Blog #10

When I first began this class I think my writing was very bland and un-descriptive. As I progressed through the class and completed the assignments, such as blog posts and commenting on blog posts, I became very aware of different places that my writing could be enhanced. I really liked the line, "Don't say it, show it." This greatly helped me in becoming more descriptive in my writing. Just looking back on my old assignments like the snapshot paper, I can tell a major difference and improvement in quality and description. My favorite assignment was the snapshot paper. I really enjoyed the fact that we were encouraged to think outside of the box and to be creative. It took a lot of stress out of the paper and allowed me to experiment with other writing styles. Then after the paper I was able to use the techniques that I learned in other assignments. I think the blog posts were very beneficial. I liked the fact that they were not all the same. I think the one in particular where we were assigned to create our own similes and metaphors was extremely helpful. A lot of times I found myself leaving out literary devices like similes and metaphors, but then after that assignment it encouraged me to go back and revise my other drafts and to add more style to them. The in class activity that I really got a lot out of was the one where we created 25 different titles. I enjoyed this activity because it allowed us to be creative but it also had a guide. I enjoy activities that encourage me to think outside of the box, but also has a guide so it wasn't like I was lost as to what to do. Then the feedback I was able to get back from fellow students was great. It allowed me to choose a more creative title and to not worry whether or not it was weird or awkward because I already had received feedback on it. I feel a lot better in regards to my writing in the future after taking this course. I think that my writing will be much more vivid and have more personality. I am a lot more confident in being creative and ensuring that I am being as descriptive as possible. I will also continue to use the idea of having multiple drafts. I think that the revision process was a great way to continue to improve on one assignment especially with having multiple people looking at the paper and giving feedback.

Blog #10

My writing style has definitely taken a turn for the better since I began this class. I used to look at writing as such a chore that I would put off until the last minute, but now when I think of writing a paper it is a little less painful. The feedback that I have received throughout the year has helped me tremendously in furthering my writing skills. Some of the most helpful exercises that we have discussed in class were the ones on brainstorming. I formed some of my best story lines for my papers when I sat down and came up with multiple ideas like we discussed in class. What I have learned from this class has given me more confidence to express myself through my words on paper. I have gained a lot of knowledge about grammar that I can now apply to my writing and make my paragraphs flow more smoothly. As I look back to how I viewed writing before I began this class, my perspectives have completely changed. Although I still couldn't see myself just sitting down and writing for the fun of it, I have matured in my writing abilities. I still have a lot more room for growth, but this class has definitely started my on my journey to becoming a better writer. 

Blog 10

My writing style has changed in a positive way over the course of the semester.  When I came into ENC1101 my writing skills were not necessarily the best writing skills a freshman in college could possess.  I was not the worst writer, but my writing lacked certain skills and characteristics that if I did have them my writing would be a lot stronger.  For example, what I mean by this is that I could show things rather than tell them.  I learned that using sensory details will add a lot of descriptive detail to your writing.  When using sensory details in your writing the reader will have an easier time drawing a picture of what is going on in their head.  It makes it a lot easier to understand and vision the writing as if it were real.  All of the workshops that we would do in class really made a difference in our writing.  The workshop allowed us to revise our peers papers in great detail.  We were really able to dissect the text in many different ways.  This class has been very beneficial to me as a writer.  I watched my writing gradually become better and better.  The things I learned this year in this class will help me for the rest of my writing career because I will take the things I learned this year and continue to utilize the techniques I have learned and I will also continue to use some of the workshop exercises we did.  My writing has become increasingly better after this semester.  I hope that I can continue to grow as a writer as I continue on with my college career.  

Blog #10

I definitely feel like my writing has changed significantly since I first started this class. I’ve seen my writing in a new light, or lights for that matter, from different perspectives because of my peers and constant analysis of others’ work. I think the fact that this class was so interactive between my peers and I, helped me expand my views on writing. Also, allowing me to see different writing styles of not only myself, but others as well, has helped me grow not only as a writer, but as a reader as well. I learned a lot about how to stay focused on one specific topic in a paper and how point of view effects a piece significantly. I think getting other people to edit and analyze my piece opened my eyes to new forms of writing and how even small things can alter a piece. The article assignment interests me greatly because I found a lot of information I was interested in and putting it all together was difficult but it truly tested my skills. For the short story assignment, I discovered writing fiction is probably my strong suite. Before this class, I thought I was a pretty strong writer but now, I feel like I still need a lot of work. In the future, I’ll always be sure to have someone else proof read and catch the mistakes I can’t see on my own. I feel like all the assignments for this class definitely made me look into myself for my inner creativeness and also my thoughts and interests and getting comfortable enough to share that with others.

