Project Web

                                                            Writing through the Process

           Before I had evenstarted this course, I knew I would not enjoy it very much. Since I
could remember, I disliked writing with a passion. Idid not only hate to hear that I had an essay
due, but it made me angry. All I could think about was how many hours I would have to sit in
front of the computer just staring blankly, becauseI had no idea what to type or how to word it.
What I hated most about writing essays was that Ialways felt so unintelligent after writing them.
I would read them after I was done and I felt as ifthe essay
 was terrible. I knew what I wanted to say but putting it on paper was easier said than done. Once I did put it down on paper, my ideas did not sound as great as they had before. During the course of the year I feel as if my writing skills have improved greatly. Not only have my
essays made more sense but I don’t spend hours in front of the computer. I definitely don’t love writing after this year, but I have a better respect for it. My writing and essays have improved,
because in this class I learned how to work with my ideas to lead up to an essay and also view things and ideas in different ways. My road to becoming a better writer was not easy, from reading and writing about a poem to writing about space, I have learned a lot and have pushed myself to write better essays.

        The first assignment I had to do in this class was read a poem. My first thought
 was “great another thing I dislike”. Poems are usually difficult to understand,
that is the main reason why I dislike them. I read the poem
“It’s a Women’s World” by Eavan Boland , at first I did not understand it at all.
 I read it over and over again, alone and in class. I broke it down into parts and tried
to figure out what each part meant. It was very frustrating. I kind of understood some
parts, but I didn’t completely understand the poem as a whole. The class was assigned
letters to write, first to the speaker of the poem, the author, and then to a family member
explaining what we understood about the poem. The first two letters were difficult, because
I didn’t really understand the poem. After reading my classmate’s letters, I understood the
poem better. During the course of these exercises we would view pictures, links, and videos
that had something to do with the poem. They all shared a common idea.

        I then had to write an essay about an issue that was related to the poem. I had the
poem, links, videos and picture we had seen while reading the poem to use as resources
for the essay. If Kitty had just presented the poem and asked us to read it and write an
essay I would have written the worst essay ever. Since, she had given us writing exercises
and showed us different visuals that made us think, it made it easier. The whole process
lead up to it and even though I went through all these steps, I still had a difficult time
writing the essay. Since it was the first essay of the year, it was the hardest but I learned a
lot from it. I learned what Kitty expected from me when I wrote my essays. This essay was
a glimpse of what I would have to do the whole year. At the time I was dreading this
class, thinking how am I going to get through this. There was so much writing and I felt
like there was no way I could get better at it. Quickly I learned that not all the essays we
would write would be this difficult.

       The first essay that I wrote that changed my mind about writing was when I was
given the assignment to take song lyrics and analyze them and turn it into a story. It was
the first essay that didn’t take me hours to write. It was still a difficult essay to write since
it was assigned to me in the first semester. It was also the first time I enjoyed writing an
essay and I was surprised. I think the main reason I enjoyed it so much was because at
the moment the song I wrote about was one of my favorites. I felt like it had a strong
message and I was excited to share it with my professor. I knew she was very diverse in
the music, so she would understand it and appreciate it. The song I analyzed

was “FamilyAffair” by Wale. I still had

a little bit of trouble putting my thoughts on paper, but since I was passionate about what

I was writing I did not let it frustrate me too much. I began to realize with this essay that

I had to learn to have better transition leading into a new paragraph. I would just jump

 from oneidea to another. Also I saw things about the lyrics that I had not noticed before.

This is because I had been learning that there are different ways to view things and how

 to take them into consideration. I had seen little details that I had skipped before that were

very important to thestory. I think the main reason that this essay was easier was because

I knew what I was talking about and I was actually interested in writing it. As I wrote this

 essay I started to notice that writing wasn’t too bad and for once I felt proud of an essay that

 I had written.

        My writing at this point had improved but there was still a long way for it to go. The
last essay I had to write was a difficult one, but it did not seem as difficult after everything
I have done all year. We wrote about space and Los Angeles. Each essay seemed difficult
when it was first assigned, but after a few exercises it always seemed achievable. We learned
what could be defined as a space and what it can mean to people. Space can affect people emotionally. Also people can affect space and make it their own. In the process of this
essay I had to visit a location in Los Angeles. Since, I am not from here I visited a few
locations before I chose which one I thought made and described Los

Angeles. Venice beach was a
space that I thought made
Los Angeles what everyone
loved about it. I learned so
much from this experience.
Venice beach is such a
beautiful place to experience.
 It is so diverse and accepting
 just like Los Angeles. After
reading about Los Angeles and
learning about space, I viewed
the space differently. Writing
that essay was one of the easiest,
because through the whole year I had learned how to analyze. Also I had actually
grown to be comfortable writing essays instead  of being annoyed by it.

          Throughout the whole year I have learned so much about myself and writing.
What helps me write better and the steps I need to take to get there. The main lesson
 I learned throughout this year is that writing an essay is easier if I research and do
exercises to lead up to it. It is so much harder when I just jump into an essay.
I have also learned how to better analyze everything and research for my paper.
When I have all these resources at hand, writing is not as stressful anymore. I have
also learned a lot about myself through writing. I learned what issues and ideas affect
 me and inspire me

to write. This course hasn’t only
taught me about writing, but
about things going on in the world.
How you can view different issues
in different perspectives. That’s how
I am looking at writing now, in a
different perspective. Everywhere
I go I see everything different, I
look at how people act and respond
to different places. Writing
is not my favorite thing in the world,
but I can always get better and it will
teach me a lot. Writing is not only
something you learn about but
something that gives you knowledge.
That is the most important thing I
have learned in this class, that even
if you don’t enjoy doing something
 it doesn’t mean you can’t get better at it and maybe learn to enjoy it just a little bit.