As unorthodox as this sounds I believe the best writing comes out of a person is when they’re under pressure. Although honestly, that may just be a result of me continuously finding myself in situations writing with the pressure of a deadline edging closer as a result of my own procrastination, drawing me to near to many mental breakdowns. But before I abject myself to all personal blame, I have to acknowledge that I have repeatedly tried to write before I reach this point on multiple assignments but I’m always displeased with the result and from my view it always feels tasteless on the page. Nonetheless, after completing a full piece that feeling afterwards, that complete absence of the creativity and vitality, that you just held so firmly in your grasp is the telltale sign of a great piece of writing. Writing is an act that should feeds imagination: forcing the user to become reliant to the point when after completion one’s energy is ebbing from their body. I also believe that all writing should teach the reader something: whether it be about a scientific breakthrough, more about the author themself or just sharing a new point of view the reader should leave with some new knowledge imparted upon them. That’s one new skill that writing in English 203 has added to my arsenal: the constant awareness of the world around me. As I looked for inspiration for my blog posts I unconsciously became addicted to observing events around me, juxtaposing them against what was discussed or read for class and finding the connections within them.
My first blog post, “Do we attribute too much to science? was the first glimpse of me actively attempting to draw a connection but is most notably characterized by the lack of cohesivity in the post. In “Do we attribute too much to science” a small comment was made during our classroom discussion which echoed the sentiments of a podcast “The Brilliant Idiots” that I had listened to the same week. Immediately I was filled with excitement for I believed I had my first idea for a blog post but, I had trouble expressing it through writing and it was left as a draft for months, left to fester in my blog bank for months. This is what I believe to be a huge factor for the lack of flow within the post because after revisiting the post the conversation nor the podcast was fresh in my mind, so I was left trying to describe a conversation that happened months ago. This resulted in the post being scrambled, garbled and leaving much to be desired.
My second blog post, Page Poerty marks when I began using the blog for it’s actual purpose and began reading the work of my classmates. This same exchange of ideas influenced the creation of other posts like “Chicago, One, and Two.” This is when I began to view my classmates in a different light , genuinely starting understand the types of writers my classmates were and to be completely honest I was pleasantly surprised. I never expected a blog to be filled with so many varying thoughts, opinions and responses to life itself. I was taught about literary techniques, myths, cultures and responses that idea doubt I would’ve encountered on my own accord. Beyond Dr. Beth McCoy’s instruction inside of the classroom class, the students’ discussions in class and the posts outside of it gave me an equal exposure to challenging minds and thought-provoking ideas.
Within the post “Language in Zulus” I spoke about the stress of language in the piece Zulus, an excerpt from Percival Everett’s book “re:f gesture.” Since I studied four years of Latin within high school I could immediately recognize and roughly translate (I’m a little rusty) some the the Latin that he implemented within the piece which led me to seek translations for the other languages that he Everett used which gave Zulus a completely new meaning. I was enthralled by this skills as it seemed to be an interesting method of discreetly placing hints for the reader to give them more glimpses into the world that the writer creates. I even tried to implement this in my posts “One” and “Two” by putting the numbers for the journal entries in Wingdings, hoping that they would be perceived as hieroglyphs and add to the tone of the piece.
For my paper comparing the “Bacchae” and “Frenzy” I spoke about a phenomenon that I self- coined the immortal quandray that I wanted to share with the class so I decided to write a blog post about it. The immortal quandary deals with the transition that gods seem to go through after coming into contact with humans that is characterized by their increased levels of empathy and understanding for their “puny mortals.” As a child I always loved getting myths read to me and as soon as I reached the age where I could take the reigns myself, my own family couldn’t see my eyes unless they peered over a book of Greek Myths. This obsession continued into adolescence and early teen years with Rick Riordan releasing the renowned Percy Jackson and the Olympians series which still holds a special place in my heart. So once I saw the name Dionysus on the first page of the Bacchae I allowed my confidence to get the best of me and already began trying to decipher the book and draw conclusions based on the attitudes and actions that Dionysus exhibited in other myths that I read about him. However I was thrust into a story that completely defied my expectations, paired alongside “Frenzy” I physically could see the duality of the two interpretations of Dionysus on the pages and see the events leading up that left him with such contrasting personalities. Then it dawned on me, and all the myths that had retreated to the dark recesses of my mind and I saw the common thread of the immortal quandary within all of them. Two books that were just supposed to be read as assigned reading made me brought me to one of the few, honest and notable “Eureka!” moments that I had in my entire life.
My final blog post, a piece that was my personal favorite “Conversation with an Ex-McCoyian” was such a random, event but also has the most significance to me. The fact that I “just happened” to meet a man who was in graduate school, pursuing the career that I would dream of having, and an ex-student of the professor’s literally a day before the final blog post was due felt like some immaculate form of divine intervention. Although our conversation was short it was thrilling to see the connections that writing can bring between people outside of just words on a page.
Beyond the blog posts, this class introduced me to Sidney Poitier, a man whom I had never ever heard of before this class, in the space of four months changed to become one of my most prominent literary heroes. This is what the true essence of writing is, creating a world that is so thought-provoking, so enticing that the reader has to do more research of their own, lest they be haunted by that unknown knowledge. This blogging assignment allowed me to recognize the faults in my own writing from the outside-in a learn from my mistakes as time went on. The class itself has taught me that the best writing comes from a genuine place within oneself. When I started having writer’s block I started just writing about myself and eventually I would naturally fall back into the rhythm of writing. This class has taught me about the traits of epistemophilics, the complexities of Not Sidney and the layers of Dionysus’ character but most important thing that this class taught me was persistence.
English Majors Practising Criticism