Blog #7

I prefer the reason of using my own voice when writing a personal essay. I feel like a writer should be comfortable with writing about something he/she knows is best for what they are writing. I like to be able to hear myself and actully understand what I am writing. One of the aspects of Murray's advice that I found most helpful is the one about writing the personal essay allowing me to make use of my experience." I explore the lives I have lived and am living, even those I may live in the future". I really felt like Murray's point is valid and very understanding of a writers prospective. To me he's saying that he lived his life based off the things he have learned in the past and is willing to learn new things as life goes by. I am going to use this on my featured article by being more personal and really grabing the readers attention which will allow me to let them see what I see.

Blog 7

The reason for writing a personal essay that resonated most with me was "to discover who I am." When I am writing for myself I tend to learn more about myself throughout the paper. The reason for this being I have no constraints or guidelines, I am just writing down my own original ideas. When I was reading through the reasons of why to write a personal essay it really spoke to me. After reading this excerpt it almost gave me a new outlook on the importance of writing personal essays. The quote "I discover how much I know that I didn't know I knew. Writing educates me," really stood out to me. This quote made me realize the more we write the more we are able to learn and expand on ideas. This quote really reiterates we are still discovering who we are as people. The only time I have ever really written outside of the classroom was to cope with stress and really get out how I feel about something on a piece of paper. I haven’t done this in a long time but I plan on incorporating it more into my current life. I am going to implement his advice in my next draft by trying to make it more personal to me so I can take something out of what I have written.

Blog #7

Murray presents numerous reasons for writing a personal essay that could apply to the audience. Typically, students write for classes but there are also people who write journal entries, stories, or experiences in a form of venting or getting something off of their mind. The writer believes that the main reason that we, as humans, read and write so we aren't confused or our brains aren't discombobulated constantly. We don't notice, but we write lists, notes/scribbles, even paragraphs on a day to day basis to just receive some sort of organization for the day. The main objective for any writing is that the reader understands the points that the writer is presenting. In an essay, the main point of the paragraph is typically shown in the first or last sentence of the paragraph so the reader has a concrete view of the point. On a sticky note or just any note, the point is straight-forward and sometimes a reminder for the reader or writer. One might write to analyze a situation or determine which side of an argument one would be on, for example, pros and cons. The feature article that we are currently in the process of writing helps, as a writer, to see what I agree and disagree with concerning my topic. Writing about the chosen topic also allows me to analyze and research other sub-topics that I didn't necessarily know about.

Blog 7

The reason I related to the most for writing personal essays is to find who I am.  When I decide to write about myself, it is mostly of something important that has happened in my life.  When I write about this important factor it allows me to go back and realize why this was important to me and how it has changed me as a person.  The advice I found most helpful was finding the instigating line.  To write something that questions the feeling and what you're writing about.  Finding who I am is the instigating line.  I get to find topics that answer the questions of who I am and how I've gotten to where I am.

Blog #7

The main reason that connected with me in the list was the third one. When I am writing personal narratives is to discover more about myself. While writing opinion and my own grammar, I learn more and more about myself with each sentence. Sometimes it takes writing out, and analyzing your own thoughts in order to fully grasp what they mean. Writing allows myself to completely open up my brain to process information. With this being said, whilst open, I am able to think on a much deeper level and in turn I learn more about myself as a whole. This is why you must write a lot to become a better writer. In time, you learn more about yourself and your writing tactics so you get better as time goes on. Practice makes perfect, as some may say. Although I do not write for fun on my own, I do not mind writing for class. I believe I learn a great amount of knowledge by writing rather than by reading. I connected with a few of Murray's points, but ultimately that is why I write personal narratives when given the chance in school (not only because I have to). Because in the end, I will always learn something new about myself.

blog #7

The reason of writing by Murray that resonated to me most was that writing my personal essays allows me to make use of my experiences. Writing personal essays allows me as a writer to show people things I have done in my life and shows the type of person that I am. They allow me to share my story. One aspect of advice that Murray used which I felt really helped me was the opening line part "The Lead". Often times when writing a paper I struggle with what to say at the beginning. Something that you need to really pull in the audience. I Reading this will help me create my lead sentences significantly because I will be able to incorporate some of the examples he uses. For my next draft I feel I can implement the advice given by Murray by using it in my lead sentences in order to help drag my audience into my essay.

blog #7

I prefered the reason of giving myself or my own voice when writing a personal essay. I like the different types of idea of an audience reading my writing and understanding my point of view, no matter the subject. Being able to write and communicate with others in your area is a right but most make it a choice, one that anyone should take advantage of more than once. A writer should be felt, heard, and should be listened to in a way that, even if the reader doesn't agree with your writing, at least respects what you have put forth. We have heard and know too many people of the person who is afraid to speak out his or her opinions, to tell the world what he or she really thinks or feel when it comes to them or ; leading to the demise or lack of progress in the community. In the personal essay, I like to use the first person narrative so I can tell the story from my point of view; I like to stand out from the keyboard and the paper and the words and be heard as a person and a writer, and not as an unknown or self-author who is read only to be read. This is why I prefer with Murray's reason of "To give myself a voice”, to truly make myself a person of the community and let people know I am around, and that my views and my opinions are around or maybe used as well.

