Blog #7

When I write, I find myself realizing how much I actually do know. As Murray would say "I write to educate myself." I don't tend to write to myself in my spare time, so up to this point in my life most of my writings have been done for a grade in a class. Therefore, that has always been my main goal, but while doing so I have actually found out a lot more about myself. When I begin to put my words on paper, I notice that it isn't as painful as I always anticipate it being. I notice that I’m not as horrible of a writer that I think I am. Also, another reason I write sometimes is to keep my life organized and make sure I don't forget anything. Whenever I travel, I always take a journal and try to write in it everyday so I can remember all the things that I did.

The advice from Murray that I found most helpful were his two sections about the lead and the closing of an essay. Those two parts of my essays are never as strong as I would like them to be. Murray talks about how important it is to have a central tension that is addressed immediately in the lead of the essay. I will hopefully be able to use his advice of having a strong lead that mentions all the points that will be discussed later and a concise closing that doesn’t simply summarize my paper, but rather encourages readers to further explore the topic.

Blog #7 -- Allison Clarke-Hall

I enjoyed reading all of Murray’s reasons for writing the personal essay but the one that stuck out the most to me was: Writing the personal essay allows me to make use of my experience. I explore the lives I have lived and am living, even those I may live in the future. When writing a personal essay, the writer, myself included, usually focuses on his or her own memories. For instance, when writing the snapshots essay, we were told to share our own vivid memories with the reader and were told to show the reader exactly how we were feeling at the time of the snapshot. Like Murray said, while writing my snapshots, I was able to make use of my experience. I did in face explore the lives I have lived in the past.  While I myself do not write personal essays very often if at all, I do wish to start writing them. I feel as if doing so will help me discover new things about myself like Murray describes.

I found all of Murray’s advice very helpful and I have identified with each area at least once in my writing career but I found the section called The Lead the most helpful to me. During my entire life, I have found that the part of writing I have most struggled with is the introduction. No matter what type of essay I am writing, I can never seem to come up with a clever first sentence. His tips like: never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech, never use a long word where a short one will do, etc. are all very helpful and I will definitely be sure to remember them while beginning an essay. In the next draft of my feature article I will definitely look back at my previous first sentence and make sure I abided by the suggestions made by Murray. 

Blog #7

I write to “survive the terrors that silence me.” To me, writing to myself is sort of a form of therapy. When no one is listening, the paper is, and putting my thoughts out on a piece of paper can help soothe me in times of need. I write to myself for that reason in which I choose not to discuss (because they are personal essays regarding with personal issues).

I feel like I often overlook the instigating line that Murray talks about. Usually I’m caught in the event horizon between the thoughts in my head and the words on my paper, whether it is a personal essay or an academic paper. I feel pressured to write exactly what my thoughts are thinking of even though they may not be portrayed to such an extent on a piece of paper. Crossing this line usually puts me in some sort of vertigo, and I stumble through my paper with incomplete thoughts and unfulfilling expression. The boundary between my thoughts and my words is what usually prevents me from being truly satisfied with my paper, as I often have trouble putting my thoughts into words.

I feel like even though his advice towards writing better personal essays can be used across many forms of writing, I would have trouble implementing these ideas in my feature article. Even though the feature article is a topic that I have a large personal interest in, I felt disconnected with my personal thoughts and the thoughts I wrote about my topic. I think that if I were to take a more personal stance on my feature article, I would be able to apply these tips that Murray provides us for writing better personal essays to my paper. The problem most likely originates from the contrast in why I write personal essays (as a form of therapy) as opposed to why I wrote my feature article (to inform an audience about a particular topic).

