When I look back at the beginning of this semester, I think of how I had never considered taking this class, because I had never enjoyed writing about perspective and "seeing" before. However, once I was in, I was surprised by how much the content of the class affected me. Each essay was such a rewarding experience and I truly mean it because I realized that I had never written so fruitfully before. Earlier, I would use bigger words and write in a flowery language. I emphasized language more than thought and often got lost in the stylistic quality of my writing more than the main point itself. My writing used to be all over the place, as I would never have a thesis, but would just pen down everything that came to my mind about a certain topic. Now, all that has changed and I much more confident about how to express my opinions and thoughts about a topic. I have found myself to be more analytical than before and I see myself "seeing" more than I did earlier. Apart from the writing, all the conversations and discussions we shared in class were equally rewarding, along with the readings, which I would have normally never come across.
I think that Monday's class was effective because I realized that in my essay's rough draft, I had really explained my emotions, instead of showing them and letting the reader interpret them. I found the personal narrative essay to be challenging because I was very unsure of myself the entire time. At first, I didn't know how to show my emotions without mentioning them because unlike Reid and Tan, I didn't have an interesting enough experience which could be talked about in that way. However, after the class, I realized that I was getting the hang of the technique somewhat and now plan to use it for my final draft. I think this technique is effective because instead of just expressing the emotion, if the writer brings it out through a common experience through which we all feel the same emotion, then the reader would feel it better. For example, what Emma said in class about jigsaw puzzles and confusion is something we all can relate to, because we know that it would be confusing to join differently shaped puzzles. I also felt very awed by Reid's style of writing and I would go as far as to call it one of the most powerful personal accounts I have read.
I look forward to my writing class next semester and see how my writing changes, while I bring in what I learnt this time.
Hey Arushi! I really agree with what you're saying here. I was not set to take this class at first either, but I am so glad that I got the chance to! This has been the best english class that I have taken because it has allowed me to explore writing in new ways. In High School I was always writing "five paragraph" essays where you write the thesis first and then the paragraphs follow in a specific way. I learned this year that I don't have to follow those rules and in fact the essays that do often make for more boring pieces. Although I have not always been the most confident with my writing, this class has allowed me to be okay with that, and to develop skills that will make me more confident.
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