Looking back on the last 15 weeks of this class and the assignments written on my blog, I feel as though I have become a stronger writer. Where instead of writing freely and writing the usual cliché pieces, I am now able to write critically and analyze the different ways of attacking an essay. Although one of my main weaknesses is grammar, I know that it is something that will always be brought up in any English class. At first, I had several awkward sentences in my writing, but now, the amount of those sentences have been brought down which has clarified my writing for the last and final paper. Reading my own work from the first essay, I felt as though there was nothing that captured my eye as a critical reader. But continuing to read the essays, I have enjoyed how much I am able to take apart readings from the classroom setting and turn it into my own interpretation. I especially like the balance between having my own voice, and having a critical voice come through in each of my papers.

Looking through Jeremy’s works, I consistently see his voice in each of the paper and assignments posted on his blogs. There was always a certain flow in his writing that helped me read his essay and tie main points brought up in his papers. Each of his papers has a story attached to it, which was then clearly brought out in his memoir about having malaria at an early age in his life. His writing have a strong voice incorporated, which allowed a stronger impact on the audience to occur. But throughout the course of the semester, he has been able to use his voice, and turn them into something critical. Reading responses have brought out the critical side of his writing, which allowed him to look closer at the works of Hooks, Elbow, and other readings from this class.

Beatriz reflection

One of the major themes that I see re accruing in Beatriz’s writing is the strong use of personal voice. I can tell she dislikes the idea of writing critically and owns each of her pieces by bringing in dialogue and words that are not seen as “formal” in terms of academics. The way she is able to express herself and her thoughts allowed me to read through each of her pieces in a consistent pace that helped me connect with her writing in a personal sense. I liked the way she was able to challenge each topic that was assigned for the blog, because I have a completely different perspective on the things she discussed. I see writing as being critical, but seeing her side of the story made her writing clever for me.

Mateja reflection

I can see a strong development in Mateja’s writing especially the transition between the draft and the final. Looking back on her first piece of writing from the beginning of the semester, I can see that she was pushing herself, and as well as the reader, to see the point she tries to make in the beginning of her essays. I like how she is able to think critically on each of the assignments on the blogs and how each of them is thought provoking for me. Each of the papers had a story of herself, but I thought that the memoir assignment was really able to let the reader see past the writer that she is and look inside her personal life. I have learned that she tries to stick to the topic and avoids going tangent from the focus of the paper, which has made her essays clear and critical.

Lindsay M.

I thought Lindsay’s style of writing was unique, which made it easy for the reader to understand her strengths and struggles that she has had as a writer. One of the main things I see in her writing is how she’s not afraid to bring out key points in her paper that involves what was going through her head, and the experiences she went through as a writer. I could see the struggle she had with this in her first draft, but after receiving strong feedback from the class, she was able to make her paper stronger, which I think has developed over the course of the semester. Looking at her memoir assignment, Lindsay made strong adjustments that allowed her final paper to bring out the day she failed one of her major papers. I enjoyed having a flow because of the voice she was able to incorporate. I even like how she still managed to use voice in her reading responses.  

Dr. Sarah Allen

Eng 319

WC:1,791

Rock and Roll High School

Back to you, it always comes around
Back to you, I tried to forget you,
I tried to stay away, but it's too late

            Lyrics such as John Mayer’s Back to You, allows me to view the world differently than just the usual black and white. The way different artists are able to express themselves in a lyrical sense allows me to do the same with writing. Having the beats run through my veins, controlling the tapping of my foot, and even making me sway my body from left to right, music is something that captivates me to write and have passion within my works. Going through the list of artists on my ipod, John Mayer is the one I keep coming back to no matter what time of day it is. The way he is able to express his feelings about love and the world, his lyrics allow me to open my eyes, allowing me to see more than black and white. I don’t see him as the typical recording artist where they are told what to sing and how to sing the song. John Mayer is able to really sit down and absorb the moment and surroundings that impact him every day. I look up to him as a singer and writer because he struggled with writer’s block, but everyday he challenged himself to connect between his thoughts and his words, which I feel writing has allowed me to do.

