Part One, Chapter Sixteen In the first part of the book, titled C.V., Stephen King discussed his personal stories and what led him to be the writer that he is today. In chapter sixteen he is describing his bedroom at his house in Durham that he lived in as a child. He says that every time he got a rejection slip from magazines that he had submitted his writing to, he would hang it on the nail that he had put in the wall. King mentions that by the time he was fourteen the nail was no longer supporting the weight of all of the rejection slips that had been hung on it over the years (40-41). This chapter in particular stood out because it proves that even the greatest writers started somewhere. When King was a fourteen year old boy …show more content…
This chapter is important in a beginning writer’s process because it helps them to understand the basis of writing, connecting with the reader.
Part Three, Chapter Two
In the third part of the memoir, King talks about the toolbox that every writer should have, and what order the tools should be in (111-137). The second chapter of the toolbox section is about grammar, the tool that every writer believes to be the most important. He says that grammar is a very important tool in writing, but an even more important tool is how you use the grammar (118-122). This includes vocabulary, sentence structure, and word order. While grammar is no doubt very important, being able to write well all depends on how you take the basics of grammar and build upon them.
This chapter holds a certain significance because it helps a writer know how to use the basic elements of the English language, in a way that people want to read. King says that vocabulary and word choice is a very important aspect of grammar, and this should be reflective of your style of writing. He makes very clear in this chapter the importance of sentence structure, and word order (King 118-120). King writes:
Vocabulary used in speech or writing organizes itself in seven parts of speech… Communication composed of these parts of speech must be organized by rules of grammar upon
King’s writing was both fair and accurate. He seemed to have done lots of research, and written only the facts that had been proven. When he did write anything that seemed a little exaggerated, he would always source the statement making sure the reader knew that he was only stating what someone else said, not the complete truth. King also shows both sides of the story. He gives all characters an equal chance to prove themselves. As seen best with Lorenzo, King praises him first with Lorenzo’s doors, but then he expresses Lorenzo’s incompetence towards the wooden
Thomas King’s influences have affected the way he writes in a few different ways. Thus evident through research and his books like Medicine River, you can see social, cultural, political and economic influences shape the way King writes and has made him the person he is.
King crafts together good sentences to make his writing more meaningful for the clergymen to ponder on. He emphasizes the bigger idea in his sentences, because he wants the men to put into consideration the bigger picture. King’s periodic sentence on page 264, “But when you have seen . . . then you will understand why we find it so difficult to wait.
Throughout his piece King expresses his disdain for television. Television is considered a waste of time and talent, without it more people would be able to address their potential for writing, through reading. When one could be reading and improving on writing, they are constantly drawn into the illuminated screen in the middle of the room. After explaining his view on the waste caused by television, readers are already having second thoughts about their leisurely activities. Once King has readers questioning their own personal motives, he really pulls them in with the first of his series of rhetorical questions, he asks “…how much of a sacrifice are we talking about here?”
To set the mood in this piece, King describes where he is writing his work and calls it his “far-seeing place,”(103). He says that he is writing this chapter at his desk down in his well lit basement in the winter, and this place is his sanctum away from the stresses of life. By writing about his current setting in his sanctuary, King showed that he was just like any one of us. King reads books as a release from life’s frustrations.
The control King has over the flow of the passage only further proves King’s credibility as a skillful writer and speaker. This is seen in the first paragraph of the letter, where the juxtaposition of overly polite diction and backhanded compliments creates doubt in the
King does this right from the beginning by stating that "If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: Read a lot and write a lot" (221). Though this mainly stands as advice to fledgling writers it goes with the thought
One key passage where King defines writing is when he is describing the revising process. King writes,
Writing is a practice that most of us were taught when we were young. We were taught the basics of grammar, how to form a sentence, conjunction words, how to write paragraphs and more. Although we have learned this skill while growing up and have used the skill every year after entering kindergarten, this does not mean our writing process will ensure the best work. The authors that I chose each encourage their audience to excel in the art of writing in their own way to help with the writing process.
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.
One of these heavy hitting points is his next major tone. King uses a very intimate tone in the next section and gets very personal with the reader. King talks about “vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers” and “drown your sisters and brothers at whim.” He uses these phases to establish empathy with the reader and develop pathos. This use of pathos and empathy gets the recipients of the argument more on his side. King knows he really needs people to feel for his side, so he spends about half of his letter developing a connection with the reader. This tone not only develops more of a connection with the reader but also ramps up his argument. King ramps up his argument to get the reader ready for his next use of diction to create tone.
All the rejections his stories had received became another influence for him. By the time he was sixteen King had so many rejection letters he was said to have had to use a spike in his wall to hold them all up. One rejection that stood out was when the editor of Fantasy and Science Fiction, read one of his stories and rejected it but he sent a personalized message back that said, he had talent and to keep submitting his work.
He submitted hundreds of stories to magazines, mostly in the genres of horror or science fiction, and proudly displayed the rejection slips on a large nail over his typewriter. In King's book "On Writing", he recalls, "By the time I was fourteen the nail in my wall would no longer support the weight of the rejection slips impaled upon it. I replaced the nail with a spike and went on writing" (41). Rejection was simply a motivation for King to write better than before.
There’s many reasons in how grammar can lead to success and one of them is in school. Obviously you’ll need grammar in order to academically achieve. For example like your lab reports, essays, poems, summaries, and etc. Your overall grade in your classes
It is not uncommon to say that grammar instruction plays an important role in language teaching. Regarding the status and importance of grammar teaching, a variety of opinions have been made. Batstone (1994) states that “language without grammar would be chaotic: countless words without the indispensable guidelines for how they can be ordered and modified” (p. 4). More vividly, Wang (2010) makes two similes. She compares grammar to the frame of a house, which is a decisive factor to ensure the solidness of it. Additionally, she regards grammar as a walking stick, whose function is to help and support students to learn English. Thus, the nature of grammar instruction manifests its own significance as it helps students