Final Blog Post

I see myself as a pretty decent writer. I think that I put words into sentences and sentences into paragraphs and paragraphs into papers effectively. My attitude about writing is still fairly consistent with my attitude about writing before this course. I see it as a way to express thoughts and ideas, and I guess I have a greater understanding of techniques, but I still have the same attitude. I have always enjoyed sitting down and writing things for enjoyment, and I will probably continue doing that.

My writing processes are very structured, even though this class has focused on more of a non-structured writing process. I like to make parallel outlines about the details of every paragraph in my paper, but I start coming up with ideas by brainstorming. The brainstorming we did in class has helped my brainstorming skills and made me think outside the box for ideas. The peer reviews we have done have been really helpful because they give completely different ideas on one subject. As a writer, that opens more doors for creativity and offers more directions to take a piece of writing.

Conferencing with a teacher was important because they are the one grading my paper. I want to have the stuff in my paper that my teacher wants. I think that good writing, unlike this post, flows exceptionally well and leaves the reader forgetting that they are actually reading. Depending on the type of writing, I usually like a lot of vivid description, but not too many metaphors because that begins to drive me crazy and makes me forget what I'm actually reading about in the first place. I think that good writing also has a point and is not just pointless ramblings about nothing. I evaluate my writing a day or two after I write it so I can be as unbiased as possible. I evaluate others by comparing them to God. I have applied this knowledge from this classroom by writing clever witticisms on facebook. I also think that when I am asked to write a paper for another class I will have better skills, especially with rhetoric.

My writing has changed during this period by becoming more descriptive, such as in the first writing project we did. I wrote about animals and I actually found myself enjoying being able to portray them to the readers how I saw them and viewed them through descriptive writing. One example is from a paragraph about a leopard: "The fur followed this pattern along the leopard’s body until the hair finally turned fluffy, long, and a spotless cream-color under the belly and behind the arms."

My greatest strength as a writer is the ability to sit down and write for hours if need be. I don't have trouble coming up with things to say, and I don't get bored of writing really long posts. I'm still working on some areas as a writer, though. I think that I need to be able to reread and revise better. Once I write something I usually don't want to change it because I think it's perfect. I don't want to reread it because I know I will find something wrong with it and will have to fix it. This might just be laziness rather than lacking skills as a writer though. I think that this class has helped me.

Late for Christmas

I got her for Christmas my fourth grade year, only it was Christmas, it was February when I got her. She is a life-sized stuffed golden retriever now appropriately named "Latesy." She weighs much less than a real golden retriever, only five pounds or so, but looks quite lifelike. Her position is laying down, paws extended forward and hindlegs resting lazily to the side. Her head is erect, though, and she has a bright look in her face. The black outline around her mouth is revealed through her large smile, which also exposes her bright pink tongue. The texture of her fur is also quite nice. It's as if the toy maker sewed actually hair into the fabric that made up light buttery-cream colored stuffed dog.

Since she was a gift from my grandparents, she was even more special. Latesy always had precedence over any of my other hundred or so stuffed animals. She took over my bed, as she preferred sleeping next to me with no other animals allowed. She also got to sit at the dinner table, watch TV in the comfy recliner, and ride next to me in the car. As I grew she never became less important. Constantly Latesy demanded to be the queen of all stuffed animals. Eventually though she was replaced on the bed by a basketball, track tights, softball gloves, and volleyball kneepads. Latesy had to take her spot on the floor for once, but that too became crowded. Sometimes I can hear her demanding some attention, as most dogs tend to do, so I will allow her to come sleep in the bed, her soft fur always a comfort after a long day with the basketball. Although she now resides in the corner of my room, she will always be the most important stuffed animal in the house.