            I struggled a lot with writing papers and expressing myself in high school English classes because I never had the need to express myself in that way. When I enrolled in my Creative Writing class, I had a difficult time writing my inner thoughts, especially during free write. As my friends cruised through this class, I could never get through a free write without thinking things through and forming well thought out paragraphs. The idea of writing down how you felt and revealing to the teacher my inner thoughts made me uncomfortable when writing anything. But with the growing challenges I had to face in high school, Creative Writing class influenced the way I write, to even how I express myself on a personal level. There was no better feeling than to be able to express myself on an emotional and personal level; I was excited being able to use this class to my advantage.

With the load of classes and extra curricular activities, I found myself constantly looking for the “right” answer, which pushed me to think logically throughout most of my high school career. Going to a predominantly white school was something that never struck me as weird or different. I felt like this was a way to discover myself as a person from my background and culture from my own personal thoughts. Although the idea of self-discovery is meant to happen in the changes of high school, the idea of change and understanding myself hit me during the last few months of my high school career as I continued to write in my Creative Writing class.

Over you, I’m never over, over you.

 Something about you, it’s just the way you move, the way you move me, yeah, I’m so good at forgetting, I quit every game that I played.

 But forgive me love, I can’t turn and walk away this way.

My parents have constantly hovered behind my back following every move and decision that I made throughout my life as a teenager. I went through the same teen angst of having to fight with my parents over matters of school, friends, and life. Every night there was at least one argument that echoed throughout my house, but with the load of assignments and tasks I had to complete, I never let that get in the way of what I did. My parents drove me to enroll in every science fair, club, and music program my high school had to offer, to the point where I lost track of time. I pretty much was consumed with homework, to the point where I had to drive away my friends and as well as myself to become the best in high school through the eyes of my parents. Having to take 4 AP classes starting from my sophomore year in high school was probably the highlight of having nothing but mental break downs, sleep deprivation, and stress to the point where I completely broke down during an exam. I was always coming home frustrated, and sometimes felt the need to have something create a new path for me. Moments that created havoc in my life allowed me to grab my ipod, close the door behind me and write every feeling and emotion that ran across my body, which later made me feel better in the end.

Should have smiled in that picture,
If it's the last that I'll see of you,
It's the least that you, could not do

            I always wondered what it would have been like having my dad there for me when I needed him the most. Ever since I was a little kid, I would always wake up only to find my dad off to work or off on a business trip and afterschool, he would always be sleeping on the couch for countless hours. I would always be crushed, because between my mother and me, we never got along very well. She would always want to talk about how I was feeling and do the whole girl talk thing that never caught on to me. I hated the idea of telling how I felt and what I felt, because there was no time to stop and think about those things. I had a ton of guy friends growing up where the idea of dressing up and any girly stuff was out of sight throughout my life, to the point where my mom refused to let me hang out with them because of their “boyish” influence. Whenever my dad came home, silence would fill the room, where I felt uncomfortable saying anything about how my day went, or what’s been going on in my life. I never blamed him for not being there, I knew the job was demanding, but something about replacing his affection with money never got around to my understanding.

            I felt proud being around my dad wherever I had the chance to go with him, only because it made me feel tough. I was able to play football and hockey with the guys, and starting in the fifth grade, I picked up snowboarding with my guy friends. Every year, my dad and I would go to Colorado Ski and Golf and just enjoy the massive amounts of boards and bindings, which are some of the things that connected us on a personal level.

But with my dad being gone for a majority of my life, I befriended a few guys who are known as my close friends. I don’t think I will be able to let go of my close guy friends, Max, David, Nate, and Matt, only because we’ve been through so much since pre-school. Whenever one of us got hurt, we would always be there for one another; as for the idea of having relationships outside of the circle of friends, we never let that get in the way. I loved the idea of hanging out with these guys, only because it would make my mom furious when I would come home bruised and bloody from a rough game of football, but, I would look over and see my dad smile a bit and chuckle to himself.

When it came down to choosing the college my friends and I each desired to go to, I was the one who was hesitant to pick. My friends, especially Max, was the one who pulled 20 questions on me and helped me realize how much I loved writing and teaching, which is what brought me to UNC. Although all of us separated to different colleges, we still find ourselves calling each other up and talking about stupid things. Even though I am still not able to make the connection between me and my dad, I turn to my friends for advice on anything because they helped me find myself and connect with my inner thoughts.

