Appreciating English: A Personal Journey

English has never been my best subject. Reading books can be exciting, but the writing aspect of English can be dreadful. Somehow, however, I passed all my advanced English classes with at least a B, and my teachers always considered me to be “above average.” My impartiality toward English shifted to an indifference near the end of my high school career; my indifference then shifted to appreciation. This appreciation is attributed to American Studies and Honors Writing, the most difficult English classes at Belleville East Township High School. American Studies and Honors Writing have strengthened my writing skills beyond what I believed possible. I still do not believe that I am the best writer, and English may never be my best or favorite

Even when I do choose my own topic, I analyze each sentence as I compose an essay instead of simply writing the paper. In Honors Writing, Mrs. Templin told me to sit for at least twenty minutes, with no distractions, and type everything that comes to mind. Type now, edit later. I still struggle with this method because procrastination is another huge weakness of mine, and editing takes more time than writing. My philosophy used to be that if I could write a paper beautifully the first time, edits were unnecessary. After receiving grades I did not like, however, I realized the importance of taking the time to fully revise my writing. Now, editing is the fun part of writing because the writing is, for the most part, finished. Few activities are more satisfying than finding that misplaced comma, misspelled word, or misplaced modifier. It can get complicated when I have to change, move, or delete entire sentences, but I would rather fix a few sentences than write an entire paper the night before it is due. The “type now, edit later” method is significantly easier than my previous writing methods, because I could put my thoughts down quickly. Releasing thoughts is, of course, the first and most important step in constructing an essay. I still struggle sometimes to stop analyzing sentences, but I am seeing

It is difficult to get my mind to focus on one idea, which makes it difficult to start a paper. Outlines are a great method for organizing thoughts, but outlines take time, and I have found that outlines do not necessarily help with all types of writing. Between American Studies and Honors Writing, I have written two research papers, for which I was required to compose outlines. The outlines undoubtedly helped the writing process operate smoothly, but I struggle to believe that an outline would have helped me write any other type of paper. In “Literacy, Identity, Imagination, and Flight,” Gilyard shares his approach to education and learning by stating, “A lot of my initial observations are the old ‘go for what you know’ variety that are important back in the ‘hood” (Gilyard 42). I interpreted this a few different ways. The interpretation that resonated with me most was that I can adopt other methods of organization, but sometimes what I am used to is best. This is especially true when I do not have a great deal of time to write a paper. On the other hand, while I agree with going for what I know, I need to begin stepping out of my comfort zone. This begins with finding a way to better organize my thoughts. One of my goals as a writer is to become better at brainstorming in advance, documenting my ideas clearly, then finally writing a paper with