Tom's Writing Portfolio

This semester has given me the opportunity to write on a variety of different subjects. From cannibalism to BDSM, I had the ability to write essays on topics that I actually enjoyed. Unfortunately I do not feel that I’ve grown much as a writer over this short period of time. The quality of my works has been consistently adequate. I think that they have been relatively good papers that successfully display my unique personality.

The strongest point in all my essays is without a doubt my appeal to ethos. From years of closest creative writing I’ve gained the ability to describe myself indirectly better than I ever could directly. My work presents a clear picture of me without the subconscious restraints we all put upon ourselves from societal influence. Writing is personal expression in it’s purest for regardless of what all those pretentious painters and actors say. Writing is my only real outlet for communication, so I value a class that gives me a reason to use it.

While I am decent at writing in general, the mechanics have always given me difficulties. Whether it’s my stubborn adherence to me own literary ideology or just plain ignorance I seem to overlook mistakes often. I do not think that more time in class would remedy this, since years prior I made the same mistakes and have continued to present. No matter how certain I am that I have not made a mistake one gets by and annoys me immensely when I get the paper back graded. Beyond that I would say the only other problem is my objectivity. I believe I have a tendency to get up on a soapbox when I really shouldn’t. Some essays require neutrality as a writer that I simply cannot give. Again, this is independent from the time I spend working on it. I guess I fear that if I change even the slightest aspect of my writing, no matter how detrimental, I will lose the small amount of power I have I the other areas. Basically it’s the equivalent to a superstitious football player who neglects to change his socks in hopes that they bring him good luck. No amount of time will change my neurotic methods.

Without sounding negative I can’t really think of anything I’ve learned from writing these. This isn’t a reflection of the teaching methods used or the actual teacher; it’s just the result of an extensive amount of my own personal endeavors. I’ve been writing leisurely for years, so anything I’ve done this semester is basically a reiteration of something I’ve used before. The closest thing I’ve come to is refinement. This happens with every piece of writing, but the type of essays allowed a larger portion of refinement to occur. I save every enjoyable sentence and word grouping in my mind until I have another opportunity to write. Not necessarily copying my own writing, but using interesting word play in different contexts and seeing how versatile I can make things. The outlandish nature of my topics allowed many times where I was able to just go nuts. That would have to be the most beneficial part of this class for me; the ability to pick my own topics.

So that’s really it on my end. I didn’t encounter really anything new, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Practice makes perfect and this class provided it well. I was able to illustrate my ethos with virtually every essay, and that is the most enjoyable part of writing to me. I faltered with mechanicals and objectivity, but over all I wrote relatively well this semester. I would be grateful if ENG 102 allows this kind of freedom when it comes to essay topics. I just hope it wont be so computer dependent.