Leave the light on
I'll never give up on you
Leave the light on
For me too

            At the beginning of senior year of high school, I didn’t know where to even begin for a spark of inspiration at this point in my life. I read as much as I could, going anywhere from Jane Austen, to various novels that I was able to pick up off the shelf of my sister’s room. Nothing worked at this point. I struggled to really get into the mind of the characters, the setting, and my mind couldn’t slow down for me to truly connect the book to my life. I was getting frustrated because no matter how hard I tried to understand the idea of literature and language, it was attacking me in all the wrong ways. I was either too occupied to sink myself into the book, or I had piles of homework that needed to be done. With the continuing stress of school and the daily routines that I went through, I knew I needed to stop trying to force the idea of passion and writing into my life and focus on having life take its course.

            Thinking back to the moments of listening to John Mayer and being able to become a “musician” with writing, I can write as much as I can without anything holding me back emotionally and physically. I reflect back on those who have influenced me, such as John Mayer, my friends and family, as a writer and the amount of passion I am able to have with anything. I am still connected with music to the point where I am always listening to songs one way or the other. Even with the piles of critical writing assignments that are given in my English classes in college, I push the “shuffle” button, take a deep breathe and plunge into the assignment. Maybe it is because of the lyrics that get to me no matter what. When the beats run through my mind, I’m in a rhythm of writing non-stop with my feet tapping the ground, hands moving as if the music shifts my direction, taking me to a completely different level.

Back to me
I know that it comes
Back to me
Doesn't it scare you
Your will is not as strong
As it used to be

Dr. Allen

Eng 319

22 September 2008

The Teacher- less Classroom

            When I’m writing, I feel as if I don’t have to hold back on my feelings, emotions, and thoughts in front of a reader. Rather than telling an individual certain things, I prefer having the pen take its course. I wasn’t always like this throughout a majority of my high school career. I always found that each of my classes were consistently the same, having nothing but structure, and less freedom to write on a personal level. That was until I entered into my senior year Creative Writing class. Ms. Frost walked in cheerfully as if she could let the world pass by her. As I stared into the blackboard, the words that struck me the most was “free write.” For a split second, I felt my heart freeze. English classes have taught me to write in a specific way, have a specific tone, where I felt as if none of my papers had my voice. But as I lifted my pencil, I wrote as if I had nothing against me in terms of structure, grammar, or even spelling.

 No matter how my day went, I would write for countless minutes during the freewrite session until Ms. Frost yelled, “stop!” I didn’t understand what came over me when writing during class. A rush of emotion came through and I felt as if I was able to give the reader a chance to understand where I was coming from. But, it all made sense. Ms. Frost explained to the class that sometimes writing requires individuals to write as if there was no audience and to write as if you had nothing left to lose. From that moment on, I was able to write papers endlessly which lead to the direction of majoring in English.

            In a way, I can see Ms. Frost relying on Elbow’s theory with writing because as I read this new take on writing, all I could think of was my Creative Writing class. The way Elbow sees writing as a way to find voice, making it “the main source of power in writing” (Elbow, 6), I find it best to write without any fears or doubts, only because I know that my writing has truth behind it one way or another. I was determined to continue to write this way because writing does give people the power to move the audience, which is what I did throughout my senior year in the classroom setting. Looking around the classroom, I could see everyone enjoying the freedom to write, no matter how spelling or grammar went; suddenly writing also became personal for them.

The Creative Writing class is the one course that everyone reflects on one way or the other, because it allowed students to reflect on their own thoughts and feelings academically, creating a sense of empowerment that Elbow wanted us to feel. You are probably asking yourself right now, “how is that so exactly?” Well, throughout the entire system of education, we were always told how to write, what to write, and even though there were some teachers who enjoyed reading an “authentic” piece of work, there was always some part of the teacher that was within that writing.  Both Ms. Frost and Elbow summarized their methods of teaching in a classroom into one simple idea, there are rules that are made, and several of them are there to be broken, which I continue to do even at a higher education of learning. Elbow’s purpose of having teacher-less classroom can be effective depending on the approach of the student. But the best way to bring voice into a paper, the writing has to have some truth behind it.

            Writing has countless ways of expressing the mind at work, allowing readers to understand the writer in a deeper sense. But if the teacher were to enter into a classroom where nothing but structure is created, this leaves students to focus on grammar, spelling, and a set structure on a piece of writing. Overwhelmed with the thoughts, the student would write as if there were no voice, where suddenly a paper lacks voice. Bartholomae uses the classroom as a place of structure where authority is made, leaving students vulnerable to their own writing.

