The Phillies, Cheesesteaks, and Rocky ...OH MY!
From the soft sound of passing cars outside my window....the decadent and delicious peanut butter and chocolate covered Kandy Kakes....the sun beating down on me while I watch the fighting Phillies in Citizen Bank Park; there is no place I would rather be than in Philadelphia. The memories that I hold from my past have been the secret tools I used to make my writing unique. Writers tend to feed off of personal experiences to fuel their writing. That idea has been the cornerstone of my writing process so far this semester. My writing is inspired by what I know and my hometown of Philadelphia has been the linking factor throughout my work.
While Philadelphia did not stand as the focal point of my work, it did provide a nugget of uniqueness to my papers. This little linking piece of my past that I wove into the words of my papers enabled me to connect to the reader as well as make my writing connect back to my past. The following is an example of how I incorporated Philadelphia when relating my own cultural past with the cultural past in the poem “Coca-Cola and Coco Frio” written by Martin Espada: “While Tastykakes is a regional treat that can be found in every Pennsylvania grocery store and gas station, the Coca-Cola logo stands as a world wide symbol recognized in Egypt, France, and almost in every country.” This example illustrates hows incorporating my own past helped connect and improve my writing. I found that writing this semester has come easier to me when I write about what is familiar. This process enabled my writing to contain more depth and connectivity between different subjects.
While I tried to incorporate my hometown into my writing, I also learned that Philade...
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...e about what I knew which was the unpleasant memory of my hometown in the springtime. Philadelphia has become my secret weapon in getting me out of difficult situations in the writing world.
This semester has taught me about the challenges that come with writing, but has given me the tools to overcome them. I learned through trial and error that writing about I know can inevitably help me in connecting my literary ideas to my personal history. The writing processes this year has challenged me to push my writing ability to a new collegiate level. I feel as though that when this course is completed, I will have successfully displayed my improved writing ability. Writing is something that an author should be proud of. My work this semester is indubitably something that I can be proud of. I guess this goes to show...when in doubt, I can always count on Philadelphia.
Have you ever loved a place as a child, but as you got older you realized how sugar coated it really was? Well, that is how Jacqueline Woodson felt about her mother’s hometown and where she went every summer for vacation. The story, When A Southern Town Broke A Heart, starts off with the author feeling as if Greenville is her home. But one year when she has 9 she saw it as the racist place it really is. This causes her to feel betrayed, but also as if she isn't the naive little girl she once was. By observing this change, you can conclude that the theme she is trying to convey is that as you get older, you also get wiser.
My development as a writer has flourished throughout this semester. The first week of this fall semester started out with writing responses from our readings in the textbook. Looking back through and analyzing my reading responses at the semester to now; I noticed a substantial improvement in not only my grammar skills, but also my summarizing, and in-depth studying of writing adeptness. Another way I have progressed this semester is the vocabulary of my writing has significantly improved and become more scholarly. Another advancement I noticed was that the content of my work has matured, along with my organizational adeptness.
In the past three months I feel like I have accomplished a great deal. As the semester comes to an end I find myself reflecting not only how I have survived the first semester but also what I have learned. The most important thing I have learned so far is how to become a better writer. I did not think it could really happen to me. I did not think I could handle all the work. I did not think I could actually become a better writer. Some how after all the hours of writing, and putting effort into the papers that I wrote this semester, I became a better writer. I did this because I concentrated on two very important areas, with the attitude of, if I could just become better in those then I would become a better writer. With help from an awesome teacher and a reliable tutor I have become a better writer by improving my skills in the areas of procrastination and content.
It was the fall of 2010 and little did I know that my world was about to change drastically. We had moved back to Kenosha, Wisconsin in 2008 after living in Mexico, and I was starting to enjoy my life in the dairy state. My 6th Grade classes had just started at Bullen Middle School. It was right at this time when my world seemingly got flipped upside down. My parents had a family meeting and informed my siblings and me that we were moving to a small Iowa town called Orange City. I had feelings of nervousness, excitement, and sadness all mixed together.
Although I know there is still much to improve on in my writing, I feel as though I have made tremendous strides for my first semester. I have grown as a writer, and I believe I have the potential to be a great writer. Throughout my many years left here at The College of New Rochelle, I will continue to work hard so that my final year here at the college I can look back at my writings from freshman year to see my improvement. Writing 101 has boosted my confidence and has made me a better writer today. I will take this confidence along with determination to my writing 102 class, and I hope the professor will continue the molding process that Professor smart has started.
“I still remember the day we left like it was yesterday I will never forget pulling away and looking back at my childhood home. I will also never forget that my best childhood friend was not home the day we left so I never got to say goodbye. I remember thinking I was kind of glad that we didn't say goodbye because I didn't want our friendship to end.” This was the experience Carmie Trayer, now forty-one living in Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania felt when she moved from Ohio to Pennsylvania.
