Billy Patrum
ELA 101
8/25/11
This summer I read “Literature and the Writing Process the 9th Edition” by Elizabeth McMahon. Through this book I have learned quite a bit about the skill of writing and how I can personally add flare and that little extra to my essays to bring my papers to life. This book was full of information that could help almost any writer boost their writing capabilities. From this book I have taken so many tips but three seem to stand above the rest.
In her writing she expresses the necessity to put of any and all editing to the end of the paper. This may seem awkward and contrary to the teachings of our educators but I believe it would really help someone in my shoes. She believes that by ignoring small mistakes and continuing on with your work and allowing the sentences to just flow without any unnecessary interruptions. By allowing yourself to continue through your paper I believe that end result will be a clean cut well flowing piece of literature that seems natural and doesn’t have the rough edge of a paper that have been started and stopped several times.
Elizabeth later explains that a writer should write what you know so when you write, you’re writing with authority. “People listen to you because you are one who knows” she later goes on to say. This tip may seem obvious but many writers including myself seem to just write about what we have in the past not necessarily what we are familiar with or accustomed to. By allowing our paper to be about what we know the facts are already known and our opinions have been already formed. No need to think about and form an opinion mid-paper to realize at the end you have adopted the other side of the argument’s opinion entirely.
The Term Paper on Learning the Writing Business from Book Agents and Editors
... and implemented. Setting is another crucial element of novel writing that novice’ writers take for granted. My editors at the literary agency ... Let’s get one thing straight right now. You wrote a manuscript and not a book. After an author takes the time and ... and if one of your characters has your attitudes and opinions, make sure that he or she is not too preachy, ...
The last and most hard to do tip is to cut, cut, cut. But cut what? Cut out unneeded and distracting words from your paper. The focus should not be set on the word choice you have used but if you have gotten your point across to the reader or simply amused him with your sophisticated words. Sure you can win a few people with your words but you’ll win almost anyone with a valid argument.
1. “McCandless was thrilled to be on his way north, and he was relieved as well—relieved that he had again evaded the impending threat of human intimacy, of friendship, and all the messy emotional baggage that comes with it. He had fled the claustrophobic confines of his family. He’d successfully kept Jan Burres and Wayne Westerberg at arm’s length, flitting out of their lives before anything was expected of him. And now he’d slipped painlessly out of Ron Franz’s life as well.”
This passage illuminates McCandless’s deep problems with intimacy, which are very central in his ultimately fatal two-year quest for meaning and peace. During these two years, McCandless doesn’t contact his sister, with whom he was very close, and while he meets many people and becomes close to a few, he always makes sure to maintain a certain distance.
2. “Please return all mail I receive to the sender. It might be a very long time before I return South. If this adventure proves fatal and you don’t ever hear from me again, I want you to know you’re a great man. I now walk into the wild.”
This passage consists of McCandless’s own words, written on his last postcard to Wayne Westerberg before he goes into the Alaskan wilderness. The fact that he acknowledges the chance that he might not survive has been used as evidence that his trek was suicidal in intent, but this seems highly unlikely. Instead, this acknowledgment of the risk, and of what is truly at stake, shows that his arrogance and hubris are not as extreme as many imagine—he does not want to die, but he knows very well that he is embarking on a dangerous adventure, and that his margin for error is very slight. He feels this is worth it, however, for the real experience of living completely independently and freely, and his excitement can be seen in the final, terse sentence of his postcard to Westerberg.
The Essay on Into The Wild Chris People Mccandless
Sometimes a character may be pushed over the edge by our materialistic society to discover his / her true roots, which can only be found by going back to nature where monetary status was not important. Chris McCandless leaves all his possessions and begins a trek across the Western United States, which eventually brings him to the place of his demise-Alaska. Jon Krakauer makes you feel like you ...
