Essay about Words That Have Shaped Me

In her article “I Stand Here Writing”, Nancy Sommers examines the writing process and formulating ideas for writing in a more empirical manner. She states that before she found her creative zeal/ niche her writing was often undisciplined, unmethodical, and sloppy. Sommers reveals that in college she was less known for her writing and more for her long hair and misapplication of phrases. She found her true inspiration while writing her Senior Thesis on Emerson’s “Eloquence.” Throughout the entire essay, Sommers provides the reader with advice about writing. A key point that she mentions is, “If I could teach my students about writing it would be to see themselves as sources, as places from which ideas originate, to see themselves as Emerson’s transparent eyeball, all that they have read and experienced-the-dictionaries of their lives circulating through them.”

My English Literature major has helped me to achieve an outstanding level of appreciation, enjoyment, and knowledge of both American and British Literature. As a high school AP English student, I struggled through great works like Hamlet and To the Lighthouse. My teacher’s daily lectures (there was no such thing as class discussion) taught me merely to interpret the works as critics had in the past. I did not enjoy the reading or writing process. As a freshman at Loras, I was enrolled in the Critical Writing: Poetry class. For the first time since grade school, my writing ability was praised and the sharing of my ideas was encouraged by an enthusiastic and nurturing professor. Despite the difficulty of poetry, I enjoyed reading it.

In her essay “Death of a Moth,” Annie Dillard explores the amount of commitment required to be a writer. She finds that in order to be successful as a writer, you have to be fully committed, and ready to fully dedicate your life to your craft. Dillard models these ideas with a story about a moth that flew into a candle and burnt; becoming a second wick. She tells this story in great detail, and then connects it to her ideas about writing by describing asking her class if they truly want to be writers, giving the impression that she also just told them this story. Her use of descriptive language adds meaning and importance to an otherwise insignificant event, and creates an

Writing an essay is not something that that kids want to be doing because the essay they are writing often is about something they are not interested in that is why some people believe that you should write about things that interest you so that you do want to write that essay. And to people that want to do so are Jimmy Santiago Baca and Gerald Graff in both these essays, Rob Baker’s “Jimmy Santiago Baca: Poetry as Lifesaver” and Gerald Graff’s “Hidden Intellectualism”, they talk about their experiences with how they got to wanting to inspire kids to write. Jimmy Santiago Baca and Gerald Graff both want to inspire kids to want to write, but Baca believes that you should write about yourself through poetry and Graff believes that you should write about things that interest you to want to write.

Reflecting on my life as a means of deciding on a topic, one time period struck me as particularly important in terms of writing itself: my second year of second grade. Moving to Poway in 2007, the first class I was in was Mrs. Ramin’s 2-3 combo at Painted Rock. I had purple wire-rim glasses, a brown Hello Kitty tracksuit, two friends, and a hatred of writing. This was particularly unfortunate for young Analise, since Mrs. Ramin’s main focus was writing. She encouraged her students to write daily, setting aside 20-60 minutes each day for it. Although I hated it at first, my passion for creative writing grew as I turned my love for my sister and for Webkinz into tales of adventure and peril parallel to my then favorite series, Magic Tree House. I wrote, drew, and colored whatever my seven-year-old imagination spun for me. After that spark, the fire of writing died down to a smolder until eighth grade, when I wrote my first successful essay, “Flowers for Algernon: A Comparative Essay On How Two Versions of the Story are like

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

I do not consider myself to be anybody’s best friend. While I do have many friends that I consider myself to be close with (and I’d like to believe they opposite is true), the school year has just started and many friendships that existed last year may or may not fade away as time passes by. This is because friendships are mainly built on conversations shared daily, whether they be in the classroom or outside on social media. Even if one person is reluctant to hold a conversation, then the bonds of friendship will slowly and steadily break apart due to the lack of sustained interaction on a daily basis. Communication is paramount to ensuring that a relationship is maintained. In my case, I do not believe I interact with anyone on a daily basis enough to be considered “best friends.” Sure, I would consider many people I’m acquainted with good friends, but that is the extent of our friendship. On the other hand, I have several good friends because we have relatively good chemistry. Successful interaction with one another has led to a mutual desire to sustain our friendships.

