Tag Archives: Writing

Weekly Writing #15

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Progress in Writing

The difference between my current writing skills compared to my senior year of high school is substantial. Last year, I would not have been able to write the amount I can now. My ability to effectively word dump and outline has grown so much and helped with all aspects of my writing. It’s thanks to the frequent writing I’ve had to do this semester that’s made me so used to writing. With FYS combined with my other classes, I had been writing multiple times a week. What felt like an impossible task before now feels like second nature. As well, I’m much better at understanding how to properly use evidence to support my claims. What I plan to improve upon, however, is focusing time on including counterarguments in my writing. Additionally, I want to work on starting my writing assignments further in advance. I’ve been able to write somewhat decent products when starting only a few days in advance of each deadline. However, if I allowed myself more room and time I’d be more able to create much better work. I’m really grateful for all that I’ve learned this semester. I’m so excited to apply my improvements to the next coming semesters and learn so much more.

Weekly Writing #13

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Gratitude

This week and the ability to be home and enjoy my time with loved ones has been wonderful to have. With final assignments piling up, I needed a chance to decompress before needing to grind through everything. Every little thing my family does means so much and helps me in so many ways. I am thankful for the cooking my mother and father do. I’ve missed Korean food so much and it’s made me so happy to come home and finally be able to eat a homemade Korean meal. As well, my dad’s Thanksgiving cooking has made the holiday exactly what it is: a day of family and comfort. Food and gifts in general act as a huge love language for me. I feel so loved and cared for whenever I receive even the littlest of things. 

I know I will feel a lot of stress over the next two weeks after break, which is why I appreciate this week’s purpose of having me focus on family. Though it’ll be rough, I will be able to get this same focussed time after it’s over. Winter break, I know, will feel just as nice, probably even more so. 

Weekly Writing #9

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Letters to a Young Writer

I really enjoyed this past week’s reading of Letters to a Young Writer and the activity done along with it. The division of labor and sharing main takeaways in class felt like a very effective way of collaborative learning. As well, I found the letters I personally read to be very helpful. Before high school, I was very passionate about creative writing but fell out of it in order to focus on other things. I’ve started wanting to get back into creative writing this year, however, and doing this reading even more so re-sparked my love for writing. The reading provided me inspiration and motivation to write more. I was also able to take a lot of advice from the chapters everyone else read. By going down the list of chapters in class and having each assigned person share main points I was able to absorb all the important information. Additionally, I learned how to better effectively summarize and analyze texts through taking overall main points and themes. Though, the reading felt more geared towards creative and professional writing. I wonder how one could apply this advice for writing for school such as in analysis or persuasive writing.

Weekly Writing #1

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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.