Why I Write

     I write because my written words are more powerful than what I say. Verbally, I am loud and funny. Quietly with the clicks of the keyboard, I am intelligent and sassy. Writing is way beyond that three page essay in MLA format. It can be whether you jot down a cute note-to-self, writing poems, blogging, or even putting up statuses on social networking sites. Those words you "tweet" in 140 characters or less is writing. Whether you are complaining about finals, asking what the rotation is, hash-tagging a current event---you are putting your thoughts down in a writing form that most likely will never go away.
     It is so amazing how we can take something that comes to our mind, which is something that others cannot know what you are thinking about, and put that into writing so others from all over the world can read it. Many people find a comfort in writing rather than talking. I find it easier to type than to speak because I always find the right words to say when I type, but when I talk it is embarrassing what comes out of my mouth half the time.
     I write because I find comfort in letting my thoughts spill out. You can backspace that thought away, but once you say it there is no going back. Maybe that is why they say "the pen is more powerful than any weapon." Anyone can take away your limbs, but no one can take away how you think about things.

Reading Response 4: If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where's My Prince?

This is a make-up reading response.

Lucy is finishing up a charcoal still life of a lemon, notebook, and a glass of water. The bell rings and Ms. Daniels asks for Lucy to come over to where she is to see the artwork. I loved the author's word choice and descriptive language she used for this scene. The author used a detail that the teacher did which might not seem important, but shows the kind of personality Ms. Daniels has by saying

"She flipped open a tube, tested the paint on the back of her hand, then returned it to the shelf before taking my drawing from me."

The quote can be taken as a deeper meaning; showing that Ms. Daniels will look have hope for 'one' based on their physical appearance, but after opening up and seeing/trying what is on the outside, then she determined whether she wanted that 'one' in her life at the moment or not.

Ms Daniels complimented Lucy's artwork by saying

"I love how diaphanous the curtains are."

I did not know what diaphanous meant so I had to look it up and it means "light, delicate, translucent." It is such an interesting choice of vocabulary to use but the story continued with Lucy saying

"I wanted the fabric to seem material but weightless."

So the word diaphanous is used in a proper way and I am glad to have gained a new word.


The Theme Song of this Reading Response is:
Darwin Deez - (800) Human

Reading Response 7: Dave Barry on College

First of all, this is my favorite article I have read so far. It has so much voice and humor that it made me feel like I was talking to one of my friends.
This wonderful article starts out with

"Basically, you learn two kinds of things in college:
1. Things you will need to know in later life (two hours).
2. Things you will not need to know in later life (1,998 hours). These are the things you learn in classes whose names end in -ology, -osophy, -istry, -ics, and so on. The idea is, you memorize these things, then write them down in little exam books, then forget them. If you fail to forget them, you become a professor and have to stay in college for the rest of your life."

This is the perfect description of our education system today. It is more about memorizing and knowing instead of understanding. It is hard to enjoy these classes because it is more with defining and memorizing terms instead of hands-on work. But, I did like the shade he threw about becoming a professor forever if you fail.

Later on in the article, Dave Barry gave the breakdown of some majors. With English, I loved how he described the use of not doing what everyone else is doing by stating the obvious.

"Moby-Dick is a big white whale, since the characters in the book refer to it as a big white whale roughly eleven thousand times. So in your paper, you say Moby-Dick is actually the Republic of Ireland."

This quote will stick with me and I will try to use this method. Being original will not only make it more enjoyable for the reader, but for the writer as well because their creativity will be put to the test.