Blog #10 - Oliver Hamlin

     I feel that my writing style has definitely changed since the beginning of the year. While writing has always been a strength of mine, the assignments from this class have helped me expand my horizons with how I write narratives and communicate ideas in a formal setting. Prior to this class, I primarily only wrote for academic purposes. The short story assignment of this class really made me discover my creative thought process for writing a story. I discovered that I enjoy writing about science fiction and drama the most because I feel they have the most potential of having gripping plot twists and climaxes when meshed together. I definitely think that this class has improved my confidence in writing, which in turn has allowed my writing to be less form-fitting to academic formats and more free to explore creative and less structured styles.
     While the feature article assignment was structured, I was able to do it with subject matter that interested me greatly: the history of DJing. I learned that using a subject I enjoy with an academic assignment can have my writing be more engaging and interesting to the reader. Overall, I can say I have discovered that my writing that comes out of enjoyment always turns out better than writing that is mandated on boring subject matter.

Blog 10

My writing style I think for the most part stayed the same. But what changed is how I approach certain tasks in writing. I feel like I write with better detail now because of the snapshot project. That really made me focus on extensive detail when writing about even the smallest things. Also approaching how to expand on certain situations, now I think about the five senses every time I want to describe a certain scene. Also a helpful learning experience was the revising aspect of the class. In high school the teacher would make you write 2 drafts max, most of the time we just wrote one. This class made me write 3 drafts, and do some revising of my own. This helped me understand that a first draft doesn't have to be good to write a great paper, it's how you expand and build off of your ideas that makes you write your best.

What I enjoyed most about the writing assignments in this class is the diversity. The Snapshot project involved extreme detail, the feature article showed what it would be like to write/design a magazine and the short story was more about being creative and evolution of your characters. Each assignment was very different and I enjoyed that, because it showed me where my strengths and weaknesses were and helped to fix them.

Blog 10

The most outstanding thing this course has taught me is to be more meticulous about what I am writing. In my highschool career, my papers where governed by my internal mantra, “You already wrote it. Just leave it alone.” Though the teaching of Ms Sarah Marshall, and unrelenting feedback from my peers, I can say with complete confidence that this course is the most I have learned about writing and communication since elementary school.

    In the Snapshots assignment, I found myself vomiting words all over the paper. Nothing was telling me that it needed to be changed. I simply typed what my brain told me to in whatever order it happened to appear in my mind, often times sloppy and unprofessional. This course has served as a motivator and a steroid to my writing.

“In that moment, I was exposed to a completely new sound that blew me away, that rude, macho, guitar, the tribal rhythm that sprung from the drums, the bass guitar that thundered with every pluck, and those voices that twisted, intertwined, and supported each other. If you talk to middle aged men about their favorite music, most of the names would sound like something a diviner would read out of her ancient spell book. That feeling when you encounter that first song that changes your life. No, I do not mean that song that you like for a month and a half and claim “changed your life” because you like the hook. I mean that song that if you had not have heard it, you would be a very different person. That song for me was “Sunshine of Your Love” by Cream.”

That colossal mess was from the second draft of my Snapshots project. It seems to have a theme, but no particular structure. Looking at a more recent writing, the improvements in structure and meaning seem to lend themselves as evidence, such as this piece from my Short Story.

“I don’t care about this awful job, and I don’t care about you!” a woman screamed as she threw a plate against the drywall. “Honey, please. You know how important I am down at the Bureau. Isn’t that what you wanted? To marry a successful man?” Felix said pleadingly. “I wanted to marry a successful man, not a man who spend more time making love to his boss than me!” Another plate shattered. Felix spoke as he ducked. “Please, Christine, don’t do this. I can scale back my hours!” “Ohhhh, it’s too late for that. It’s been too late for that for two years!” Christine pulled a suitcase from under their bed and began filling it with clothes. “You can keep the house. You can keep the china. You can keep everything.” She screamed as she pulled a blue sundress from the dresser. “I am going to my mother’s.” The front door slammed. She was gone.

