Core 1 Reflection

The core 1 essay is harder than I first thought. At first, I didn't think anything could be wrong, but there are still guidelines and still have to end where I began. But, the biggest problem I am having is with my overall essay right now. I don't feel very confident in what I have because I don't know whether it's good enough and I don't think my work is the best. I know I can always improve my work, but right now I'm stuck because I don't know where it needs improvement or which parts have too much information. I do feel good about what I wanna talk about and the different ways I am going about it. After doing the other journals it gives me a good lead on my essay, which has helped a lot. Also, I feel like my work could be a little more detailed in some areas to get rid of the broad statements and some areas are detailed enough.

The shitty first draft was a good start too because I found more of my outline than anything else. I got all my ideas on paper and have a pretty good foundation. I just need to get rid and add some key stuff so that it can be perfect. Right now I have a little more than the 4-6 pages, but that will be cut down when I have to revise. Hopefully.

Writer's Journal #3 (part b)

After class (Friday)

For the college application essay I remember sitting back on my recliner couch in the living room with an icy cold water on the wooden coffee table in front of me. Still sweat dripping down my back after walking to my car from when the bell rang to end the school day. I would always turn on the television while I was on the couch and this was no different because for me to write on my computer, I need some kind, whether it's music to ESPN, in the background. To finish the essay it took around three to four hardworking weeks, with the assistance from my family. My dad as the editor and my mom as the one to bounce ideas off of. In the end, I believe it should've taken a week or two but with all the distractions it added the two others that were unnecessary.

Saturday Morning (Right out of bed)

How about sitting in a room for four to five long hours taking a standardized test and writing an essay? That's the SAT and ACT for you. To me this was a new experience, which seemed to be very difficult and boring. I just didn't understand why or what the reason was for these tests. All I did on the days was sit in a freezing desk that had been sitting there unused for the whole weekend in an abandon classroom that wasn't going to be used for another couple of days. As they told us on our admission ticket, I had two pencil lined up one next to the other, newly sharpened laying on the desk. Not to forget the rectangular pink eraser and calculator on the desk right next to the pencils.

The classroom was so quiet, you could hear the person in the room next to writing on their paper. It had to be one of the weirdest places I have ever been and didn't want to go back. I just remember hearing my stomach grumble since I didn't eat breakfast, and worrying whether other people in the room heard my stomach speaking. Once I left I was dead tired. All I wanted to do is get in my bed and cuddle with all my soft, feathered pillows. I would've suffocated in all those feathers, but it would have been heaven.

Sunday Night (During the football game)

While writing my essay for World Civilization this summer, which was an enjoyable experience, I was typically bored and it gave me something to do during the day or really late at night. I would be laying in bed with no distractions around, just me and my computer on my lap. Didn't matter if it was after class, right when I woke up, or right before bed. I was in the same spot every time I opened the file on my computer. iTunes would be on the same song that I left off on and I would press play and continue. I just felt like if I did that the same ideas would pop in to my head and I would continue my creative writing the same way as when I left off. The air conditioning temperature was at 62 degrees, with all the lights off, and blinds shut, therefore no light could interrupt me.

End Results

I found out that my best writing came when I was in a controlled environment. Not in the classroom or in my living room. It was actually in my dorm while I was laying in bed while listening to music. I am guessing this is the case because I had no distractions around me and I was completely focused on my work. Then while writing this journal I found that right after class it was the easiest time to remember my ideas and to think of very detailed sentences. I noticed that while I was writing in the morning I was very confused and didn't know where to start because I wasn't completely awake. Then, the worst came when I was writing during the Cowboys versus Redskins game because every time there was a big play the announcers spoke louder and it got my attention on the tv, instead of my work. After this I believe i can become a better writer because I know the environments that I should and shouldn't be writing in.

Journal Prompt 3

By far the hardest essay I have ever written was the college application essay. This is because I was facing writer's block for about 4 hours at a time, 7 days a week. I had no clue what to write about and didn't know where to start since all the universities only asked for more about myself. How am I suppose to know what to write about myself in less than 500 words when I have been living now for 18 years? How do I sum up all those years into such a short essay?

