and be productive. I think that literature and writing has shaped my life into an much more thinking and has provided me with most of the information I know. I like writing nonfiction essays, they are more straightforward and easier to write, for me my favorite part of writing a nonfiction essay is the research process because I can read about all history, events, details, and situations behind a particular event. At my old school I won the Memorial Day essay contest two years in a row (6th, 7th grade) two winners were chosen by the principal and I got to read it in front of the whole school about 1,100 people. Evidently I like to speak in front of people, presentations are some of my favorite projects to do I can expound upon the given subject, I have given presentations for as long as 45

Have you ever been given an assignment where you say to yourself, “how the heck am I going to do this?” or maybe, “what am I supposed to write about?” Well that’s exactly how I felt, thought, and did with this writing journey. Coming up with something to say about my writing journey has been difficult. I would be bold enough to say nearly impossible. So impossible it’s like trying to get a camel through the eye of a needle. Okay that might be an exaggeration, but it has been difficult. The idea that I have a writing journey I understand. But thinking of an event or something that has made my writing the way it is has been difficult. So, what I’ve decided to do then is to write about my writing journey writing this paper.

I have always enjoyed writing, and I believed writing was a subject I was naturally good at. I turned in papers that were still rough drafts, I did not evaluate my sources, nor did I ever take the time to fully understand the prompt. It was not until my first semester of college, in my writing composition course, I realized that I had a lot of work ahead of me to be as good a writer as I thought I was. In the writing course, the students were required to compose several essays using different methods to help progress on the course objectives. The work in this portfolio demonstrates that I have used the methods of synthesis and evaluation of sources to advance my critical thinking skills and develop personal responsibility. Though I have