Although I would not consider it a professional work by any stretch of the word, it does seem to flow better, keep the reader involved as opposed to jumped randomly between ideas.

Blog #10

My writing style

I really think my writing style has been complacent the entire semester. What I did realize is that my style really doesn't have a name to it. I kind of recieve the topic and write what comes to my mind. Although some of the topics are not to my interest, I find subtopics of the title and write things that I find interesting.

I can say the assignment I enjoyed the most was the Personal Narratives, the snap shots.  I liked it because I knew what I was going to talk about and which was things I absolutely loved to talk about and had no issue sharing them. 

Blog #10

I think my writing style depends more on the piece of work that I'm doing. But overall, my writing style is more formal. I like to try and use bigger words in in my writing to sound more formal in my writing as well. I think because of the way I've been brought up with schooling, my writing has always been formal. I've always submitted stuff in to a teacher for a grade, so a formal piece of writing was always built into the rubric of my writing.

The first assignment was snapshots. I can not even remember the last time I was able to freely write with no grammar rules. I also haven't written personally about my life in the last few years of school. To meet the word count and criteria, I focused heavily on details within my snapshots.

The second assignment was the news article. I think it was extremely lengthy. However, I am happy that I was able to choose my topic. I found writing about something I enjoyed much easier than a research paper that I would hate to write about.

The last assignment was a story that I made up on my own. It was extremely difficult to write my own story because I usually write a research paper with a set rubric for a grade. Being able to use my imagination was awesome. I like this type of creating writing. I like how I was able to control the outcome of the story.

Blog #10 - Alexander Wohlert

My writing style has always been more formal. I've grown used to writing research papers and analysis assignments throughout high school while having to follow specific requirements. The format for each assignment was different for each teacher, but overall my writing style had to be formal. This class allowed me to explore other styles of writing that were more open to creativity. The writing assignments in this class encouraged originality and helped me to find the kind of writing style that fit me best. Since the beginning of the course, I've noticed that my writing style has become less formal and academic and more descriptive and original.

The Snapshots assignment helped me find my own writing style the most because there was no clear beginning, middle, and end. Instead of using summaries, which became a habit of mine, I wrote details about specific moments and allowed the reader to create a summary for themselves in their minds. My ideas, emotions, and thoughts flowed more smoothly than it would if I wrote formally.

Looking back at my first blog post, I had written about having the struggle of focusing too much on the word count and page length of my assignments. Would my writing meet the standards of my teacher? But now, as this class draws to a close, my focus has shifted to the content of my writing and how well I'm communicating my ideas effectively.

Blog #10 - Allison Clarke-Hall

            I would say my writing style is more informal. Before this class, I was always taught the more formal-style writing. In high school, I was mainly focused on research papers and other formal essays. I never found these fun to write and therefore did not like writing. Throughout this class, however, I have learned that formal writing is not always necessary to write and informal writing is actually enjoyable. I think each major assignment has taught me something new and different. 

            The snapshots essay was the first paper I have written since elementary school that focused on first person story telling. I was so shocked to learn that we were also able to use fragments and grammatical mistakes without there being a penalty. I also learned how important using the most vivid details is when describing a scene. 

            The second major assignment, the article, was by far the longest paper I have ever written. At 8 to 10 pages I never thought I would be able to accomplish that. Now that I think about it, if it had been a more formal essay, I probably would have struggled more but since it was less formal and I was able to choose the topic, writing the article wasn’t that bad at all. 

            The final major assignment, the short story, was different than any writing assignment I have ever done. I cannot remember a time in my academic career when I had to write a narrative that included dialogue. While I was familiar with how to write dialogue from reading, I have never had to write it myself and therefore did not know all of the rules for it. I definitely liked the experience of being able to create characters and control their actions and speech. 