Although there have been times where teachers are necessary, Batholomae sees an authority as a way where “students will not feel the pleasure or power of authorship unless if we make that role available” (Bartholomae, 5).  But if there were a teacher to lecture us on the correct ways of writing, wouldn’t that mean the teacher’s voice would come through in a paper rather than having a student’s voice dominant throughout a paper? I struggled with having Bartholomae’s perspective on writing only because I was focused mainly on what was given to me, rather than my take on a book or a topic. I felt as if writing wasn’t personal for me at the higher education level. Everything that I had grasped from my creative writing teacher Ms. Frost was becoming a blur. Going through several of my English classes up at college made me feel as if writing personally would lead me towards a failing grade. So now, I am going back to the basics, where hopefully having a teacher will help me succeed in the long run.

            In a way, I am still learning the different perspectives of writing. I am still trying to figure out whether the use of an authority figure will only help or hinder me later on down the road to becoming a teacher one day. There have been moments where I truly have followed the words of advice from Ms. Frost, but then there have been times where I feel as if Bartholomae is correct about teachers being crucial in a classroom. As we grow into the individuals that are standing here today, many of those experiences make our writing come to life. Maybe the use of freewriting with some sort of academic structure, such as Bartholomae’s approach to having a teacher in the classroom, our experiences do help us grow as writers.

Dr. Sarah Allen

Eng 319

WC:1,584

Rock and Roll High School

Back to you, it always comes around
Back to you, I tried to forget you,
I tried to stay away, but it's too late

            Lyrics such as John Mayer’s Back to You, shift my direction of thoughts and feelings to the point where it feels like a drug to me, where suddenly, I lose myself. Having the beats run through my veins, controlling the tapping of my foot, and even making me sway my body from left to right, music is something that captivates me to write and have passion within my works. Going through the list of artists on my ipod, John Mayer is the one I keep coming back to no matter what time of day it is. The way he is able to express his feelings about love and the world, his words allow me to open my eyes, allowing me to see more than black and white. I don’t see him as the typical recording artist where they are told what to sing and how to sing the song. John Mayer is able to really sit down and absorb the moment and surroundings that impact him every day, which I feel writing has allowed me to do.

            I struggled a lot with writing papers and expressing myself in high school English classes and worst of all, creative writing, the easiest class and stepping stone connecting with personal thoughts. The idea of writing down how you felt and revealing to the teacher my inner thoughts made me uncomfortable when writing anything. I never had this experience with music growing up in high school. With the load of classes and extra curricular activities, I found myself constantly looking for the “right” answer, which pushed me to think logically throughout most of my high school career. Going to a predominantly white school was something that never struck me as weird or different. I felt like this was a way to discover myself as a person from my background and culture. Although the idea of self-discovery is meant to happen in the changes of high school, the idea of change and understanding myself hit me during the last few months of my high school career.

Over you, I’m never over, over you.

 Something about you, it’s just the way you move, the way you move me, yeah, I’m so good at forgetting, I quit every game that I played.

 But forgive me love, I can’t turn and walk away this way.

            My parents have constantly hovered behind my back following every move and decision that I made throughout my life as a teenager. I went through the same teen angst of having to fight with my parents over matters of school, friends, and life. Every night there was at least one argument that echoed throughout my house, but with the load of assignments and tasks I had to complete, I never let that get in the way of what I did. My parents drove me to enroll in every science fair, club, and music program my high school had to offer, to the point where I lost track of time. I pretty much was consumed with homework in my life, to the point where I had to drive away my friends and as well as myself to become the best in high school through the eyes of my parents. Having to take 4 AP classes starting from my sophomore year in high school was probably the highlight of having nothing but mental break downs, sleep deprivation, and stress to the point where I completely broke down during an exam. I was always coming home frustrated, and sometimes felt the need to have something create a new path for me. Moments that created havoc in my life allowed me to grab my ipod, close the door behind me and write every feeling and emotion that ran across my body, which later made me feel better in the end.

Should have smiled in that picture,
If it's the last that I'll see of you,
It's the least that you, could not do

            I always wondered what it would have been like having my dad there for me when I needed him the most. Ever since I was a little kid, I would always wake up only to find my dad off to work or off on a business trip and afterschool, he would always be sleeping on the couch for countless hours. I would always be crushed, because between me and my mother, we never got along very well. She would always want to talk about how I was feeling and do the whole girl talk thing that never caught on to me. I hated the idea of telling how I felt and what I felt, because there was no time to stop and think about those things. I had a ton of guy friends growing up to the point where the idea of dressing up and any girly stuff was out of sight throughout my life, to the point where my mom refused to let me hang out with them because of their “boyish” influence. Whenever my dad came home, silence would fill the room, where I felt uncomfortable saying anything about how my day went, or what’s been going on in my life. I never blamed him for not being there, I knew the job was demanding, but something about replacing his affection with money never got around to my understanding.

