Creative writing is not a stranger to the classroom. It’s more like a third cousin you see at family reunions. Unfortunately, creative writing is not seen as a beneficial skill students need to learn. Instead, it is used for elective classes or to fulfill a small section of a language arts standard. Creative writing provides more than entertainment, it provides “skills, which [students] have acquired in their pursuit of a fictional character, will serve them equally well in their pursuit of subjects for expository, persuasive, and analytic essays” (Anderson, 47). This genre of writing requires creativity, curiosity, and technical skills. Creative writing is detrimental to the progression of students’ writing ability. Teaching creative writing is not as simple as letting students explore their imaginations, Peterson (2014) and Crumey (2012) both suggest prior knowledge plays a significant role in the creative writing process. It has been widely said a writer should, “write what they know.” This sentiment is often shared as a nugget of wisdom to aspiring writers or those struggling from writer’s block. Peterson (2014) says, “young writers should ‘be passionate about what [they] do. Passion drives the best storytelling” (500). Crumey’s (2012) argument is that to become a better writer, you need to be well read and you need to write. He emphasizes this with a quote by Stephen King: “You’ve got to read a lot and write a lot” (114). Crumey (2012) explains the difference between
Writing, and literacy in general, is one of the founding cornerstones of modern society. It is difficult to find any sort of occupation that doesn’t require at least some basic writing skills. From business managers to lawyers to doctors, despite their notoriously bad handwriting, all require intimate knowledge of writing skills. Yet, teaching critical writing skills is not the cure-all to solving the problems that the public education system faces in producing students better prepared to tackle the challenges of the world as Peg Tyre portrays it as in The Writing Revolution. Critical writing skills, despite its current underemphasis in the classroom, should not be the only focus of the public school system’s curriculum as Peg Tyre suggests in The Writing Revolution, because critical writing skills do not prepare students adequately enough for the standards of the real world which require more technical skills, critical writing skills only teaches a small subset of underlying critical thinking skills, and critical writing skills education, as presented by Peg Tyre, is formulaically based which can result in long-term inability to further student’s critical writing skills despite initial success.
The survey result Berrett includes shows that students see writing as “basically a performance”. Berrett also introduced an argument from the “Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing” report, which claims that writing is not a “linear process”. The author states that successful writing requires various processes, habits and experiences, such as “curiosity, flexibility, persistence and metacognition”. Since for most highschoolers, writing is ‘’framed as preparation of tests”, they do not have the opportunity to “develop ideas or raise prose”. The author suggests the students require change in their mindset of writing. However, the only evidence the author provides is from a students’ self-reported survey, instead of actual writing assignments. This rather subjective evidence results in a less convincing argument. Despite this flaw in logic, I personally agree with the author. I find the transformation of writing from high school to university is challenging. The main reason is that my writing experience back then was more about “following directions”. The format and structure of the writing assignment was provided, and all the information I need was spoonfed to me. As a result, there was no researching and developing my own idea, and in the first week of university, when I was asked to write a lab report with my own theory, I brainstormed for hours before eventually generated one. Nevertheless, I hold onto the hope that improvements on creativity in writing can be made as I gradually develop my “curiosity, flexibility, persistence and metacognition”. In general, although I agree with the author’s opinion, I felt his claim lacks
One day, cutting through the swamp, David comes across the remains of old Indian souls and discovers a skull with jewelry still buried on the bodies. As David kicks at the skull, he hears a voice and looks up to see a black man seated on a stump just looking. The man, wearing a black sash around his body, has a soot-stained face, which makes it appear as if he works in some fiery place. David soon recognizes the stranger as the devil, the black man. Twenty years later we had a family reunion with all my relatives and they started talking about the fire.
It is essential to understand that classes taken in grade school do not give students a full understanding of each subject. With the topic of writing, there will always be a new lesson to learn, an aspect to improve, or a differing way to explain. Author Craig Vetter states in Bonehead Writing, “This is your enemy: a perfectly empty sheet of paper. Nothing will ever happen here except what you make happen.” Each story, essay, or response comes from a writer’s experiences. With each attempt at a new piece comes an underlying story of emotions the writer is facing. Each person’s writing is unique and the ideas people have are related to their past experiences and what they believe to be familiar with when deciding which writing style to use. As a high school student, I have learned many things about writing that helped me become the improved writer I am today, but the most essential advice I have received is practice makes perfect. Although there is no actual perfect way of writing, I have discovered that each essay I write, my writing improves. It is easier to spot mistakes, find areas to improve, and ponder elevated word choice to use.