Blog #10

I'm not sure if my writing style has changed or rather has it just been given the opportunity to actually come alive.  In high school I spent all of my time writing the assignments given to me, essays, research papers, homework's, none of which were ever intriguing to me.  In this class I was presented the chance to actually express myself through writing.  The major assignments we've worked on this year have helped me get an understanding of my writing persona.  I was able to actually decipher who I am in the literary world.  The Snapshots we began the semester with helped me enable my creativity in writing.  The feature article helped me realize I could work out problems in my own life by writing about them.  The short story allowed me to reveal my imagination.  I never had the chance to really explore who I was as a writer until this class. I liked all the workshops we did and all the feedback I received from my peers.  I enjoyed being able to edit other peoples work and give them advice on their piece as well as I enjoyed in turn receiving that same advice.  In high school I always felt so time limited when it came to having to do peer editing and the pieces we wrote were always so boring to me I never actually cared to try.  This year I was actually interested in the work I was reading so I came to know how much I actually enjoyed peer editing and revising.  I think that aspect itself is going to help me a lot with my writing in the future because there's so much more I notice now when I read things and I've realized how much my paper can improve by utilizing those tools.  This class has come to teach me a lot about not only who I am as an author but who I can become if I continue my writing and allow myself to be open to all the opportunities my college experience will present me.

Blog #10

Throughout the course of this semester, I have begun to realize more things about my writing than I have before. Thinking all the way back from our very first blog post, I often fall short to the “Inspired Writer” that Sarah Allen referred to, but that’s okay. I began to realize that my writing won’t be as perfect as I truly want it to be, but that’s okay. As I wrote more and more this semester, my vision of a “perfect” piece of writing has changed; it’s the imperfections that make it your own. Although my writing isn’t perfect (and nowhere near that), it is still my writing, and I take pride in that.

I soon realized that my writing style isn’t so much as to what my writing is, but rather what the reader makes of it. My writing style is more focused towards persuasive and imaginative writing, as I like to tap into the reader’s perspective of things and influence the way that they think. I write to invoke emotion and persuasion. I often compared music to creative writing, and that thought hasn’t changed much from my first blog posts, since I create a strong emotional connection to music. But it is my realization that I can create a strong emotional connection to writing that changed throughout the semester.

I feel that I often fall short when it comes to personal writing. The most helpful assignment for me was most likely the assignment where we had to “explode the moment.” Through that assignment, I have realized that I can put so much thought and detail into even the simplest things, and I feel like that concept could be applied towards various applications in writing. 

Blog #10

I have learned so much about writing through this class and my writing style has changed a lot. Through this class I've become a better writer and a even a better reader. When thinking of the main ways my writing style has changed over this semester, dialogue is the first thing that comes to mind. Before college I really never wrote things were I would implement a lot of dialogue between the characters but now I have no trouble and enjoy doing it in my writing. I also never knew how important details and a lot of description is in writing until I saw how much it was emphasized in certain assignments in this class.  The most helpful exercises that lead me to become a better writer were certainly the countless revision workshops we did in our groups. Those workshops were always helpful and always made the revision process easier for me. The things I learned in this class that made me a better writer is the groundwork I needed so that I can continue to succeed in English courses as they get harder each semester. Without this class I would not be on a good track for ENC 1102.  In the beginning of the year the aspects of writing such as coming up with a good start to your paper and mastering grammar were two things that concerned me the most about my writing. However, through being in ENC 1101 those fears have totally gone away. I no longer worry about starting a paper because I've become very good at brainstorming and coming up with outlines in my head. As for grammar, I've learned that if you're careful and througho in your writing there is no reason to fear grammatical errors, especially when you have peers reading over your work double checking.

Blog #10

My writing style is definitely one that is more informal. I tend to write like i am speaking no matter what format of writing I am doing. I have a tendency to write as much as possible in the beginning getting all my ideas out on paper and then once revising comes it turns out I really just repeated myself a whole lot. I definitely feel like my writing style has evolved a lot during this course. Specifically I find myself trying to say things more implicitly with my writing, showing the readers versus telling them. My writing is more descriptive and when I revise I find myself questioning if there is a better way I can word my writing so that it paints a better picture and allows for the reader to imagine rather than simply telling them what they are looking at. I feel like the snapshot piece allowed me to progress incredibly. I enjoy personal writing because I find it easier to write about myself. The snapshot piece allowed me to go further and really fine tune my personal writing and really work on the details of writing and letting show the reader the imagery of a situation without telling them what they should be thinking. This class has allowed me to look at different angles for writing and I feel it has really made me improve as a writer as it has pushed me to cater to an audience, include more detail, and only include what is necessary to a writings theme. I feel like although most of the writing we did was creative writing it will help me in any other writing I have to do in the future as it will be more focused.