            I felt proud being around my dad wherever I had the chance to go with him, only because it made me feel tough. I was able to play football and hockey with the guys, and starting in the fifth grade, I picked up snowboarding with my guy friends. Every year, my dad and I would go to Colorado Ski and Golf and just enjoy the massive amounts of boards and bindings, which are some of the things that connected us on a personal level. But with him being gone in my life for the majority of my life, I formed friendship with a few guys are still my friends to this day. I don’t think I will be able to let go of my close guy friends, Max, David, Nate, and Matt, only because we’ve been through so much since pre-school. Whenever one of us got hurt, we would always be there for one another; as for the idea of having relationships outside of the circle of friends, we never let that get in the way. I loved the idea of hanging out with these guys, only because it would make my mom furious when I would come home bruised and bloody from a rough game of football, but, I would look over and see my dad smile a bit and chuckle to himself. When it came down to choosing the college we each desired to go to, I was the one who was hesitant to pick. My friends, especially Max, was the one who pulled 20 questions on me and helped me realize how much I loved writing and teaching, which is what brought me to UNC. Although all of us separated to different colleges, we still find ourselves calling each other up and talking about stupid things, which are keeping me going at this point.

Leave the light on
I'll never give up on you
Leave the light on
For me too

            I didn’t know where to even begin for a spark of inspiration at this point in my life. I read as much as I could, going anywhere from Jane Austen, to various novels that I was able to pick up off the shelf of my sister’s room. Nothing worked at this point. I struggled to really get into the mind of the characters, the setting, and my mind couldn’t slow down for me to truly connect the book to my life. I was getting frustrated because no matter how hard I tried to understand the idea of literature and language, it was attacking me in all the wrong ways. With the continuing stress of school and the daily routines that I went through, I knew I needed to stop trying to force the idea of passion and writing into my life and focus on having life take its course.

            Thinking back to the moments of listening to John Mayer and being able to become a “musician” with writing, I can write as much as I can without anything holding me back emotionally and physically. I reflect back on those who have influenced me as a writer and the amount of passion I am able to have with anything. I am still connected with music to the point where I am always listening to songs one way or the other. Even with the piles of critical writing assignments that are given in my English classes in college, I push the “shuffle” button, take a deep breathe and plunge into the assignment. Maybe it is because of the lyrics that get to me no matter what. When the beats run through my mind, I’m in a rhythm of writing non-stop with my feet tapping the ground, hands moving as if the music shifts my direction, taking me to a completely different level.

Back to me
I know that it comes
Back to me
Doesn't it scare you
Your will is not as strong
As it used to be

Dr. Sarah Allen

Eng 319

20 November 2008

WC: 1,538

Memoir Assignment

            High school was the time where memories were shared and remembered, and life changing decisions were meant to be made. At the time, I was a junior in high school when the word “college” struck my mind as if I had never seen the word in my life. Important tests were quickly approaching, and the decisions of what colleges I wanted to go to or worse, what my parents wanted me to go through was just one of the many struggles I went through in my high school years. Going to a predominately white school was something that never struck me as weird or different. No matter how my day went, I never let the unbalanced race get to me and what I did as a person. My parents always wanted to see me and my siblings to succeed in everything we did as an individual, both academically and physically. I was pushed in every Science Fair, Club, and Music program that was offered at my high school. Once senior year came around I finally took a chance, pulled away from the pressures of my parents and enrolled in a Creative Writing class. I didn’t know what to expect, but the class has shaped me into the person I am today, the passionate, carefree writer that I am now.

            Walking through the halls of the school, there was nothing but school pride that covered every inch of every wall and students pushing their way to class in a 7 minute time period. Students came from every direction where tears were shed over an exam, or placements in sports or music classes. No matter what time of the year it was, high school was a big deal to each and every one of us, because we all wanted to be something in the end. I felt as though I was always on the move going from various classes and completing different homework assignments. I knew I had to do well in high school especially with my parents hovering down my back with everything that I did or was going to do in the school year. There wasn’t a day where I put passion into an assignment. I simply did the homework assignment with the mindset of receiving a good grade and that’s what got me through a majority of my high school career.

