PART 1: Writing Biography
I have always enjoyed writing papers of most kinds all through school. I enjoy the creativity involved with exploring my own thoughts and ideas whether I was writing a critique to a work of literature, or if it was a creative work all of my own. Writing also helps me to commit lessons to memory; some of my favorite papers have been focused on the author of a work or a specific person in history. I enjoy being able to recall information about these people based on what I wrote for one class or another. Even when it comes to subjects that don’t interest me, like science, writing a paper of some kind makes the lesson more memorable for me. However, the ideas that I come up with for all of these papers and writings I do can sometimes overwhelm me.
Some of the strengths in my writing include that I tend to not struggle so much with a concept or topic for any paper that I write. Even if I am not able to choose the subject, I have always found something that I can write with relative ease and the ideas are always solid. It is natural for me to ask myself questions in a form of brainstorming that eventually guide me to putting the right words on paper. I have always enjoyed the ability that I have to be able to start a paper so quickly and with such confidence that in no time at all, the ideas are flowing with little effort and I can sort of crank out an acceptable paper for any class without much more than a first draft based on solid thought and research. This has become a problem for my writing in several ways.
For one, I tend to let myself get so carried away with my ideas that by the time I reach my concluding paragraph, I have nothing but a mixed up mess of random facts and thoughts. Though my ideas may have been solid for whatever subject I focused on, the structure of my papers seem to be forgotten until the end. At that point, I am forced to go back into the paper and sometimes rearrange the entire paper, changing the wording here or having to take out something there. The other issue is that I do not take advantage of my ability to settle on a topic or idea quickly like I should. With this ability, I could potentially get ahead in my work and have ample amounts of time to edit and re-edit. Instead, I allow myself to put it off until the last minute and hurt myself in the end when I submit what could have been an incredible paper.
Recently, I have been trying to make myself pay more attention and realize that I actually do not have as much time as it seems. I need to take full advantage of the time I have ahead of time. I am also trying to take my time while writing my paper so that I can organize my thoughts before I ever even touch the keyboard to type them. Even after I begin, I have been going back over the structure as I go and making any first hand revisions as I write. I am looking forward to writing more so that I can practice these techniques and put them to use in my work.
PART 2:
Dear Mrs. Miller,
I am writing to thank you for all of your guidance and help as an educator over the past few years. I can’t tell you how much your lessons have helped me since I was in your class. The more I think about this now, the worse I feel about the fact that, before your class, I never knew how to use a semi-colon. I am shocked that I even made it into an advanced English class in high school without even knowing how to use basic grammar.
You taught us to use it as a way to combine two sentences with like ideas and subjects, making the paper flow with ideas. I remember how explained writing like a river; it should flow smoothly and stimulate the reader’s senses. Any good work is refreshing to read. You taught us the importance of a well-structured. The semi-colon has helped me to string my ideas together so much since your class. I’ve even had quite a few friends and room-mates that I’ve been able to help with understanding the use of a semi-colon. Most importantly, I look forward to teaching this lesson to my students in very much the same way you did. It is incredible how such a small thing makes such a big difference. Thank you.
With my greatest respects,
Joshua Burtner
PART 3: My Personal Interests
My personal interests include literature, particularly focused on the author. I enjoy knowing what influenced the author to write his/her work based on their own life experiences or time period, political issues and etc. Knowing the deep, intimate facts of the author help me to understand and enjoy the literature. When discussing literature with my friends or class mates, I often enjoy focusing on these details.