Shivam 1 Shivam Gupta Professor Keith MacDonald Composition 1 20 October 2017 Read Like a Writer In Mike Bunn’s “How to Read Like a Writer” he explains how one can become a better reader simply by trying to understand the article from the point of view of the writer, by analyzing every word, sentence or paragraph with one question in mind, "what effect did the writer intend to have with these words?". I believe it is important for us to have this skill because it gives us a better insight into what we are reading, it helps us understand on a deeper level exactly what the article is trying to tell us and in response, this teaches us better techniques and skills to become better writers. Using guidelines set by Bunn in his article, I will illustrate…
In Kurt Vonnegut’s article, he explains why you should examine your writing style with the idea of improving it. In order to do so, Vonnegut suggest the following seven step process: 1. Finding a subject that you care about, 2. Do not ramble, 3. Keeping it simple, 4.…
But now I know that if you write like you care, the reader will have no choice but to feel the same. I have learned to set the tone in my writing by thoroughly researching and making my position clear. I have also learned the importance of planning. Countless teachers have told me that my writing feels rushed and sometimes my ideas aren’t clear. Spelman professors have taught me to find planning methods that best fit me.…
What does good mean? Am I good? Are you good? Can we even be what is known as good? The word good is such a relative term especially in terms of writing.…
As a writer one of the strengths I find, is the ability to know how to word things. Although, sometimes my work doesn’t always sound good, it does when I take the time and apply myself. A challenge I face in writing includes, introductions, and conclusions, also being able to write a lot about something. I did however, learn how to properly write an intro and conclusion in this course.…
Each key feature has instructional information that guide the writer through the writing process. Interconnected the writing process are strategies. The writing strategies are “deliberate thinking procedures writers use to solve problems that they encounter while writing” (Collins, 1998, p. vii). The writing strategies are broken down into 12 categories; elaborating, evaluating, formatting, generating, monitoring, narrowing, organizing, proofreading,…
How to Write with Style Everyone has his or her own writing style, and some writing styles are considerably more distinct than others; however, anyone’s writing style can and should be improved over time. There really is no one specific or perfect way to write because everyone has different opinions on what is well written and what is poorly written, so it is important to alter one’s style so as to capture the attention of very different audiences. Kurt Vonnegut, an amazingly talented author from the 20th century, wrote an essay entitled “How to Write with Style” which gives excellent techniques on how to better anyone’s writing style. Each of his techniques has an explanation as to why they should be used, and he uses each of them in his essay.…
Good writing is focused, purposeful, and clear. To produce it, it is necessary to have a good backbone of prior knowledge and a reflective approach. In order to create a piece that is compelling, writing needs to be focused and flow well. Good writing has a point, a goal that it is intended to achieve.…
In chapter one of “The Curious Writer” by Bruce Ballenger, I felt that the chapter was heavily impacted on how to write a well written essay in many forms. I believe that in the beginning of the chapter the author was stating that the two reasons for a person is interaction and critical thinking. I agree with the author because I feel that these are key elements that are extremely essential in a well developed essay that usually I tend to forget to put in when I am whether it's a timed essay, research paper, argumentative paper or response to literature. I really appreciate author explaining the “do’s and don'ts” of writing a paper. For example, in my experience I usually hold my opinions back when I am writing papers opinions…
Strategically outlined in William Zinsser's “On Writing Well”, are the key elements that provide a guide for nonfiction writers to perfect their craft. Zinsser emphasises the importance of simplicity when writing in order to free ones work of unnecessary clutter and hold the reader's attention. Many of the concepts discussed by Zinsser are can be seen in James Baldwin's collection of essays entitled Notes of a Native Son, which falls anything short of a boring memoir. Baldwin takes the reader on a journey as he discusses racial matters in American society, his identity as an African American, and critiquing protest novels, movies and America as a whole. The transparency and honesty with which Baldwin writes makes his work exceptional and captivating.…
Thoroughly reading writing related to what you are working on will help you to write with stronger technique. This will also give you a sense of direction and prevent you from feeling stressed or lost when writing your…
I feel that writing is a good subject to be familiar and practicing in frequently, it is a necessary tool to communicate properly. Although, if I were to be truthful I’d have to say that I am not the biggest fan of it due to the fact that it bores me and I have trouble figuring out what to say. So I find it hard to enjoy writing because most of the time I am just struggling to concentrate because I don’t have much more to say about a topic. Recently, since I have not been in school for a while, I have found myself forgetting rules to the English language in my everyday speech so I find it to be useful. This has influenced how I feel about writing because the more I write, the more easily I can remember to use these rules in my daily…
As a good writer builds up own firm style of writing by chopping off the unwanted contents, simplifying and maintaining the transaction, the most important matter now is to determine who is he writing for? And the answer is not for a big mass of audience or the editors who will be publishing it, but himself (Zinsser,24). It is very uneasy for a writer to be himself, carefree about the opinions of others because one does not want to lose the readers. But the writer assures that these are two different problems to deal with. One associates with the style of writing while the other is having belief in our own work.…
Reflection: I learned from Ziesmer was how to focus on my tone. How you can work your tone to give the paper its true meaning. I wrote multiple drafts on this paper. I took many different approaches until a found a way to tell a story in a way that was meaningful without being boring. I usually just write one draft and then revise it and turn it in, I never have had to do multiple drafts so that was something different for me.…
The thesis statement is a very, very important part of the essay. In their book entitled, Writing: A College Handbook" James Heffernan, John Lincoln, and Janet Atwill clearly explains the following: "A statement of thesis answers your exploratory question and expresses the main point of your essay my making a precise, specific assertion about the topic. A thesis statement expresses your unique insight or way of explaining a subject and often forecasts how you will develop and organize your text." A good thesis statement will lead right into the introduction. "The introduction comes first for the reader, but not necessarily first for the writer.…