            But, I was tired of doing the same thing and almost becoming engulfed in the white society of my school of becoming the best. I wanted to really step into my culture and background of being a Korean-American and see my life in a different perspective. For once, I wanted to be able to slow down time mentally so I could enjoy what was around me rather than in front of me. One class registration for senior year rolled around I looked at my options as to what to take before I was graduating from the school. I still enrolled in my usual 4 AP classes, but what struck me the most was the Creative Writing class only offered to seniors. I knew that this was something that would displease my parents seeing as how it was not categorized as an advanced placement course, but I took it anyway, in hopes to figure out my passion for writing.

            Senior year came around and after the piles of homework received from all my other classes, I hoped that my Creative Writing class would let me unwind physically and mentally. There were the typical jocks who would be wooing every girl in the class, and then there were my friends from music class who enrolled for the easiness of the class. The teacher walks in and screams freewrite as it echoes in my ears. As she was explaining the idea of freewrite and suddenly, my hands went cold. After all the years of putting strong effort into my classes, I didn’t know how to write freely and carelessly. As I looked around the classroom, everyone was busy with letting themselves go and write like there was nothing else left. I tensed up and was only able to write down a full paragraph with logical reasoning and well thought out sentences. As students were presenting their pieces, I felt as though there was an expression of the mind that was used in their pieces, whereas mine expressed hesitance. One of our exercises was to go home and write, as though it was seen as a diary. I let out a huge sigh of relief, hoping to let some sort of spark of imagination or passion would be released into my writing.

            After completing the hours of homework, I finally realized that I had to complete the writing assignment for Creative Writing. I grabbed a pen, and I sat at my desk for hours trying to find something to write about. I looked over and saw my ipod sitting there, untouched for several weeks from the summer. As I press the button “shuffle”, “Back to You” by John Mayer came on:

Over you, I’m never over, over you. Something about you, it’s just the way you move, the way you move me, yeah, I’m so good at forgetting, I quit every game that I played. But forgive me love, I can’t turn and walk away this way.

 After looking over his lyrics and the way he was able to express the movements and feelings of life, I became inspired to write from the heart, where expression was key into Mayer’s music career. The way he is able to express himself to thousands of fans about the ups and downs of life, I find that I am a musician of my own writing. Aside from all the stress of parents and school, I was able to take the plunge and write, where I was finally myself for once. I would write endlessly after this moment, where instead of following my usual routine, I was able to pull away and write from my heart and hear my thoughts that were tortured for so long. When writing assignments came along in any class, I would let myself go in a state of mind where expressing my mind didn’t matter to me.

            Coming back to school, I found that things were slowing down for me. I was able to follow my own pace of the world, and as well as myself. I had a fire inside of me where I felt powerful being able to connect with myself on a personal level. I didn’t feel like a lost soul who listened to parents for guidance. After becoming inspired by music, I find myself glued to my ipod everyday and every moment. I came into Creative Writing with confidence, and finally chose my path to becoming an English teacher.

            Now that I am writing about longer topics that require critical thinking and personal input, I find myself still going through the same struggles of holding back on my writing, but it is moments such as my senior year Creative Writing class, where I am able to turn to a certain song of inspiration and write with passion and care. Even if I am writing in my journal or a letter to friends and family, I turn to a song, any song, and write as though I am a musician of my writing. My love of music is probably one of the biggest reasons as to why I am never stuck on a certain type of genre, because I find that anything inspires me to write the way I do. Now, music and writing have left me to be the person I am today. I am able to express my thoughts, emphasizing the emotions and pain that I go through as a person. I may have pushed away the opportunity to go towards science or math, but I find that the Creative Writing class has left me to be myself both in writing and in person.

            Going from the pressures of my parents during a majority of my high school career to the writer I am today, I find that taking the Creative Writing class and being inspired by music is one of the biggest things that have shaped me into the individual I am today. I am now able to write constantly without being sick to my stomach when given a writing assignment, and even just writing for personal sake. I have used my inspiration of music to write lyrics of my own about the things that I am going through. I haven’t forgotten the amount of motivation that I put forth in my school work and I have not lost the desire of playing music in any music classes, but after taking the Creative writing class, I am glad to be where I am standing today, being able to express my thoughts and feelings for me to connect to myself, and others to be compelled to read my feelings and emotions over certain events in my life.