Blog #7

I could relate to multiple reasons the author gave for writing personal essays, but the one that resonated with me the greatest was, "To give myself a voice. I am heard when I write; I vote in the human community, registering my opinions, what I stand for, what I fear, what I stand against, what I celebrate". When I get the chance to write about essay topics involving something I have passion in and stand for I greatly enjoy it. Writing about something you stand for and care about also makes the process of writing a personal essay much easier. Same thing goes for when I decide to write about something I'm against. I get very passionate about the topic and it shows in my writing. I've never really written an essay about anything I fear but I think I'd enjoy that if I ever had to. In the past I've decide to write many essays celebrating different aspects of my life and the people in it. Writing celebratory essays brings me a lot of pleasure and joy because I like to reminisce and remember the good times of my life. One of the main obvious reasons I write personal essays that the author did not list is to get good grades and succeed in school. To be honest I don't think I'd ever write personal essays if they were not assigned in school for a grade. The author gave some great advice when he said, ''The beginning of the essay should contain-or strongly imply- a central tension (contradiction, irony, surprise, or problem)" In all my years of being taught to write I have never heard much about utilizing this technique in personal essays. I understand why it would be so useful though because it is intended to draw the reader in and get them thinking/interested.  In my next personal essay I'm definitely going to try and implement a "central tension" in my introduction.

Blog 7

The reason for writing that most closely resonates with me is "I discover how much at I know that I didn't know I knew. Writing educates me." When I write it's almost always for a class assignment, I don't write to get my feelings out because I feel like its easier to just say them. So when I write I feel like it shows how much you really know about something. When he says writing educates you I believe it does, because you can't write about a topic i great detail unless you know it well. Sometimes when I'm writing it will just come together and I will discover things I didn't know I knew.
The advice Murray gave that helped me the most is lead, selection and length. The lead in some cases for me I need to work on. Something that sets the tone for the essay and contains and interesting contradiction, question or surprise. Getting the attention of the reader happens in that first sentence so it needs to be a great one. As far as selection this is also very important because staying on topic is key and sometimes I stray too far off the topic in order to get the appropriate word length. I have to use more quotes, facts, and ideas about the central topic in order to get to that length. This applies directly to the feature article I am writing now, for the 8 page length requirement I thought I may have to go a little off topic, but I will revise and make sure I didn't.

Blog 7

I write personal essays to rem inis on past memories that are humorous to me.  I find it liberating thing to be able to live the memory over again in my writing.  What I did not agree with is how Murray says that "I was interested in imposing my morality on others."  I disagree with this statement.  It is unfair to people, who may be more naïve, reading your story.  What if they do not want to have share the same opinions as you do but are manipulated into it by clever and entertaining writing.  In my opinion it is not the job of the writer to impose their opinions on anyone, but rather to write a stimulating story that provokes the thoughts of the reading leading to a moral dissuasion of their own choosing.  The aspect of Murray's essay that I found most helpful was when he states he was interested in imposing his morals onto other because it stimulated a thought process which lead to me making my own decisions and opinion on personal essays and what they are meant to do.  The way I will implement these thoughts is to offer a story that provokes thought from the reader to challenge or agree with ideas in the story.

Blog #7

     The idea of writing a personal essay " to give myself voice... " according to Murray is the reason that resonated the most with me. I find it much easier to write personal essays to write in a clear way and express myself than any other form. Even when it comes to a classroom setting and there is a prompt- when I write It helps me to form my ideas and take the time to really figure out what I am trying to say. I tend to keep things to myself sometimes even when I have a lot I could say and when I write I can say what I want. I am able to express my feelings or fears or anything I wish. Personal essays give me the opportunity to put down in solid writing whatever points I am trying to convey. 

     I also feel like, for me, that also ties into "I discover how much I know and what I didn't know I knew.." -Murray as well. When I am writing to be heard it makes me conscious of what I am saying. If it's a personal essay I want it to have a strong impact. A lot of times I write the way I would want to give a speech. I'm really interested in public speaking and that is probably the main reason why I write that way. I focus on making strong points whatever the objective is. To persuade, to make an impact, or just tell a story. I always want the writing to be powerful and to leave people with some sort of idea after reading it. I write about things that I have strong opinions about and that is really different from the way I talk or the way I act. Giving myself a voice through my writing allows me to target points I want to make. I am very emotional and have strong opinions so I tend to get really caught up in debates (one reason I stray away from speech& debate clubs) When I am writing a personal essay I can address others points but mine is still the main focus. So as i'm writing i get to explore what I know and make a clear argument for whatever it is I am writing about.