Many people have different interpretations of the meaning for the word invention. However, invention simply means the act or process of inventing a new device, method or process developed from study and experimentation, a mental fabrication, a falsehood, a discovery, a finding (American Heritage Dictionary, 2008).
Although in the essays entitled “Why I Write” by Joan Didion, “Life in a New Language” by Eva Hoffman and “Basmati Rice: An Essay about Words” by Audrey Thomas, the authors all have different views on the English language, how they begin to invent their text as well as the reasons in which the author chooses to write make their views of invention for writing incredibly unique.
In the world today, there are many different cultures that practice different languages. Due to the fact that cultures believe in different _____________________ we all have our own ideas and feelings towards our own language as well as the language of a different culture. This is shown through the works of Eva Hoffman in “Life in a New Language”. Throughout this essay Eva write about a person who is Polish who is forced to learn the English language. By being forced to learn the language, she may come to despise it since it is quite different from her own language and therefore may have difficulties to come and enjoy the English language and all that it has to offer. In the end however, Eva demonstrates that once you know about English and have practiced it time and again, it is easier to come to love. In contrast Didion and Thomas both loved the English language right from the beginning. They explore and have fun creating different aspects and ideas with the language so that writing is fun to them. ***
The Essay on A Global Language: English Language
English is an international language spoken all over the world that was originally borrowed from the world. If English is used as a global language, there might be some advantages related to communication and business. However, there are also several disadvantages in terms of losing mother tongue and taking time and money. The advantages outweigh the disadvantages, so English should be made the ...
Not only do writers have their own views about English writing and how they write but each and every person has their own way to write. One way to begin writing is by asking yourself questions and responding to them throughout your writings. This is a method in which Joan Didion used when writing “Why I Write,” along with the method of analysing a particular group of people in a specific place and with not knowing them you make them a character in your story. The author may use the appearance of the person in his/her writing, however, the author does not know characteristics of the person and therefore the person becomes an invention; a person/character in which the author creates. Interesting enough, Didion also would pretend that she was the character and therefore would write and think of the questions as if she was the character. Similarly when writing “Basmati Rice: An Essay about Words,” Audrey Thomas found herself creating things, not necessarily people, however, invented objects and words with what she would observe. In contrast, Eva Hoffman was unable to observe what she wrote. She was unable to put herself in someone else’s shoes and was unable to use the word “I” in her writings. She would rather think of someone else as being the character and writing as though she knew the person rather than putting her own mind and body into the character in which she is inventing or writing about.
Writing is not only a way of inventing people and personalities; it is a way of exploring yourself and inventing new ways of thinking. Joan Didion for example enjoys writing about different people in which whom she invents. By doing so she is not only inventing new characters for her to write about but she may also be finding new characteristics and feelings about herself in which she did not know existed. Similarly Eva Hoffman creates a self-image of herself by writing in a diary, she is not only inventing a character that she already knows; herself, but she is expanding on that character to have a better understanding as well as to grow as a person. On the contrary Audrey Thomas writes simply for amusement. She enjoys the language that she would like to know every aspect of it and therefore creates words within words as well as combines languages simply because she enjoys English. ****
The Essay on Write Stories Story People
When I was a very small child, I fell in love with books of all types. I could lose myself for hours in Alice and Wonderland, Black Beauty, and Tom Sawyer. As I grew older, I started reading books that portrayed actual people. I became interested in books on the Holocaust and read many titles, including the Diary of Anne Frank. These real-world stories and my large imagination started me on a path ...
In conclusion, we can notice that there are many ways in which we can write novels, essays, articles etc. Although there are numerous ways to write, people usually choose one method in which they believe they can excel in order to succeed and convey a message in which the reader will know and understand. They do this by inventing people, places, and things so that we, as the reader, find the reading amusing.
Reference
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved January 30, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/invention