Dr. Sarah Allen

Eng 319

21 October 2008

WC: 503

Summary: Muckelbauer

            In the essay Retorica by Muckelbauer, he is able to bring up three distinct styles of imitation. Anywhere from reproducing a work of art, to even pulling away from the ideas of published writers and creating works through personal thought, these all make up the different styles and methods of imitation. Muckelbauer first creates an understanding the uses and differences that are distinguishable in any type of writing on any subject. The topic of love became the central aspect of imitation because love is a feeling and emotion that all individuals are able to express physically and emotionally. The several works of poets and writers from different backgrounds can take a stance on romance, ultimately bringing out truth to an individual viewpoint. Either way, the style of imitating through reproduction is seen as a way to pick up the grammatical and physical pattern of a sentence, although this is a model of imitation, there is a downside that Muckelbauer addresses and that is, the writer reproducing another work of writing in the same exact way, there is no conscious connection between the context of the original writer and the one reproducing the sentence, where the meaning is completely destroyed.

            The second style of imitation follows the line of reproducing the works of a published writer, but gives variation for the student’s own thoughts and style that can be incorporated with the imitation. Poets normally fall under this category, where the interpretation of the world can be seen differently from person to person. The two main goals that are mentioned in the essay is that poetry and poets in general, are there to entertain and teach the general public directly. The actions humans take against one another can be perceived differently, but with the different perspectives, this can be seen as a probable action that is taken on from a series of events. The point that poets and others, who follow the style of imitation through variation, find it best to think and write about the abstract concepts that can be interpreted based on the perspective of others.

              Then there is the last style of imitation where the distinction between repetition and variation becomes completely discarded for both the published writer and the individual imitating the piece. In the third and final movement of imitation using inspiration, the writer eventually becomes lost with themselves, because being able to create a stronger meaning that Muckelbauer describes as, mythical, an idea that is highly unobtainable. The idea of inspiration has hold true for individuals because the ideas introduced are seen past the original works of writing of several well-known philosophers.

            With the different movements of imitation, Muckelbauer finds that all three can be used in different situation of literature, philosophers, and rhetoric. Although all three movements have distinct ways of imitation, there is no true conclusion as to whether or not one movement is better than the other; there are only more questions that follow with the concept of imitation.

Dr. Sarah Allen

Eng 319

13 October 2008

Voices Carry Over

            Writing with voice, is there such a thing that can allow the expression of the mind without hindering the beliefs of writers? Looking at the works of art from famous writers, there have been times where inspiration from them works best when writing in an academic discourse community. The structure may not be followed word for word, but in a way, gives a sense of direction as to how to write towards a specific audience. Imitation follows writers who feel as if there is a right and wrong answer on the content of the paper that is handed before them. I find myself in this position when I am insecure about letting myself go with writing, because I have doubts in my mind about whether or not I was able to stick with the topic given to me. English classes have constantly told me to write objectively no matter what the topic may have been. If there is one thing I have gotten out of Crowley’s Ethical Proof, is that “truth can only be seen through the written works of the personality (204). But is this really what writing has boiled down to? To me writing is simply imitating the works of published writers in order to make ourselves stronger as writers. We can understand the sentence structure, meaning, and bring authority to our writing where writing with voice can be achieved by substance. Because if in fact voice based on substance was missing in a paper in an academic discourse, this would cause a monotonous voice, ultimately losing meaning.

            I write academically because it was the way I was taught to write in each of the English classes that I took. No matter what assignment was given to me, I had no choice but to follow structure, destroy some truth, and adjust to the academic discourse. Each paper has a beginning, middle, and an end, which is what I’ve been following for the most part in my writing. Looking back on presentations, reading out loud my own personal writing, there was a lack of tone, expression, and understanding to some. But writing with voice in my paper was based off of substance, rather than the personality. I had fears of using voice with personality, because I was afraid that writing that way would only lead to a failing grade. So I have and will continue writing with voice through substance, because somehow using substance brings clarity, and less rambling in some cases.

            There is the different way of defining voice, and that is to bring out the style of the writer, rather than the substance. When I think of style, all I can see reading is nothing but a conversational type of voice. It loses flow, authority and the ability to reflect on the writer’s decision on certain topics. I would struggle trying to use style to bring out the voice of my writing only because the perspective it brings towards others would be a difficult task. When writing in a playful or sarcastic manner, the amount of authority it brings to the writer would weaken, because it comes from a bias standpoint of the writer, compared to having carefully constructed support for each opinion made.