Cynthia Haven is the writer of an article called “The New Literacy: Stanford study finds richness and complexity in students' writing” that is a study based on the amount of writing college students do. She followed students at Stanford during their undergraduate years and the first year after that. She discovered that today’s students are writing more than any generation before it. Cynthia had the students she was studying submit all of the writing they did, academic or personal. She found that only 62 percent of the work submitted to her was for classes; the rest of the material was “Life writing”.

Writing may be an enthralling experience for one and a clever way to decompress for another. In general, however, writing has different purposes for a variety of people. “Why I Write,” written in the late 20th century by Terry Tempest Williams, describes various reasons for writing narrated from a female’s perspective. The short essay begins in the middle of the night with a woman engulfed in her own thoughts. She abruptly goes forth by reciting the multiple reasons why she continues to write in her life. Through a variety of rhetorical devices such as repetition, imagery, analogies, and symbolism, Terry Tempest Williams produces an elegant piece of writing that offers the audience insight into the narrator’s life and forces the audience to have empathy for the narrator with the situation she is incurring.

Authoritative figures, like parents, counselors, or teachers, are there to teach us from right from wrong and protect us from the possible mistakes one could make through the journey of life. In my journey, I’ve been blessed enough to have family that cares for my well-being and give me a roof over my head, unlike a great portion of society. They have taught me to push and exceed in any event or situation, no matter how “hard” it may seem at the time. They wouldn’t push me to do a certain thing or yell that I wasn’t doing everything I could possible do but all they simply said was, “the more you do now, the less regret you’ll have later in life, but Tara, never push yourself to impress others”. That saying will stay with me forever, because how many people can say they have parents that care but also are very lenient at the same time, I’m sure not very many. I’ve very thankful that I have my family

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

I’d always enjoyed writing but I’d never been so vocal about it. For me, it happened quietly. My notebooks lie scattered over my bedroom floor; they had no place at the lunch table. And my writing survived on my acknowledgments alone, I couldn’t even imagine letting some else read it. This was due in part to my own self-doubt: I was embarrassed of my poems that never rhymed and my short action stories that never seemed to have any plot. But I

In my freshman year of highschool, I can without a doubt say that I have been pushed beyond my limits when it comes to writing. Not only have all of my previous English teachers ensured me of literary success, but I’ve always been rewarded in numerous ways for my writing prowess. So, it may seem odd for me to say that I very much enjoy this test of my abilities, and I greatly appreciate this opportunity to push myself to become even better. I’ve always been both physically and mentally bored with the numerous amount of teachers who have attempted to reel me into their lesson plans. Their desperate searches were in vain, for I never truly felt a tug on my mind until I stepped into Mr. Thoma’s class. The material isn’t exactly hard to grasp, but it forces your mind into a plane of insightfulness;

Growing up, reading and writing were always a pleasurable experience for me. As a little girl, my mother and grandmother would both tell me stories that they had once been told when they were children in their native country of Cuba. Although the stories they told me weren’t being narrated directly from a book, they motivated me to read some stories on my own. So I began requesting books and taking trips to the library. Those stories inspired me to begin writing and so by the age of 8, I picked up a pencil and embarked on my composing journey. I had countless journals throughout the years and even began writing short stories and poems. My father was the one that encouraged me most when it came to my writing as he genuinely believed I was talented.

Writing has always played a huge role in my life. I’ve been reading writing for as long as I can remember as I have an immense love of reading. This love would grow into a love for writing as well; I still stumble upon journals and writings from my five-year-old self about the happenings in my kindergarten class. As time would go on I would discover academic writing, and how to convey my thoughts on what was the topic of student that particular year or semester in my schooling. Later, writing would become a constant for me, and a comfort; I was known to my friends as always having a journal, and a pen on my person. I learned to write down my feelings and my thoughts, song lyrics that were in my head, reflections for the day. I learned how