When I look at my rough draft of my literary narrative "Why I Love Magazines" I wince a little bit. Overall I didn't make too many changes structurally to the text , it was the grammar and punctuation that were out of control. I find when I look at my final draft, there are a few paragraphs that I tweaked or expanded on an idea that I wanted to convey and I tried to to in depth in detail to better explain my story.
No major revisions to the story, I feel like when I write I try to tell the story to the best of my ability and then its done. Rarely to I look at a piece of text I written and do major revision, it just how I write. Maybe that's holding my written back, but I feel like once its done, its done...in terms of thesis and focus. I can add detail and perhaps better structure, but a overhaul....no way!
Reviewing my reading for errors is an area in which I struggle in! I know that my area of weakness in my writing is in the convention. I have a hard time understanding the grammatical rules and all the formats. By the time I have the text written, I'm so happy that I actually have words on paper that its hard for me to see what wrong with thee grammar and punctuation.
I though the peer review helped me in the process of revision. Cynthia gave me some good advice and I always think that when you get a fresh pair of eyes to the text, it can only help the writer, I am always hesitant to do this, but its a great learning experience. I have a friend who is an 8th grade English teacher. She is always willing to take a look at my work and proof read when needed. I am thankful to have her help me in the process.
I feel the strongest element of my essay was my abililty to tell my story, by showing and telling the reader, how much I love magazines. Weakest element was the written convention of it all...Ugh! I hate it what can I say? !9th nervous breakdown is didicated to written convention of writing. yuck, yuck, yuck!
Friday, September 23, 2011
3 elements of effective writing
Here is where I'm going to define what area I think make writing effective!
Thesis - I believe that creating an effective thesis or focus for piece is critical for effective writing. That focus is what's going to bind your text together. For stellar writing I think that the text must have clear purpose so the audience can understand what the author is trying to convey.This purpose is clear and concise throughout the text, and is written in a way that is insightful for the reader, to keep them engaged thought out the piece.
Development of ideas
Has the main ideas of the text been devoloped? Has the author explored the ideas to the extend in which is interesting for the reader, and is acceptable with the audience? Is the story told by showing and telling with plenty of detail which makes the story easy to follow.
Written conventions
Effective writing is critically important when you consider the written conventionof the text. This includes syntax, grammer, punctuation and spelling.Sentence structure is important I believe because it makes it easier for the reader to understand the message the author intended.If the text was full of run on sentences or fragmented sentences, it take away from what the author intened the text to say. Like with grammer, if the text is filled with grammical errors and spelling mishaps, the reader can not fully appreicated the text for which the author intended it to be.
The easiest element for me is the focus. When I get a idea of what I need to write about, I immeditley start to think of how can I support this idea in my writing and what elements of this idea can I expand on. Once I have a general outline or focus I then think of ways to link my ideas together so that I can write a cohesive piece with my thesis or focus expanded thoughtout that carries the message I want to send to my readers.
The hardest element for my writing is the written conventions!!!!!!!!
I can't stand grammer, puncuation, syntax and spelling. Being out of school for 20 years was a huge wake up call when it came to the this. Having to look at a peice of text and identify what is wrong with the puncuation is like poking out my eyeballs with a rusty screwdriver! Yuck, I would avoid it at all costs! History has proven spelling is not my strenght, I still call my Mom long distance and ask her how to spell words. I have a deep love for the comma and really have no idea when to use it. Likewise I have no clue when to use a semi colon......how dare it take the place of my beloved comma!!!!
Thesis - I believe that creating an effective thesis or focus for piece is critical for effective writing. That focus is what's going to bind your text together. For stellar writing I think that the text must have clear purpose so the audience can understand what the author is trying to convey.This purpose is clear and concise throughout the text, and is written in a way that is insightful for the reader, to keep them engaged thought out the piece.
Development of ideas
Has the main ideas of the text been devoloped? Has the author explored the ideas to the extend in which is interesting for the reader, and is acceptable with the audience? Is the story told by showing and telling with plenty of detail which makes the story easy to follow.
Written conventions
Effective writing is critically important when you consider the written conventionof the text. This includes syntax, grammer, punctuation and spelling.Sentence structure is important I believe because it makes it easier for the reader to understand the message the author intended.If the text was full of run on sentences or fragmented sentences, it take away from what the author intened the text to say. Like with grammer, if the text is filled with grammical errors and spelling mishaps, the reader can not fully appreicated the text for which the author intended it to be.
