Nostalgia in Writing

Like in E.B. White's writing, childhood memories and nostalgia play a large role in writing style. When you write something, your feelings come through in the words, sometimes subconsciously. If you have very strong memories from your childhood and being in nature, that will most likely come through in your writing. Some of my most vivid memories from my childhood take place in nature. I grew up in Maryland and was always outside. I played in the snow a lot in the winter, and in the summer I went to my family's beach house in Ocean City. These memories are very important to me and are very nostalgic. When I write, my feelings about the memories that I have are very apparent and shape the way I tell the story. If I was truly happy and content at the time of the memory, I will write about how peaceful it was and be very reminiscent. However, if I had a bad experience in one of my memories, my writing may come across as angry, sad, upset, etc. Nostalgia is very intimately tied with the writing process and it is very important to consider this while you are writing.

Sustainability Challenge: Where Am I Now?

As of right now, there are not a lot of "green" things that I am doing in my life. I don't really believe in all the hype about going green. I don't think that one person making these changes that people in a position of power talk about can really change the whole environment. I agree that there are a lot of harmful effects from things that we do in our everyday lives such as driving non-hybrid cars, not recycling, and using things such as hairspray, but I also believe that "going green" is nothing but a political ploy to make money. People are trying to make a bigger issue out of all of this than it really is. People are too gullable and will believe anything that a celebrity says without doing the research on their own. I am sure that there is a lot that I could do to be more environmentally friendly, but I don't think that I alone can make any substantial change like a lot of people are talking about. For my sustainability challenge, I am going to try to recycle for ten days and see how much of a change I can actually make.

My Writing Goals

This semester, I hope I am able to grow a lot in my writing. In the past, I have had issues with being too general and giving adequate support for my arguments. I need to be more detailed in order to show how strong my opinions are. As far as the individualized writing plans go, I think that it's safe to say I am going to learn a lot this semester. I am sure that these plans are going to give me more insight so that I am able to incorporate new techniques into my writing. I am really going to focus on improving my writing and the individualized writing plans are going to play a major role in that.

Essay 1: Reflection

Now that I have received my grade for my first essay in my Composition class, I am a lot more aware of my mistakes and my strengths in my writing. I can see that I have some problems with detailing my work. I have to expand more on my topics in order to make them more clear to the readers. I also have a tendency to make a comment, and then leave it at that. I don't go in depth and explain why I believe what I have said. Although there were some errors, overall I am very proud of my work. I was able to keep my focus and ultimately get my main point across. As far as my writing process goes, I was able to make a clear outline that was perhaps the most helpful tool in writing my paper. I also incorporated my peer's critiques into my writing which made my paper that much better. In my future papers, I am going to work hard to put more detail into my words. I want to make my points more clear to the readers and make sure that they are able to walk away knowing exactly what I meant in my writing. I am very excited about writing my second essay and will work hard to learn from my mistakes in my first essay.

Essay 2: Brainstorming

My second essay is going to be about a picture that helps define the person that I am. The picture that does this the best is of me and my 5 year old brother on Christmas morning, 2008. I am very close with my whole family, however I have a special connection with my youngest brother, Teddy. My family went through a rough patch just before he was born, because my 10 month old brother passed away, and Teddy was the one thing in my life that held me together. Teddy was born on December 2nd, 2003, 7 weeks premature and had to stay in the hospital for almost 2 months. I was in a constant state of worry the whole time that he was in the hospital because we weren't sure when, or if he was going to be able to come home. My family spent that Christmas in the hospital with him and I truly believe that that was the day that I fell in love with him. From that day on, I have done everything that I can to be the best sister I can possibly be to him.

The picture taken on Christmas morning, 5 years later, shows me sitting on the floor in our living room in front of our Christmas tree. There are so many presents that they don't even come close to all fitting under the tree. Teddy is sitting in my lap and smiling at all of the presents and I am leaning my head down & kissing him on the cheek. We are both in our pajamas. Mine are green pajama pants and a white t-shirt that says "ho ho ho" on it, and Teddy is wearing the same shirt in red with green shorts. You can see the sliding glass door on the right and it is still dark outside. My step-dad took the picture when we weren't paying attention.

The reason that this picture means so much to me is that when you look at it you can really see what a close relationship my brother and I have. Christmas is my favorite day of the year because the whole family is truly happy no matter what else is going on in our lives. It is the one day of the year that nothing else matters except for family and that comes through in this photo.