English 215w

Upon first entering the class, I was somewhat hesitant as how to approach the first paper, which had a rather strange topic. Describing an everyday routine as an art form seemed like an easy enough task at first glance. However once beginning the essay, I found myself at a crossroads. The idea of art is different to each person. To some, art represents the physical world, what can be seen, and what can be touched. While to others, art is a comparison and contrast of one to another, and still yet, there are many other definitions of art. I was at a loss as to which one to choose.
The path one chooses when writing an essay is extremely important, especially if it is the path that has nothing to do with the essay. I chose the path I felt was right. I described what was around me during the daily activity and in the process, did not complete the assignment as the intent for the paper was. The idea of art to me was the surrounding beauty of the world, and how one takes in that scene, however I found later that this was not the definition of art we should be using. Upon first hesitation, I should have approached my questions and searched out answers instead of attempting to solve them myself, which is a problem I attempted to remedy during the remaining papers.
For the second paper, I chose a very sentimental topic. Throughout my writing, I have begun to see a trend. Those topics, which I can closely relate to, or topics, in which I have a strong opinion towards, I am inclined to put more effort into the paper, without my own realization. Knowing this, I chose to write about my grandfather's death-which was the single hardest time in my life. Not even my parents' divorce compared to his passing. Throughout the entire paper, which was written in one sitting, I wrote exactly what I was feeling, not stopping to mull over my thoughts. I found this a very effective way to express how I was feeling at that moment, and helped make the overall emotion of the paper stronger. However, since this was such a sensitive topic, was hesitant on weather or not I wanted to turn the paper in and subject it to the scrutiny and criticism of others. I realized after writing the paper that I write for no one but myself, and if other cannot except my writing, or my philosophy on writing, then it is their loss. This way of thinking and these beliefs have helped me so I can now write truly, how I feel, without worrying about others and their reactions.
Upon first being assigned the third paper, I knew exactly which essay I wanted to analyze. Of Monstrous Children, which I had previously begun to analyze in class was a very short essay. However I felt that the minimal length was greatly compensated by the content, which was very well written and had a lot of meaning in the short paragraph. However, in the essay I wrote, I found myself repeating the same phrases, "He said," and "He means this" however, I never actually show why he says what he does, or why he means such. I looked at the essay and wrote the meaning of the essay, but I only vaugly looked at why.
Overall, the four essays were out of the normal scope of what I was writing in previous classes, and I believe I had a hard time adjusting to this type of writing. However, after dedicating myself to the writing journals I found each essay becoming a little less challenging. Though each essay presented a new challenge, I soon found it easier to write an essay after gathering my thoughts before beginning the essay. The routine practice of writing down my daily thoughts, and having some basic idea of certain pre-made topics helped immensely with the process of choosing a topic. I plan to keep a journal after these class ends in addition to the practice of rewriting my essays, as learned in this class.