Blog # 7

     One of Murray's reasons that resonated most with me was the one that said, "To give myself a voice.  I am heard when I write; I vote in the human community, registering my opinions, what I stand for, what I fear, what I stand against, what I celebrate."  With many voices comes many different ideas and beliefs.  In society, many voices can go unheard and the dominant voices can seem to always overshadow the rest.  But when writing, there are no other voices being heard other than yours.  You are the one writing, not your friend or anyone else, but you.  This reason made not only made sense to me, but I never really thought about writing in that type of manner.  Writing is a way to get your point across and you voice heard.  This is so powerful for society.  Most people write to get an A and essentially to just please the teacher.  But if you take time to write for you and your ideas and beliefs, writing becomes so much more powerful.  Everyones' opinions are important and should be heard.  Just because of this reason by itself, writing should be considered a powerful tool for society and the voice of the individual.
One struggle for me has always been the Closing.  Conclusions are at the end of a paper and usually are the last to be written.  Because of this, I usually did not put much time into my closings and would merely restate my thesis and introduction.  But Murray's point of inviting "readers to do their own thinking, inspired by the voyage of meaning writer and reader have just shared," is an interesting view of how a closing should be written.  I just assumed conclusions were there for the reader to remind them what they just read and what they should have gotten out of that paper.  Instead of doing this, we should allow the reader to do his/her own thinking.  Closings are the last words the reader is going to read, making the closing important in an essay.  In  future essays, I plan on taking more time on my closings and aiming for that goal of inviting "the readers to do their own thinking."

Blog #7

I think the "to discover who I am," or third reason for writing a personal essay is probably the one that resonated the most with me. I feel as if every time I go to write something that's personal, I'm learning more and more about myself. When I'm writing for myself, it's usually much more relaxed than if I were to be writing for a teacher or any other form of authority. Even for the snap shots paper though, I was able to write as though I were talking casually to someone. This not only informed the reader of who I am and what my personality's like, but it also reiterated things about myself, that I hadn't really realized were that prevalent. While reading through all of the reasons as to why anyone would want to, or should write a personal essay, they were all helpful. I also really liked the one where it said, "I discover how much I know that I didn't know I knew. Writing educates me." This relates to the whole, "getting to know myself" reason as well. I do sometimes have other reasons for writing, whether it be to relieve stress, or just for the fun of it. I think that in the future, when I go to write an outline or a first draft, I will stop and think about each of these reasons.

Blog #7

The eighth reason for writing a personal essay is the one that resonated the most with me. It is the one that says:

“Donald Barthelme told us to “write about what you’re most afraid of.” […] Graham Greene explains, “Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose or paint can manage to escape the madness, the melancholia, the panic fear which is inherent in the human situation.” […]”

I have never tried to write about my fears, or about any trouble that I could have gone through. But this is not the first time I hear or read about it, I know that a lot of people that lose somebody do write on the pain they suffer from not having this person with them anymore. I probably never wrote about those things for many reasons. The first one would be that I am lucky I have never had to suffer a loss of a beloved. Of course I have been through less happy phases than others, like everyone does, but I have never felt this need to write and exteriorize that much and that many feelings. And the second one would probably be that I am afraid that if I write about my fears or about things that make me feel sad, I will feel even sadder or it will increase my fears. I think I’ve preferred until now to just avoid bad feelings. Maybe in the future, when I will have some very sad feelings or huge fears, I will try to write about them, but I think I will need to force me to do it, because this is certainly not something that I would want to do voluntarily.

Otherwise, I think that the advice I find most helpful for writing is the one about length. As he says in the text, every word has to “contribute to the essay.” I will definitely follow this advice for my next draft to try to condense the maximum my text. Especially for an article, the text has to stay interesting; otherwise the reader will stop reading it. This hint about the length is a good one for that I think!

Blog #7

« The personal essay allows me to report the important news of the human condition, the stories rarely covered on page one, on radio news, on television».

This reason is an important one; information is not always written or said in the real way but rather in a way that is good for the person writing it or for people or organizations of a big importance. Essays allow having a different opinion and point of view. And sometimes the information given in essays is not even in the news. This makes essays even more important and irreplaceable.   

I actually have never written essays outside of school homework and exams so I can’t really add anything in the list… But I think that he pretty much covered all the different reason why writing personal essays.

I think Length is an important advice that I do not use enough in most of my writing. I find it hard to say what I want to say in the fewest words but with the most details possible. It is also difficult to have “every word tell”, each of them making the essay go forward and bring something to it. In my opinion writing about what you want without unnecessary words and sentences, but still incorporating a lot of details is very hard, and is the key to be a good writer.

In my article I want to make sure that every word or sentence written has a reason to be there and try to add more details where my text is missing some. I want my article to explain precisely what I think and want to say.

blog 7

Blog #7: Which of Murray’s reasons for writing the personal essay resonated the most with you? Do you have reasons for writing personal essays that did not show up on his list? Which aspects of Murray’s advice for writing essays did you find most helpful? How might you implement his advice in the next draft of your feature article?