Expressing the mind is key with bringing meaning to the context of any written work, but if a certain style was used for the writer, this would lead to having a set group of people to understand voice, rather than having an entire academic discourse community to interpret the style of the writer. In Crowley’s Ancient Rhetorics, she discusses how Ancient rhetors would argue as a community, focusing on various issues at the time, and merely focusing on the debate, rather than the facts presented to them. With this method, the beliefs that are followed can be expressed as if it were writing with a sense of substance that is, being able to use the information given and using it to express the mind and creating new ideas. The modern rhetoric follows the idea of using style in writing, where the modern rhetorics use this idea as a shouting match, where the self is at stake for being biased about certain views in the world. Authority is lost, where the perception of the argument is flawed, and the attempt to express the mind goes to the extreme.

Since writing with voice is found to work best with the substance of writing, imitating a section of Harry Frankfurt’s novel On Truth, would be successful when writing with the style of Frankfurt and writing it from my own perspective without losing my own meaning. Frankfurt on page 44 is imitated through his style with my perspective on love which is, “now, if a person who experiences joy realizes that joy has a particular cause from other parts of his or her life- that is, if the person notices someone or something as the object he owes his joy depends on- Spinoza believes that the person has an undying love for the object. Which is why he concludes love to be: the way a person reacts to the recognizable beings, that bring a sense of joy. They love what we find helps them to live their lives and become themselves. I find it that Spinoza does have a point in this. Many typical moments of love do go through, more or less obviously, the pattern that he defines: people do love what they feel helps them to “find themselves,” or to discover “who they really are,” are to face life in the best way possible without destroying or manipulating their surrounding natures”.

            To understand the beauty of love, Spinoza also states a finding about love that seems to prove his statement correctly: “One who loves necessarily strives to have present and preserve the thing he loves” (Ethics, Part III, proposition I I, scholium). The things a person loves are crucial and precious to him. His life, and both his achievement and his continued enjoyment of individuality, depends on the objects that are loved. Therefore, he naturally takes care to protect and make sure that they are available to him at any moment.

            Looking back on this exercise, I find it best that the way to define my voice in a paper is to take the works of one writer and form the writing to reveal my own perspective. Corbett’s theory of imitating the works of practiced writers, can allow a growing writer to follow various sentence patterns that were used in the exercise. Reading through my own imitation on Frankfurt’s take on the object of love in life, I can see my voice coming through in the end, especially in the last couple of sentences, “The things a person loves are crucial and precious to him. His life, and both his achievement and his continued enjoyment of individuality, depends on the objects that are loved”. I do find that this is how I write and think in my mind. If the writing of voice were to be any different, I would have become frustrated trying to make a point, where it would be Frankfurt imitating my own writing through his own perspective. I feel as if imitating what Frankfurt had written about this topic gave me a sense of direction as to how I should interpret the being and the object of love.

            Using this exercise has made me realize that what I am writing on this paper is my voice that has followed me throughout my academic career. The argument I had made in the beginning of the paper, where the substance of the paper was in fact writing with a voice, still holds true after imitating a section of Frankfurt’s writing, only because the content of his writing on this particular subject gave guidelines as to how to go about writing about love. I have found myself using the methods of practiced writers to my own advantage, where I am able to follow Corbett’s method of sentence pattern structure, which has allowed me to read what Frankfurt had written and simply putting it in my own words with the help of imitation. Grammar, pattern, and the flow of the sentences were set in Frankfurt’s way, where I am able to use his style of writing and at the same time keep a strong perspective on the topic.

            Writing a section using Frankfurt’s style and my perspective was at first a difficult task. There were some things that I wanted to write from the way I viewed the section on the object on desire, but it would have led to changing the meaning entirely. For each sentence pattern that was imitated, that became fairly easy because it was given to me in the first place. Even after this exercise, I still find that writing with voice is used through the substance of the paper, rather than having to change the content in order to lay down my own beliefs. From what I have learned from all this is that the perspectives on various writers can change. There are those who would rather change the content of the paper to make a statement on their personality, and those who find it best to put the work of a published writer into his or her own words.

Works cited:

Crowley, Sharon. Ancient Rhetorics. New York: Pearson Longman. 2002.