Blog 9

Ending 1:

I walked toward the room where he was trapped and saw the man laying in a huge pool of blood. I stared in horror. I never meant to kill him. I was only interested in holding him for the police. How would I explain this to them? By the time I processes all of this; I had already made up my mind. I had to leave the scene.

Ending 2:

I walked into the room where the man was trapped. I slowly opened the door and crept into the dark room. I flashed my flash light in the dark corner where he should've been laying and my jaw dropped. There was nothing. Just then, we all heard a large crash coming from the next room. We all sprinted there and ran over to the glass wall where the man had jumped out and was now disappearing into the woods.

Ending 3:

I walked into the room where the man was trapped. I shined my flash light to the area where he should have been. He wasn't there. Just then I heard the door slam shut and a sinister laugh begin. I turned around slowly and there he was. The man from earlier. Wearing the same tan peacoat newly decorated with blood. I stepped back slowly until I my back was pressed against the wall. Until this moment i'd never wanted more to wish i could turn into a puddle of water. Before I could even think of a plan to help myself he rushed towards me and hit me over the head. I woke up to him in my face asking if i had anything to say. I only asked why; to which he had no reply. Right as I was thinking of another question he stabbed me repeatedly until I saw nothing but darkness.

Blog #9

Ending 1:

Prior to the news event Jason’s phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Jason Matthews?”

“Yes?”

“This is FBI Agent James, I have only one question for you, how did you know the Koreans were working with Baine T to have an attack on the White House?”

“I can read minds!”

With that reply Jason hangs up the phone.

Ending 2:

Prior to the news event Jason’s phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Jason Matthews?”

“Yes?”

“This is FBI Agent James, I have only one question for you, how did you know the Koreans were working with Baine T to have an attack on the White House?”

"Agent James, I am going to completely honest. I was working with the Koreans at first, when I begin looking suspicious they threatened to kill me and my family, then i decided to contact you."

"Jason, you are going to need a lawyer."

Ending 3:

Prior to the news event Jason’s phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Jason Matthews?”

“Yes?”

“This is FBI Agent James, I have only one question for you, how did you know the Koreans were working with Baine T to have an attack on the White House?”

"It all started one the first day. I shouldn't have befreinded them. What I thik happened was that they got to comfortable with me and told me all the details of their plan. I smiled and thought it was a joke and then they showed me and the blue prints and the weapons. I knew they were serious so I contacted the local police station, but they thought I was joking. Then I contacted you."

Blog #9 - Oliver Hamlin

Original:
Drew looked up and gulped. He was only ever in it for the money. “Remember the golden rule”, he reminded himself. “If you do something well, never do it for free.” However, rules were always made to be broken. The next deciding factor was the risk and reward of the job. There was all the risk and no reward, which made it all the more thrilling. He smirked. Two flaps echoed across the hallway. The sparrow had taken flight. Mr. Fox slid his driving gloves on one by one, packed the polished cutlery in a kevlar briefcase, and exited onto the doorstep clasping Jake’s letter in hand.

Drew looked up and gulped. He was only ever in it for the money. “Remember the golden rule”, he reminded himself. “If you do something well, never do it for free.” Rules were meant to be followed. Mr. Fox crumpled the letter and let out a sigh. It just wasn't worth the risk. Mr. Fox crumpled up the paper, turned toward his desk, and winced as he imagined the boy's tears running down his eyes.

Drew looked up and gulped. He was only ever in it for the money. “Remember the golden rule”, he reminded himself. “If you do something well, never do it for free.” However, rules were always made to be broken. Mr. Fox ran outside his door and scanned left and right. He saw a boy walking to a nearby bus. "It had to be him", he thought. He ran as fast as he could, and just before he set foot on the bus, Jake was brought back by Drew's arm. "We're doing this together", he said. "You and me."

Drew looked up and gulped. He was only ever in it for the money. “Remember the golden rule”, he reminded himself. “If you do something well, never do it for free.” However, rules were always made to be broken. The next deciding factor was the risk and reward of the job. There was all the risk and no reward, which made it all the more thrilling. He smirked. Two flaps echoed across the hallway. The sparrow had taken flight. Taking out the ex of your wife could never be more thrilling.

