Surprisingly, the paper which I have found the hardest to write has been the second once, though I had expected it to be the third one, given its length. In fact, I would go as far as to say that the third essay has been the easiest to write, though we haven't even gotten down to our final drafts yet. I found the second paper to be tougher than the first one because while the first essay was a personal narrative, I wasn't bound by any thing during the analysis. However, to be honest, I was stumped at the beginning of my second essay. I didn't know where to start, and I was terribly unsure of the graffiti piece I had chosen. Once I had that figured out, I was pretty sure that my thesis didn't make sense. In fact, I wasn't able to recognize what my thesis was, as much as I attempted to figure it out- probably because I was so concerned with stating a new and compelling thesis that I lost track of what I wanted to say in the first place. I also found the process of linking the graffiti's analysis to a larger meaning to be very challenging. I was just very unsure of what I was writing the entire time. However, in retrospect, I find the second essay to be the most rewarding as well. Compared to the first essay, which I enjoyed writing immensely, but did not challenge myself too much, I found that I somehow managed to fulfill most of what we were required to do for the second essay. I also find the third essay to be straightforward and feel that the ads are easier to analyze due to the intense graffiti analysis which we did in the second essay.
I am confident that my writing has improved in some ways since the class began. It is strange because I am unable to point out exactly what may have improved, but I know that I cannot imagine writing the way I used to before starting this class. i have become more aware of the content of my writing than fretting about smaller details and the vocabulary that I use. Now, i am looking forward to seeing how I feel about writing our fourth and final essay!
I totally agree with everything you said! It was really hard for me to use one small piece of graffiti to explain the purpose of all graffiti, let alone figure out what that purpose was, all the while keeping a narrow thesis. Still, it was so rewarding to finish it and have a more in depth understanding of not only my specific piece of graffiti, but how people should analyze all street art. It's one of the first essays that I've written that I can confidently say I learned something from writing it about myself and my topic. I'm so glad to share your opinions, and I, too, look forward to my personal level of difficulty regarding the final essay.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with this post Arushi! I had a very similar experience with my papers. I think that this last one definitely seemed daunting given its length, but ultimately it was the second essay that was the most difficult for me to write. I ultimately was pleased with myself once I was able to complete the second essay because I was unsure at first how I was supposed to write an entire essay about one piece of graffiti. I think that this analysis in the second essay actually helped me write the most recent essay because I had learned how to interpret and analyze an image of graffiti in the second essay and used these interpretation skills to help me analyze the images of the advertisements in the third essay. I am also interested to see how my writing develops even further in the final essay!
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