The one essay that I thought was the most pointless and boring were the SAT essays. I feel like I didn't even get into those essays and all I was doing was making up information just to get it done. I feel like the SAT readers didn't care how good of a writer I am and rather see how much I can write about a worthless topic in 30 minutes. I couldn't afford writer's block or else I wouldn't have enough to get a passing grade. The thing I never understood is why don't they care if you finish or not, isn't that the whole reason of writing an essay?

In 5th grade I remember making my first outline for an essay about any topic we may choose. I chose baseball because this was a new thing in my life since I had just began starting to play and it was currently in the middle of the little league season. The outline that I made look horrendous, it turned out to be the worst one in the class and looked like the paper was the floor mat right after everyone got back to class from playing in the dirt. I would have never done it if it wasn't a part of our essay grade because I felt it was more confusing then helpful.

One of my favorite essays to write was in 11th grade. The essay was to be about our lives and how we have changed over time. When I heard this at my desk I got really excited because this was a moment for me to open up about my personal life and how interesting has been. It ended up not being what she was looking for, but I didn't care because I liked what I wrote. The grade didn't matter to me because either way I was going to make up for it.

The last essay and most recent one I have written I would also consider to be fantastic to write. I had to create a man (warrior) from ancient Greece and create journal entries about his life. Since I am a big fan of the whole creative writing thing, I didn't feel like it was that bad since I had no struggle in what to write about. The only thing that sucked was having to pick events, and was so hard to do because there were so many crucial events that had a lot of information on. Writing the essay was actually a lot of fun and it was my first college essay.

Writing Timeline

• The first piece of writing I remember producing was an alphabet log when I was in 1st grade.
• This was repeating every letter of the alphabet until that letter filled up the whole line over and over again.
• The first essay I remember writing was back when I was in 4th grade when I had to write a book report on my summer readings.
• The most successful writing assignment that I made was when I won award for the best summer reading essay.
• Or the other essay I consider to be the most successful was my essays for college applications because I feel like that was the make or break with my whole application.
• 9th grade I got a 5 on the FCAT writing.
• 11th grade, I got 8 on the SAT and ACT writing.

Reading Timeline

• First books were Loser, Bud, Not Buddy, Holes, Caps for Sale, and The Cat in the Hat.
• I never really wanted to write a book because they were so many pages that it disinterested me in writing since I was lazy and didn't want to spend my time writing.
• Reading back then wasn't as bad because I would always want to read since those books were interesting to me, and it seemed like I had fun reading them.
• One of the greatest milestones was actually finish reading the first Harry Potter book, I believe in the 4th or 5th grade.
• That was a milestone because everyone loved those books back then and it was like the first book that was over like 200 pages long that I had ever read.
• I first knew I could read around the age of 5, when I started reading beginner books and street signs.
• I always would use my imagination even before 5 because I would go to Burger King with my mom and go in the playhouses, there I would imagine to be the king of the playhouse and beat other little kids up if they wanted to climb to the top of it.
• I always thought I knew complex literary concepts when I first began reading, but in reality I didn't end up knowing some by the age of about 12, when I read Harry Potter.
• Books that had an effect on me were Bud, Not Buddy and Jackie and Me.
• Bud, Not Buddy effected me because I didn't know how much slavery was a problem back in the old days, so it struck my attention.
• Jackie and Me effected me because Jackie Robinson was the first black player to play major league baseball and broke the baseball barrier that I didn't think was a problem since I see baseball now and there are a lot of African Americans playing.
• Books that I have read recently include: The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Hamlet, Beowulf, Macbeth, and Othello by William Shakespeare, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
• I read all those books because that is what we read during 11th and 12th grade, recently I haven't read a book.

Written Rules

• Always indent new paragraph
• Paragraph needs to be 3-5 sentences
• Never start introduction with a quote
• Use transition words
• Don't ask questions
• Use three big words
• 1 statistic, 1 example, 1 story
• Restate thesis in conclusion but in two sentences
• Introduction, 3 body paragraphs, and a conclusion
• First sentence to restate the idea
• 3 sentences of support
• Last sentence to restate the idea