Gibbs 1 Mason Gibbs Professor Adam Pradgett English 1101 15 November 2013 Writing: Alwa s A Wor!

"n Progress What is Writing# Millions of words have been $sed tr ing to define what Writing is and the %$r%ose of Writing& " g$ess it is m t$rn to give m two 'ents on the to%i'& (hro$gho$t this essa ) " will in'l$de *$otes and e+'er%ts from different genres of writing& (he are for will ho%ef$ll solidif m theor & M theor on writing is: There is no such thing as good or bad writing; Writing is communication, perception, and clarification. If these qualities were not present, Writing would be pointless. ,irst and foremost) Writing is a wa to %h si'all manifest tho$ghts& (hese tho$ghts are for 'omm$ni'ating and 'onne'ting with other %eo%le& (he 'onne'tion that Writing establishes is what gives $s the o%inions 'on'erning the things we have read& (hese o%inions 'an ta!e the form of atta'hment to 'ertain 'hara'ters) the s$s%ense we feel when fa'ed with a 'liffhanger) or the need for a 'ontin$ation of the stor in the form of a se*$el& "f Writing 'o$ld not generate this 'onne'tion at all) then what wo$ld be the %oint of Writing# What wo$ld be the %oint of reading something that someone else wrote# (his 'onne'tion is at the ver heart of Writing& What " val$e abo$t this as%e't of Writing is the ado%tion of another %ersons- tho$ghts& "f a boo! is able to ta!e o$ awa to another world) time %eriod) or 'o$ntr for an amo$nt of time. the se%aration be'omes a%art of o$& / se%aration) " mean the moment when o$ be'ome far more interested in what ha%%ens in a novel than an thing that s$rro$nds o$& " believe there is te+t in Writing that has the 0ob of initiating these 'onne'tions& (his te+t 'o$ld be at the start)

Gibbs 2 middle or near the end of the boo!& " believe 1ames M& 2ain $ses this !ind of te+t at the end of 'ha%ter seven in Double Indemnity: " had !illed a man& " had !illed a man to get a woman& " had %$t m self in her %ower) so there was one %erson in the world that 'o$ld %oint a finger at me) and " wo$ld have to die& " had done all that for her) and " never wanted to see her again as long as " lived& (hat-s all it ta!es) one dro% of fear) to '$rdle love into hate& 32ain 456 (his %aragra%h gave the reader a %ee! into the the main 'hara'ter-s mind& (he 'onne'tion be'omes an emotional one be'a$se we see that the m$rder has had an effe't on the main 'hara'ter& (his %aragra%h " believe is a '$e for $s to s m%athi7e with this 'hara'ter& "f the reader does 'hoose to ta!e the '$e) then a 'onne'tion is made& "f a 'onne'tion is not made in that moment) then %erha%s the 'onne'tion will ha%%en at another moment in the novel& 8e'ondl ) o$r o%inions toward writing ma!e a differen'e in how we write& " often go into a %a%er thin!ing "-m going to be the greatest writer ever& 9n'e Writer-s blo'! sets in) " feel li!e ever thing " write is garbage& A *$ote from Ernest :emingwa gave me a different wa of loo!ing at Writing& :emingwa said We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes the master. We sho$ld not loo! down on o$rselves if we thin! that o$r writing is bad& (his is be'a$se even the ;masters of writing< tho$ght the same thing abo$t their own wor!s& No matter how we thin! abo$t o$r writing) we sho$ld not be afraid of it being 0$dged as ;bad< or even ;good<& (he essen'e of Writing is %ersonal be'a$se it is from o$r mind& =o$ 'o$ld be writing abo$t a $ni'orn in s%a'e b$t that idea) that 'on'e%t) is e+'l$sivel from o$& What is deemed as ;good< writing or ;bad< writing 'omes onl from %eo%le-s %er'e%tion of o$r wor!& A great e+am%le of this 'on'e%t is the an e+%erien'e " had with 'riti'ism toward >ave