Sunshine was pouring out from in between the buildings, casting shadows all around Ponyboy and the gang as they walked to Pony’s school. They were taking their time walking down the streets and for the first time they all were really seeing what was all around them. Memories were surfacing in their minds showing them what it all meant to them. With every step they took on the sidewalk they remembered a different memory as if they were walking down memory lane. Ponyboy didn’t think it was possible for him to be walking down this street for the last time as a high school student, but he had gone through the years with great grades that earned him many scholarships.
I comfortably drive my car into the desolate street, Perusing the deserted buildings, Smashes windows and rusted For Sale signs. The car locked up like Fort Knox. I observe the street for trouble. Two young boys look at me from afar as if I'm an alien. Do I stand out that much same greasy hair, expensive clothes, a smart car I suppose I am out of my comfort zone? “Mister, you don’t belong here” his hand gripped his switch. “Pony.... Ponyboy Curtis” I stammer “I live here or at least I did, I'm here to see two-bit’ The Boys turn around “geez his old now” the boy's chirp. The boys stroll away in awe that they saw the great Ponyboy.
In the article “Best Practices in Teaching Writing”, Charles Whitaker outlines eight points on helping students succeed as writers. The first
Everyone knows what writing is to one extent or another, but we all have different definitions of how it should be done and varying degrees of seriousness about the art. We all have a process of writing, but each is unique to ourselves and our own experiences. Annie Dillard and Stephen King are two well known authors who have published many pieces, two of which describe how they view the writing process and let their readers get a peek of what goes on through their minds when they write. These two pieces are Dillard’s The Writing Life and King’s “What Writing Is.”
Writing is a practice that most of us were taught when we were young. We were taught the basics of grammar, how to form a sentence, conjunction words, how to write paragraphs and more. Although we have learned this skill while growing up and have used the skill every year after entering kindergarten, this does not mean our writing process will ensure the best work. The authors that I chose each encourage their audience to excel in the art of writing in their own way to help with the writing process.
Throughout the course of freshmen year I have developed different skills and opinions on writing. I feel I have created a more mature style of writing and a better understanding of literature. I have changed my view of writing over this semester and acquired a strong liking for it. The importance of writing has become more visible throughout the past few months. Writing is crucial in many aspects of a person’s life. I have grown to be a more powerful and well built writer throughout this course.
In my English 1010 class, I have learned to do a number of things through writing essays. I have written a Literacy Narrative, a Discourse Community Analysis, and a Writing Research essay. Firstly, I have learned to identify how an author’s purpose, audience, genre, and context determine effective writing. The purpose of the literacy narrative was to help me understand myself better as a writer (Jones 1). My teacher was the intended audience of the narrative. The genre of the narrative was non-fiction because it was about my experience as a writer. The context of writing made my writing more interesting and more effective. All those things make effective writing because you have to know what you need to write about and who is receiving your writing. I displayed these skills by going into detail of my experiences with reading and writing through my life. In the narrative I shared how fun and exciting it was when my second grade class got the opportunity to write a book, A Book of Future Astronauts (Writing is Good).
When we got to Roberto's school they locked the car and left me in the car and told me to not move.As soon as I saw them walk in the doors I started to get really scared I could feel my heart beating out of my chest.I was thinking to myself "what is going to happen to mama and papa or even Torito and trampita."I need to get out of here".I was debating to myself "should I try to escape or should I just wait".Then at the corner of my eye I saw the men in green uniform walk closer and closer to the car I froze.
When I see this kind of books I'm always skeptic, what kind of help can those give us? Well, I can tell that when I started to read this one I was amazed! I have a small business, craft-work, and I give my best to make my selling better. I needed to make my marketing (through Internet at first) much better, so I tried to find the best solution and the best advice from somebody who knows the thing. This book helped me to advance my business in some part, to make it more serious and more profitable, of course. You can find his own example, what he did in his job, so you can see from his own experience what he struggled with. The author also tells us about his life, and he shares some information with readers, so he makes us more familiar to
Mikal sat across from Tracy, one of the Golden Heart’s analysts. He fixated on her stale, boxed-in office, the simulated wavy fields, the dark forest behind it, a sunset steeped in crimson clouds, the sounds of birds migrating—all of it tracing their way behind her and around the office. Centering on Tracy’s face, she crinkled her pink neon lit lips into a smile and tapped her glowing neon pink nails upon her metal desk.
Teacher should teach the creative writing proccess . In the text introduces a brief explanation on why is important. Creative writing is important to have students learn because it facilitates the student understand their own experience. It also facilitates the class get a deeper understanding of their peers experience and make connections. Creative write help teach the student basic skills and technique that will help gain student confidences and broaden their fundamentals and interest in writing. Creative writing makes the child used their brain by applying critical thinking. This helps the student enlarged their writing skills