Authors who write about what they already know and their personal experiences typically are successful writers. Eudora Welty was born and raised in a small town located in Mississippi and all of her stories take place in small rural towns. Writing on what she knows, her works are filled with Southern vernacular and euphemisms. Through this unique approach, she is able to engage audiences, ranging from rural areas to urban ones. No matter where the reader is from, they can distinguish her unique writing from other authors due to her eloquence. Daring author, Eudora Welty, presents distinctive diction in her story “Why I Live at the P.O.”, through her excruciatingly Southern euphemisms and realistic word choices, which also possesses the presence
Living in Ohio for the majority of his life, Sherwood Anderson based many of his stories on city life in Ohio. Anderson’s short stories were influenced by not only his surroundings, but also by his life-shaping events that occurred in his youth. Throughout the stories “Sophistication” and “Hands”, Sherwood Anderson expresses his astute knowledge of loneliness and isolation in relation to the protagonists’ sexuality, while also differentiating the root of these emotions in each character’s lifestyle as he continues through life and overcomes its obstacles.
This week Tom Hothem, member of the Core committee and associate director of UC Merced’s Merit writing program shared his story on how he has made California his own. Tom explained that in order to understand yourself you have to understand where you live. Dr. Hothem created a great roadmap for his California story that showed his path to understanding himself and where he lived. Hothem used his own viewpoints and shared various author’s interpretations of California. It is vital that you understand where you live in order to accurately portray yourself. Tom uses literature from Californian authors such as Mark Twain, John Muir and Jack Hicks who explain their interpretations of California. Ones interpretation of California can be closely related
In my 205 I was asked to consider how and why my writing changes from one community to another. This essay represents the results of that exploration.
This semester was my very first semester as a college student. Being the first, it was probably the semester I would learn the most in. I learned the expectations for writing that I will have to live up to for the next four years of my college career. Though my high school teachers were usually demanding because I was in the Honors English section throughout high school, writing in college has still ?raised the bar? for me. Also, in high school, we would have weeks to pick a topic, create a thesis, outline the paper, write the paper, and then revise the paper. In college, the time restraints are not quite as lenient. I?ve had to learn to manage my time and be more productive with what free moments I have. Strangely enough, I?ve found the college English experience to be much more rewarding and enjoyable than in high school.
On the last day of June 2011, I was finally finished packing and ready for our move to Baltimore. Poet Deep had left early that morning to come pick me and the children up. I was both excited and saddened all in one. I was excited because we were moving to be with my love and be amongst a community that I assumed was ideal. I was excited that I was going to be around “conscious” sisters who I had assumed viewed life the way I did, and had values and practices very much analogous to mine. The feelings of sadness came from me having to depart from my dad and mom.
During the course of this semester; the variety of writing styles and essays assigned to me in my communication skills class encouraged the development of my writing skills, as well as provided me with more self-assurance in my abilities. My writing, research, and presentation abilities enhanced through practice, determination, and the understanding I gained during this course. With every single writing assignment, I learned new innovative approaches and skills, which enhanced my abilities to improve my thoughts logically, enabling me to write more clearly, and to organize my papers more effectively. At the beginning of this semester; despite the fact that I already knew the terminology MAP: message, audience, purpose; I never really understood the significance of MAP. For this reason, my writing lacked clarity, organization, and my writings appeared less focused on the topics. As a result my research papers and essays did not flow as smoothly from one passage to the next. Furthermore, I was unaccustomed with the precise procedures used when writing an essay. For instance, my previous classes before college, although requiring a reference page, did not require me to include proper citations in my writings. After evaluating the quality of my writing toward the end of the semester, I recognized vast improvements in several areas of my writing. By concentrating on the beginning stages of my writings, I could distinguish ahead of time my audience and my message. As a result, my essays are clear, and I remain on topic. In addition to that using transition phrases efficiently also helps my writing to flow smoothly. The proper use of transitions makes my writings easy to follow from one topic to the next. I also learned that pre-writing...
Over the course of the semester, I feel that I have grown as a writer in many ways. When I came into the class, there were skills I had that I already excelled at. During my time in class, I have come to improve on those skills even more. Before I took this class, I didn’t even realise what I was good at. This is the first class where I felt I received feedback on my writing that helped me to actually review my work to see what areas I lacked in and where I succeeded.
Have you ever wanted to go somewhere so bad that all you thought about was that one place? In your dreams,your thoughts, and your every move. I would dream that one day I’d be able to go and see all the beautiful lights and buildings in New York City. I would watch the ball drop on new year’s and wish I was seeing it in real life. That’s all I would think about. I was in the middle of Time Square looking up at all the different buildings with all their colorful lights. That's when it all changed.