Reflective Essay: Writing In High School

Writing doesn’t come easily to me, which must make me a glutton for punishment. It has taken me years of training, learning to structure an essay and unlearning to begin again. Only since attending HSU am I realizing how exceptional my writing has become. Over the course of two semesters, I have seen my writing expand and grow. While I still adhere to the training I received in high school, I am excited to now take these tools and develop my own unique style in the years to come.

From the beginning, I wanted to something with “An Editorial,” that I had never done before: include a conversation and speaking into an essay. In order to do this, I wrote the conversation I had with my teacher down first and built the paragraph around it. I elected

to have the conversation be one sided, so that my private thoughts could be shown. I did this to make the piece more personal. I later decided to also incorporate dialogue to conclude the final paragraph to to add symmetry to the piece, which was more difficult. I deemed it important to include my personal confirmation in choosing Humboldt State during the orientation program, since to me it signifies the divide in my education; where high school ends and college begins.

I felt that I succeeded in creating a lengthy piece with smooth transitions that did not take away from the narrative.

While I understand that my diction in the piece may be simplistic, it is something I have striven to correct in later essays. “An Editorial” was the first time I wrote more than three drafts for an assignment. This experience has taught me that writing multiple drafts is not something to be ashamed of, and that writing does not have to be perfect the first or even the third time around. My high school writing habits have grown from a few drafts to over eight in various essays, adding and taking away sentences and even whole paragraphs each time. Thus, I learned not to be afraid to make big changes to an essay. In the first drafts, I included details about my location and class that were unnecessary, and sentences such as “We chose the theme, had potlucks, and stalked-I’m sorry, took photos of everyone,” were later removed (“An Editorial” Draft 1). While writing, I often went back to the second paragraph in order to elaborate on emotions and make it feel more relatable. This lead to the sentence “But I was too nervous; afraid that I wouldn’t make friends, or that my ideas would be ignored or outright rejected”(“An Editorial” Draft

4).

It took me a while to come up with the title, but I feel “____” perfectly embodies the ____. In it, I tried not to repeat cartoons, and to use examples from both old and new shows, focusing on ones that my target audience of teenagers and young adults would recognize. Shows, such as The Powerpuff Girls and Avatar: the Last Airbender, would be instantly recognized by a person of my age. In addition, I demonstrated that animation is an artform which takes time and talent. For research, I drew upon my own knowledge of cartoons and found articles to support and find additional facts. In order to further my discussion, I looked for video and article interviews with creators of shows for quotes. I specifically used the interview with Spongebob Squarepants creator Stephen Hillenburg since he attended Humboldt State, and I thought the connection to the college would appeal to students.

With my facts in hand, I succeeded in ordering the paragraphs in a way that flowed and made sense. I greatly believe that the paragraph on the history of cartoons was important to include, for “though knowing the history of animation is not necessary for watching cartoons, it helps to appreciation this artform” (“D8” Draft 8). While I did repeat the names of shows near the end, this was due to the strength of Legend of Korra in complexity and counter narrative. With “D8,” I trained myself to spread out and limit my use of lists, a habit of mine in prior writings. Finally, I learned how to use the library’s database to find online articles and periodicals.

In “My Two Cents on the Penny,” I wanted to work on something outside my comfort zone of the Humanities.

I selected the penny debate as it is a political topic, but not extremely polarizing or tense. I rejected my initial idea of incorporating a paragraph on the history of the penny, understanding that it is not necessary to know it in order to removing pennies. However, I was able to include a condensed history in my paragraph on Patriotism. Over the course of writing, I played with position of Rounding Tax, Convenience, and Charity paragraphs. I settled on the final configuration because I concluded that it was important to understand the political motivations before the practicality and use of pennies. For research, I looked to government websites and documents, like 2014 Biennial Report to Congress as required by The Coin Modernization, Oversight, and Continuity Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-302), for information on the cost of production and specifications on the content of pennies. For arguments, I looked to lobbyists for and against keeping the penny.

I definitely succeeded in creating hook by invoking two penny related idioms, one which asks for an opinion and the other which gives it. Furthermore, I believe I did well in showing the money trail involved in the producing the penny. Throughout the year, and especially with “My Two Cents on the Penny,” I learned that I work best with a close deadline verses a distant one. I am a natural procrastinator and perfectionist,

so the pressure of a looming deadline helps me to focus.
Within these essays are the building blocks I wish to grow and demolish. In my future endeavors, I plan on taking risks,