Blog 9

In the beginning of my story I start at the end and then fill in the missing pieces. A brief overview is there are 2 boys struggled to roll a large drum into the ocean. You could hear a muffled cry for help. After filling in the missing pieces these are my options for endings:

1. I raced down towards the ocean where the three of them were. They just began to repeat over and over again, frantically at the same time, "it was a mistake, it was a mistake, it was a..." Once I got closer I recognized it was Tyler and in panic yelled "what happened!" They couldn't afford to have any witnesses, especially that knew the victim. So without any response I was smothered and shoved into a drum that began being rolled into the ocean. (Leaves reader not knowing the outcome for sure)

2. I raced down towards the ocean where the three of them were. They just began to repeat over and over again, frantically at the same time, "it was a mistake, it was a mistake, it was a..." Once I got closer I recognized it was Tyler and in panic yelled "what happened!" They couldn't afford to have any witnesses, especially that knew the victim. So without any response I was smothered and shoved into a drum that began being rolled into the ocean. Once I was completely under water I woke up and for a brief second was freaking out and then I realized it was all a dream. I walked up the stairs to see Tyler eating breakfast and just say " whats up" and I go on to tell him about the crazy dream I had woke up from.

3. I raced down towards the ocean where the three of them were. They just began to repeat over and over again, frantically at the same time, "it was a mistake, it was a mistake, it was a..." Once I got closer I saw it wasn't Tyler, I was relieved but at the same time wondered what happened to this kid. I asked if he was alright, knowing he obviously wasn't. The guys tried telling a story and after stumbling over their words constantly you could tell they were lying. I told them I was getting the police and they attempted to grab me. I knocked his hand away and sprinted. I felt like an olympic track runner, I was running faster than I ever have in my life. It was surprisingly easy to out run them. They eventually gave up and after they assumed I was getting the police they quickly tried to make a decision with the body. But I actually stayed to keep watch and see what they did with that kid. They began rolling him into the ocean in a drum, he must have woken up because you could hear a muffled cry for help.

Blog #9

“I need to return this car right now and get my money back.” “I’m sorry, no can do, Sir. We have a no return policy. You would know if you hadn’t yelled in my face earlier.” “No. I NEED my money back. You don’t understand.” “I’m sorry boy. It does seem that he who wants everything every time will lose everything anytime. When morality comes up against greed, it is seldom that greed loses. There is nothing you can do.” All of a sudden, a flash of light came in through the sky with a loud bang. The ground began to shake and soon enough, the whole place was shaking also. Another flash of light came down struck the man and all of a sudden, the counter went up in smoke. When the smoked cleared, I looked around and the entire parking lot was empty and all was quiet. I stared into the blank space. All that faced ahead of me was darkness. A vision of what my life had  become.

“I need to return this car right now and get my money back.” “I’m sorry, no can do, Sir. We have a no return policy. You would know if you hadn’t yelled in my face earlier.” “No. I NEED my money back. You don’t understand.” “I’m sorry boy. It does seem that he who wants everything every time will lose everything anytime. When morality comes up against greed, it is seldom that greed loses. There is nothing you can do.” I stared in shock for a few seconds but slowly came to the realization that this was the outcome of what I have done. The words this man has said finally hit me. I put my head down and slowly walked away. When I got back to my corner, I sat down in despair. If this is what my life had become, I didn't wanna do it anymore. I suddenly got up and ran in to the middle of the street. A huge truck was coming and all I could remember after that was darkness.

“I need to return this car right now and get my money back.” “I’m sorry, no can do, Sir. We have a no return policy. You would know if you hadn’t yelled in my face earlier.” “No. I NEED my money back. You don’t understand.” “I’m sorry boy. It does seem that he who wants everything every time will lose everything anytime. When morality comes up against greed, it is seldom that greed loses. There is nothing you can do.”  "Please. I'm begging you." "Fine." said the man. "On one condition..." "what is that?" I asked. "You need to give back." "what do you mean?" I asked. "You need to donate half of your money to people who actually need it." "Done." I say. I walked down the street to a poor family sitting on the sidewalk in rags. "Here." I said, as I handed them $3,000. "You need this more than I do." The look on the family's face was priceless. It was a look I will never be able to forget