The introduction to our World War II presentation project was an experience I very much enjoyed. Learning and hearing from our Special Collections and Archives Librarian, Susan Falciani, made me excited to work on this project. Additionally, being able to look through and handle actual physically written letters from Muhlenberg alumni was something I didn’t expect to love so much. The experience was just so unique and exciting. Researching WWII alumni through Muhlenberg’s archived newspapers and yearbooks was also incredibly interesting. It’s a different kind of research that made me feel proud whenever I successfully found information. I genuinely look forward to completing this presentation!
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Weekly Writing #1
Epistolary Explorations
To me, ‘epistolary explorations’ is the study, the history, and the composition of letter writing. The phrase ‘letter writing’ is a simple one. One would have to say, “The study of letter writing,” or “The history of letter writing,” and so on. Epistolary explorations is a general term that captures all aspects of the topic. When its meaning is understood, specific characteristics are not needed in conversation.
The idea of learning about different points of history through the reading of letters is an exciting one. It’s similar to using historical documents as sources for a historical essay. The process is more intimate and engaging, unlike reading from a textbook.
While the reading and writing for this course is exciting, it is quite unnerving. Reading and interpreting higher levels of material in high school was difficult, so college level reading stands as a worrisome idea to me. It may be irrational to worry about material that I haven’t even seen yet. Still, I hope I will be able to reach the expected level of ability in this course.
My Writing Process
In regards to my writing process, I’m most proud of my ability to keep a mental outline of my work. Though I don’t always physically write down said outline, I’m able to remember key points I most want within the writing piece. This process forces me to have set goals or objectives to reach when writing, say, the beginning. It allows for (hopefully) smoother flow of language and clearer arguments.
Throughout this semester, I hope to improve my writing and grow as a writer by widening my vocabulary and strengthening my patience. Often, I find myself using words like ‘I’ or ‘me’ or ‘the’ over and over again. I’ll try to think of different ways to phrase my words, but with some difficulty. Additionally, I’m not one to enjoy taking the time to create a well organized display of an outline, then go on to write a draft, read, edit, write another draft, read, edit, another, and so on and so forth. I admittedly will have my first draft as my final draft, with a proof read or two to check for spelling mistakes. This is mainly with school assignments, not with more important things(like my college application essays). It saves me time but prevents quality results I’m truly proud of.
