Minor Assignments

Writing Experience

Loss of Interest 

            There have been many experiences with writing that I have encountered during my time inside and outside of school. Each one has taught me a lesson to which I can better my writing in some way. Since elementary school I have always loved to write and would express my imagination through my writing. However, my great love for writing changed when I started the tenth grade of high school. I signed up for AP English and Composition and was excited because it was my first AP class I had taken since beginning high school. Within a few days of class starting the teacher gave us a writing assignment to complete for the following week. I was a little nervous but also thrilled to be able to have an opportunity of a first impression with my writing skills. The outcome was not what I was hoping for. Everyone got their papers handed back to them and we had all done terrible on our very first writing assignment. The teacher began giving us a lecture on how horrible the majority of papers were and that we all had not tried hard enough. I felt extremely disappointed because I had worked hard on that paper and had revised it several times until I thought it was the best it was going to be. In the weeks that followed, the teacher showed the class all the formatting for the writing that she and the school had wanted. We had practice timed writings in order to grasp what the teacher wanted and what she did not want. Then finally there was another prompt assigned to us on a four to six page paper the class had to write on a book that we had read over the summer. This time I was not as excited, and felt very anxious about it since the last paper had not worked in my favor. I did try to look at the positives, that I could write about a book I enjoyed reading and express my opinions in a formal way. Once I began to write my paper I soon realized that this was not an interesting assignment anymore. The way in which we had to structure the essay left very little room for creativity. It had felt as though the words I was writing were not mine anymore, but the words that my teacher would want to read. I was not thinking about what I wanted to say, I was more worried about what I needed to say in order to get a decent grade on it. From that assignment up until now, I cannot recall a time where I was passionate or even cared at all about the words I was putting down on paper. My abundant love for writing had slowly faded and now I think of it as a mere routine of the same structure, ideas, and words that I need in order to obtain that good grade.

Style Imitation

1. While watching the film “Dune” my disappointment slowly started to build and reach a point of frustration. The plot was extremely hard to follow to where at times I was confused on what exactly was going on during specific scenes. The screenplay itself was nothing of good quality. The color schemes made the film appear plain and boring which made it even harder to watch. The sets could have been much more creative with the characters and setting they were working with so if you go into this film expecting visual appeals, you will be sadly disappointed. Not only was the plot confusing, but the characters’ dialogue in many cases made the story line get thrown off or had nothing to do with the plot at all. Unlike the set, the characters were the center of color and uniqueness throughout the film. However this created more confusion because the costumes did not contrast with the other elements of the film. Overall this film seemed very unorganized when it came to the planning. Nothing really fit together and its effects were a confusing and unappealing film for which no one will be excited to watch. 
2. I chose to rewrite the first text and change it into more of number two where it would more likely be coming from a movie critic. I changed a lot of diction by using more words that express the writers initial feelings but making them sound just a little bit more professional. This helps the readers to respect what the writer is saying more, and even though it is their opinions, the opinions are explained with more context. I also changed the overall tone of the text from being very angry and opinionated to more of a critical analysis mixed in with personal yet understandable opinions. The rewritien piece would more likely attract a different type of audience than just people online who want to express their opinions. It would be more directed to people who watch films regularly and are interested about this particular film. They would want a more serious text that helps them better analyze different aspects of the film. Between the changing of diction, tone, and audience the text provides a less opinion based analysis and a more in-depth look into the film.