Gibbs 3 Pil!e -s 2a%tain ?nder%ants& When " was o$nger) this boo! series was m favorite& (he sim%le senten'es hel%ed me read alo$d and the 'hara'ters in the series reminded me of m self& (he h$mor made me la$gh and also bond with m mother whenever she read them with me& (he a$thor 'o$ld do no wrong in m e es& Mr&Pil!e gave m famil and " 'o$ntless moments of la$ghter and the ins%iration for me to read for f$n& "t was $ntil " went into fo$rth grade that " fo$nd o$t that not ever one had the same love for the good ol- 2a%tain& M fo$rth grade tea'her 'o$ld not stand the boo!s& 8he tho$ght that the h$mor was disg$sting and the word 'hoi'e was too sim%le& " resisted her o%inions be'a$se " felt li!e she was too m$'h of a ;grown@$%< to $nderstand the boo!s& As " grew older) m love for the 2a%tain started to 'r$mble& (he new boo!s were not 'oming o$t at a stead rate& " soon forgot abo$t the boo!s and 'ontin$ed onward to high s'hool& "t was not $ntil last wee! " re'eived wonderf$l news& A movie was going to be made abo$t the Advent$res of 2a%tain ?nder%antsA A%%arentl to a 'o$%le of :oll wood e+e'$tives) the writing in the boo! was 0$st what the needed& M %oint of the stor is that what is labeled as ;bad< writing to one %erson ma not be ;bad< writing for another& "f an a$thor-s writing fails to 'onne't the reader then the boo! fails) b$t onl for that %arti'$lar %erson& Altho$gh " loved those boo!s. m tea'her did not li!e the boo!s& While m tea'her did not li!e the boo!s. the :oll wood e+e'$tives tho$ght that the were movie material& Writing is not 0$st abo$t 'omm$ni'ation b$t it is also abo$t %er'e%tion& What " val$e abo$t this *$alit of writing is the %ride AN= writer 'an have 'on'erning their wor!& 9ther %eo%le-s %er'e%tion or even o$r own %er'e%tion sho$ld not sto% o$ from writing& (his writing is a%art of o$& (he final as%e't of Writing is 2larifi'ation& / 'larifi'ation) " mean that as the a$thor) o$ sho$ld write the wa that o$ feel li!e is telling o$r stor ) %oint) or idea best& (hat being

Gibbs 5 said) " feel li!e one m$st sti'! to %ro%er grammar r$les and 'orre't s%elling& (his is so an one reading o$r writing 'an vis$ali7e what o$ are sa ing in the best wa & 8o for em%hasis) what " am sa ing is that there "8 good and bad writing) b$t there is no s$'h thing as ;good< or ;bad< writing& (he ideas that o$ have in o$r head that get transferred to %a%er are not bad& (he wa o$ 'hoose to transfer them is what 'an im%a't the idea that o$ 0$st birthed to the worldA 8o it is o$r 0ob as an a$thor to dress o$r ideas with slee! grammar and tea'h them 'orre't s%elling& " val$e Writing that is 'onfident in its %resentation of its ideas& (he a$thor m$st ma!e it 'lear that the are in 'ontrol of what the are writing& (o s$%%ort this 'laim) " will anal 7e a %aragra%h of a essa " wrote in the eighth grade: "n the beginning) the death %enalt started with 'riminals in the earl da s& 2riminals who violated the r$les of so'iet were %$nished b im%risonment& "f the were serio$s violators of the law li!e %irates the were hanged& 8ometimes the bodies of the de'eased were h$ng o$tside the %ort as a warning to others& :anging was the onl ;modern<alternative than stoning&hanging was %roved to be a slow) horrible and agoni7ing death& While rereading this %aragra%h) " did not !now what " was tr ing to sa & (he first senten'e 'ontradi'ts itself: ;"n the beginning&&& earl da s<& (he third and fo$rth senten'e ma!e ea'h other red$ndant& (he last senten'e doesn-t even have 'a%itali7ation or 'orre't s%a'ingA "f the writer is having a hard time e+tra'ting meaning o$t of his own wor!) then imagine the diffi'$lt time a reader wo$ld have reading this %aragra%hA 2larit hel%s the the other two as%e'ts of Writing& "t wo$ld be harder for the reader to ma!e a 'onne'tion if the Writing is not 'lear in %resenting its %oint& "f the 'onne'tion is not there) then a reader-s %er'e%tion of the material will be affe'ted& With the 'onne'tion not being %resent and the %er'e%tion s!ewed) the writer will lose the reader-s

Gibbs 5 attention& What is Writing to me# Wh do " val$e Writing in general# " val$e Writing be'a$se " $se Writing to e+%ress how " feel& "f " 'o$ld not write down how " feel then " wo$ld go 'ra7 & " $sed to thin! that the onl im%ortant writing was a'ademi' %a%ers& " tho$ght that a'ademi' %a%ers mattered be'a$se the were abo$t things that mattered& Now that " am in 'ollege) " see that all Writing matters be'a$se it 'omes from something we 'annot meas$re) 'al'$late or %redi't& (he tho$ghts that we thin! are val$able be'a$se we are val$able& We sho$ld want to write down what we thin! and feel be'a$se those things are a%art of $s& What if we were to sti'! to 0$st a'ademi' %a%ers# What if 2onne'tion) Per'e%tion) and 2larifi'ation were not a%art of Writing# " thin! then that is when Writing tr$l wo$ld be'ome %ointless&

Gibbs 4 Wor!s 2ited 2ain) 1ames M& Double Indemnity& New =or!: Bintage) 1CC2& 45& Print& Gibbs) Mason A& The American Death Penalty& N&%&) n&d& Web&