The easiest element for me is the focus. When I get a idea of what I need to write about, I immeditley start to think of how can I support this idea in my writing and what elements of this idea can I expand on. Once I have a general outline or focus I then think of ways to link my ideas together so that I can write a cohesive piece with my thesis or focus expanded thoughtout that carries the message I want to send to my readers.
The hardest element for my writing is the written conventions!!!!!!!!
I can't stand grammer, puncuation, syntax and spelling. Being out of school for 20 years was a huge wake up call when it came to the this. Having to look at a peice of text and identify what is wrong with the puncuation is like poking out my eyeballs with a rusty screwdriver! Yuck, I would avoid it at all costs! History has proven spelling is not my strenght, I still call my Mom long distance and ask her how to spell words. I have a deep love for the comma and really have no idea when to use it. Likewise I have no clue when to use a semi colon......how dare it take the place of my beloved comma!!!!
Thursday, September 8, 2011
generating ideas - writing assignment
So I'm generating ideas about writing from a literary narrative and here is what I have come up with so far
My love for magazines...ah yes magazines, what can I say I love them. I would not describe myself as a book person, sure I can appreciate a hardcover book, the work it took to create it, the crinkle of the jacket when you open it, the weight of paper used...blah blah blah. But my true love is the glossy monthly magazine, when it arrives in my mailbox my heart speaks a beat because of the sheer excitement to browse though cover to cover! I could go on and on about what makes for a great read in a magazine and my love affair started!
My second idea is I could write about my experience with the book A Million Little Pieces. I could tell the story of how I read this book on my honeymoon, and it was so good that I couldn't put it down! Here I am in a secluded paradise and I have my nose in a book for two straight days! I felt the story was so raw and really enjoyed the author's writing style. Several months later is when the scandal broke about the story not being true. I could speak to how I felt betrayed by the author and if it changed my reaction to the book. I watched James Frey on Oprah over the years and have come to really like him as a author and think he is a very interesting person. One thing I find most interesting is he has started a "think tank" for authors and puts out several titles a year. As a author he has received alot of criticism for this, but just like the Oprah bruh ha ha, he just go and does it his way which I think is interesting. The only downside would be that I feel I would have to reread the book again, which would be a major time investment and I'm not sure if I'm up for that!
My final idea about a literary narrative is I could write about how I introduce books into my children's life. What was the process like? Where did my husband and I start. How did my children react? What kind of literature did we use? Did they like it? What rituals have we created in their life's that center around books?
How has having books in their life at a early age affected them? This would be fairly easy to write about, but I'm not sure if I want to write it? I have to think about it!
My love for magazines...ah yes magazines, what can I say I love them. I would not describe myself as a book person, sure I can appreciate a hardcover book, the work it took to create it, the crinkle of the jacket when you open it, the weight of paper used...blah blah blah. But my true love is the glossy monthly magazine, when it arrives in my mailbox my heart speaks a beat because of the sheer excitement to browse though cover to cover! I could go on and on about what makes for a great read in a magazine and my love affair started!
My second idea is I could write about my experience with the book A Million Little Pieces. I could tell the story of how I read this book on my honeymoon, and it was so good that I couldn't put it down! Here I am in a secluded paradise and I have my nose in a book for two straight days! I felt the story was so raw and really enjoyed the author's writing style. Several months later is when the scandal broke about the story not being true. I could speak to how I felt betrayed by the author and if it changed my reaction to the book. I watched James Frey on Oprah over the years and have come to really like him as a author and think he is a very interesting person. One thing I find most interesting is he has started a "think tank" for authors and puts out several titles a year. As a author he has received alot of criticism for this, but just like the Oprah bruh ha ha, he just go and does it his way which I think is interesting. The only downside would be that I feel I would have to reread the book again, which would be a major time investment and I'm not sure if I'm up for that!
My final idea about a literary narrative is I could write about how I introduce books into my children's life. What was the process like? Where did my husband and I start. How did my children react? What kind of literature did we use? Did they like it? What rituals have we created in their life's that center around books?
How has having books in their life at a early age affected them? This would be fairly easy to write about, but I'm not sure if I want to write it? I have to think about it!
Friday, September 2, 2011
Why Writing?
The reason why I decided to take this class is that early on in my first semester back in college after a long hiatus, it was pretty clear I needed help with my writing. I muddled my way through my writing assignments never feeling very confident in the work I was producing. I realized that a strong foundation in writing would be beneficial to me as I continue in my academic pursuits. My goal for this class is simple. I want to have a broader understanding in the ability to write and use that to strengthen my skill set. At the end of the semester my hope is that writing comes naturally to me, and I'm not frozen looking at a blank sheet of paper, fretting about what I want to say and how I'm going to say it!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)