Thank you to Professor Robert Mundy with much help and guidance I feel that I am becoming a better writer. Someone was finally able to get through to me in a way to make writing no longer a task but entertainment.

Why even do it all ?

Why?

             Writing has purpose. From the time I was young I’ve always wanted to be able to write stories, where I could capture different types of audiences. It all started when reading the books “Shoes” by Elizabeth Winthrop and “My Angelica” by Carol Lynch Williams. These books made me want explore how a writer is able to form such great stories that make you want to read a certain book over and over again.

            Writing is a great way to vent. Sometimes there are so many things on my mind and at that moment I just want to let it all out. This is very helpful when, if at that moment I don’t have anyone to talk to I pick up a pen or pencil and a piece of paper and just write. This leads into me expressing my feelings maybe about a particular subject. Even with decision making I write why I should or shouldn’t do something. It’s sometimes just easier to explain things through writing then it is by word of mouth.

            Writing let’s me be me. I can write down anything, to another person they might not understand why I wrote whatever I wrote or why I choose to write about a particular topic, but to me I understand why I did. Certain things I write I won’t let everybody see so there’s less judgment on my writings. Being able to abbreviate or use certain words in certain ways is more creative to make the writing more me and less like everyone else’s writing.

            Constantly writing betters you. The more and more you write it usually leads to building your vocabulary. The more I write the more I see that I don’t want to always use the same words or phrases over and over, which leads to me learning new vocabulary. Also with writing a lot I see my writing improving, especially with work done in school.

            Writing has become something of a hobby. I like to write poetry. When I’m bored I’ll pick up a notebook or when I’m in class and a particular thought comes to mind I just start writing some type of poem about it. I’ll forget that I wrote it and when I remember it I’ll go back and read it over and over again to remember what made me write that particular thing.

            With writing I want to be able to not be discouraged as much as I am. I want to be able to turn into my professor and have my paper returned with as little marks as possible. I want to broaden my vocabulary as much as I can. I want to be able to touch someone in a way they can talk about my writing to other people. I just want to make a difference in someone’s life with my words.   

I choose you, my family

Introduction

            I will begin my journey here. This paper let me express who I was through my thoughts on what literacy is to me. I expressed my views through my family and the ways we do and say certain things, basically our character as a whole. Throughout my life I showed how my experiences with literacy played a major role in the person I’ve become today.

Being the first paper of the semester, this is where I first introduced myself as a writer. Not exactly sure of where I would fit in or how exactly I would express myself with little to no judgment, this paper introduced me, Shavéone. I wanted to start the blog with where I began so it can be seen how I will hopefully grow as a writer.

In this paper I tried accomplishing being able to connect with my readers in a way that my experiences were somehow similar or exactly the same as their own. I wanted them to read my paper and know exactly where I was coming from and know exactly what I was trying to say. If they were not able to connect to the message given I was hoping they would learn from my experiences and tell them to others.

I’ve learned that everything around us can be interpreted in many different ways reflecting on how a certain person has grown up or their surroundings. I wouldn’t change anything in this paper, because then my introduction wouldn’t have been the same.

The Social Network

Introduction

            Being the second paper I wrote during the semester this paper comes next in this journey. With this paper it was more than just writing a paper, it was more of finding a deeper meaning within a film and expressing it with words.

In class we watched the film The Social Network. We each had to discuss in a paper what we believed the cultural artifact the movie was trying to portray. It was hard to set myself on one specific idea, because there were so many seen in the movie. But once I found the idea I felt I could best elaborate on I went with it. With many revisions I was happy with the final paper.

In this paper I learned how to take one position and elaborate on it with more than the knowledge I have, more so with breakdown scenes in a movie.  With this paper I would’ve loved to use more scenes from the original movie than other movies.

The Ring

Introduction

            Coming up on this third paper, by far this was my favorite paper to write. This paper is much like my previous paper where I had to find a cultural artifact. However I had to find a cultural artifact that represents my community. With so many things I could’ve chosen from I wanted to make sure the object I chose impacted me in an immense way.

            I looked into my family traditions carefully choosing the right one where I could compare to a tradition that is still followed by most people. I was allowed to vent while writing this paper on my ideas of the “traditional” sweet sixteen and how the media depicts sweet sixteens of modern day. With knowledge from my family and research I did on my own I was able to fully support my ideas put forth while venting.

            Writing this paper I learned that there is always research to support traditions that you may feel only your family practices.

Lend a helping hand

Introduction

            Last but not least is my final paper. This paper which is different from the rest is where I did more research then use my own actual knowledge. I chose a topic where I felt strongly about, chose a side on it and used my research to further prove my point.

            I felt as if this was my best paper, because of the effort and time put into it. It was difficult at times sticking to one side of an argument, but the more research found the easier it was to get my point across. I choose teen pregnancy as my topic because I felt as if it was becoming such a big discussion topic and not many are educated on the needed information.

This is where my journey ends, but is surely not the end of me as a writer.