For my next draft of my feature article, I will try to include a "lead".  Having a "lead" in the beginning of an essay is more likely to grab the readers attention and make them want to continue reading.  I would hate to write an essay that no one wants to read.  His discussion about "trust" resonated most with me because I never really considered it, but it makes sense that the reader trusts what you are saying.  They may trust you because you include a lot of reliable citations or what you are saying is highly relatable so they are going to believe what you are writing about.  Sometimes I'll read magazine articles about come celebrity or current event and totally believe it because I trust that magazine, but sometimes I later find out that it's not true.  The writer of the article just had me convinced.

Blog #7

Several of Murray's reasons resonated with me. One being to discover how much I know that I did not know I knew. You don't know what you don't know takes on a more literal meaning when you have to write down what you know and what you thought you knew. Another reason that I liked was writing in order to make use of my experience. I am able to explore the life I have lived and continue to live. This type of writing brings back some great memories and give me a moment to reminisce, and remember all the little details that may have faded to the back of my mind over time. These details can help to make a semi-interesting story into one that you cannot put down. 

Murray's advice on editing was very helpful. I usually consider editing as just looking for improper spelling, capitalization, grammar ect... He talks about editing in a very different light than what I am used to. He mentions editing aloud and that the essay should build up to a point then slow down to allow the reader to take in what was said. The act of making a work deceptively easy to read is one that takes many long hours of practice. I consider a successful paper one that I can read and think back to myself how well constructed/informed/persuasive it was. If I am able to decide on the purpose of the paper and realize that it went above and beyond its purpose, then I consider that paper to be well edited and constructed.

Blog Post VII-Hewitt

I most relate to the seventh and eighth bullets, "Writing... allows me to make use of my experience..." (7), "Writing is my therapy" (8). These are the two I most resonate with as they best describe the reason as to how I am able to write personal essays, when I do; I am able to write because of the experiences, as well as personal essays are ways to organise other experiences I may have had, i.e. the therapy. There was one reason that I did not see on the list that Murray made, which is "I write because I want others to understand me"; that is another reason why I write, to be heard and to let others know me or at least try to. I think that one of the most useful advices that Murray mentioned is "The Instigating Line", which is about having a certain line that may be overlooked by many, but have a deep, incredibly deep meaning to others; this line may connect readers to the writer even more. I will definitely use this in future writing projects, which seems like it will make reading papers a bit more fun for the audience. The only problem with this is that it seems like one would require a lot of experience to be able to have an instigating line. I cannot really use this for the current major assignment, the Feature Article, as my article is an overview of a video game... I might be able to find something, but it is a bit harder with the topic I have.

Blog #7

The reason for writing a personal essay that resonated most with me is that you can learn more about yourself. I believe the same thing. Often times when I write about myself I learn (or perhaps realize) something that I didn't know before about who I am. I found Murray's advice about starting with a strong lead very helpful. We are taught this almost every year of school. Murray gives some very good examples though about how to create a strong introduction. I also like Murray's advice on voice. Many amateur writers don't realize how important voice is. Voice helps you connect with the audience and makes it easier for them to understand and read your essay.

blog #6

"Looking back, a person risks losing hold of the present while being confounded by the past." This quote on page 77 tells me that the author is almost scared of his past. He knows by looking back he can get caught up in his past and lose grip on his potential chance for success, something that has never necessarily been done in his families past. In many cases people given the chance to succeed will look back and try to live their families past, ruining the opportunity which is why I agree with Rodriguez. Getting caught up and looking back can only hurt his opportunity so while trying to reach success he should look ahead and not in the past. 

Blog #7

I like the reason of "to give myself a voice" when writing a personal essay. I like the idea of an audience reading my writing and understanding my point of view, no matter the subject. Being able to write and communicate with others in your community is a right, one that any person should take advantage more than once. A writer should be heard; should be listened to in a way that, even if the reader doesn't agree with your writing, at least respects what you have put forth. We have heard too many times of the person who is afraid to speak out his or her opinions, to tell the world what he or she really thinks of a circumstance or a controversy; leading to the demise or lack of progress in the community. In the personal essay, I like to use the first person narrative; I like to stand out from the keyboard and the paper and the words and be heard as a person and a writer, and not as an unknown author who is read only to be read. This is why I resonate with Murray's reason of "to give myself a voice", to truly make myself a person of the community and let people know I am around, and that my views and my opinions are around as well.

Blog 6

"Looking back, a person risks losing hold of the present while being confounded by the past." I personally agree with this statement those who dwell on the past never really live their life to the fullest. When you harp on what has happened in the past you tend to live in it, and I am an avid believer in that. When you hold on to the past you lose sight of what the future has in store for you. It is a very hard thing not to do and I try to deal with this through my faith by having the comfort that god has a plan for me in whatever I do. Through my 18 years of being on this earth I have begun to realize when things get really bad and you reach a low point things can only get better from there. This was a strong quote in my eyes and it almost inspires me to keep pushing through whatever I'm going through and keep a positive mindset in what the future holds for me.