Blog Assignment #9 Final Workshop Reflection

I have grown tremendously as a writer since the beginning of the class. Even the writing center noticed my improvements. Before this class I never wrote creative nonfiction. In High school I wrote a personal story and enjoyed it a lot. I wasn’t as complex as the memoirs and vignettes we wrote in creative nonfiction. I also enjoyed hearing the stories read out loud in class. I was always used to being assigned readings, formulating a thesis and finding supporting facts. Writing nonfiction is a lot different. Instead of finding supporting facts you have to use the right tone and have a lot of good details that will help the reader bring the story to life. I think I’m starting to learn how to properly write a story instead of writing how I speak. I also have tried to expand my vocabulary and learn how to use adjectives and descriptive words in my writing. Another thing I had trouble in was dialogue, but with help from the writing center I’m getting better at it.

This is a little preview of My Experimental Piece which I enjoyed the most because I felt like a real journalist covering a real story even though I told it from a first person point of view. "Sometimes opportunities come into one’s life and one must evaluate whether they are worth the risk or not. I never thought things would end up like this. I knew I was living the wrong lifestyle, but I never thought I would end up here. Drug dealing is gamble of luck. Not everyone has what it takes to be a successful dealer. Fist you have to have money to invest in order to buy the merchandise. All types of narcotics are cheaper if you purchase in large quantities. The concept is simple, buy whole sales and sell retail. Similar to any business except in my business you do not have to pay taxes and have to hide from the cops, or how I like to call them Pigs. Whenever I smell bacon, I hide. I tried my best to always play it safe. The penalties for possession and intend to distribute illegal narcotics are harsh. In order to be successful I had to stay on the down low. I had a cheap Metro PCS phone registered to a fake name and address. That phone was strictly for selling drugs. For everything else I used my Iphone, register to my real name. I was an entrepreneur, making it in the big city. I was not a big time drug dealer yet, with the right transaction I would make a large enough profit to step my game up. The more money a drug dealer makes the more credit you get on the street. I needed to earn my respect like that."If you would like to read the rest of the story I have attached the entire piece. I hope you enjoy it.  I also included the link of where u can read the actual story published online.

            Although I really enjoyed writing and sharing my stories with my professor and classmates, I also enjoyed some of the readings. Some of my favorite readings are the story about Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the tragedy about Alaska. I particularly enjoyed them because they opened my eyes to a world I knew very little of.  Alaska had me at the edge of my seat. I was specifically touched with the ending. I thought I was going to cry. The story about Hiroshima and Nagasaki made me dislike the US. I felt bad for what the people had to go through. One thing is to know we were in war and won because we had extremely powerful atomic bombs. Another thing is live the day of many people that were affected by the bombs. I could clearly picture the aftermath in my head. I felt disgusted that things like these actually happen in real life. Another two stories that I found moving were Angeles Ashes and Prozac Nation. I enjoyed Angela’s ashes because it was a sad story about a poor family with a weird twist towards the end and the mom dies. I liked how the author puts you in the shoes of the main characters that have a harsh life and live in very poor conditions. Prozac Nation interested me because in the future I would like to be a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist and would be dealing with patients like the main character in the book. I liked the bond between the main character and her therapist.

ENG 274 Blog Assignment #8 "Author Note" on Your Personal Memoir Creative Writing Assignment

I was inspired to write this story through one of the class discussions we had. While we were answering the questions for the reading assignment we began to talk about scary thing. I realized how interested everyone was listening to scary stories. I remembered how scared I was when someone told me a scary story in Mexico. I wanted to share my experience and at the same time hoped to scare my readers.

            Something you need to know about the story in order to understand the piece is a little background about Mexico. Mexico is completely different from USA. There are a lot of stores that practice white and black magic as well as many Catholics and churches.  There were a lot of statues of death, the person who is faceless wearing a black robe and holding on to a long stick with a pointy knife at the end. It is believed that in Mexico there is a lot of paranormal activity because the people follow it a lot and that is what makes negative entities strong.  That why my story was scary, I was in a forging land, and the person telling me the story was not trying to convince me she was just my boyfriends aunt telling me what happened in her town.  

            Here is a paragraph from my story I hope you get terrified ! “She began telling a story about a strange incident that took place on the same road we were on. I was extremely curious to hear the story but the mystery of the darkness created chills down my spine. She began saying “Not too long ago a man who lives near the area said they saw something that looked like a midget. They claimed it might have been more like a goblin or a troll. It was about the size of a five year old, with the shoulders and hands of a grown man. His skin was greasy and he had warts and pimples on his faced. His nose was large and pointy. He was a mysterious creature who behaved in an odd manner. When the creature appeared, the man who lived in the area began to get chills down his back and his hands turned ice cold. The people who lived on this mountain weren't sure what it was, but whatever it was, it scared the hell out of everyone that encountered it. The people that came across this creature in the middle of the abandoned highways said it was trying to call them towards him. No one knows where it was trying to take them. It is believed that if you allow yourself to get lured in by the evil creature you would never be found again. I’m not lying to you or messing with your head. These stories are real. The people who have been terrorized are my friends and we are on the same road that seems to be haunted.” Graciela continued with her story but I could feel fear creep in through my bones and I felt like I was being watched. I felt there was something in the darkness watching the car quietly waiting to attack. Now I knew what everyone was protecting themselves from. How come I was not warned about this? I had the right to be protected as well.”   

            When I wrote this I had the Alaska piece in mind. I thought if it because as we read it made me scared and nervous. It was full of emotions for the reader. I felt fear, suspense, agony, grief, and sorrow throughout the whole story. The story was very moving and full of emotions. I wanted my story to be full of fear and for the reader to be scared and full of suspense as they read.

            When I put this piece in my final portfolio I will put a lot more descriptions. I need to use more descriptive words. I told the story in third person, for the portfolio I will tell the story in first person. I think there will be a lot more suspense in the story if I tell it as its happening and describe what I felt as the story is being told. I will make changes where things aren’t clear or just vaguely described. I will try to read a good scary story to see how published authors create suspense in their writing.

            I have never been in a class where I’ve been allowed to tell personal stories. I prefer creative nonfiction because I am able to tell a personal story. Its a lot more interesting than formulating a thesis and picking quotes from an assigned reading to back up my thesis.  Although I must admit telling a good story is difficult. Experiencing something live is more powerful, therefore transferring and event in a written form Is a lot harder.

            After writing this piece I learned that it’s a lot harder to write a scary story than it is to live through one. I guess its because when something happens live you are caught off guard and fear is easier to feel. I wrote this story at home. Then I had a lot of people read over it and tell me what they think. I also used the writing center as I usually do before I hand in my work.

ENG 274 Blog Assignment #7 Midterm Reflection

The definition of 'creative non-fiction' has increased a lot since the beginning of class. At first I wasn't even sure what creative thinking was. Now I've come to find that I love creative nonfiction because it allows me to tell a story about my life and those close to me. I love that I can tell my story the way I want it heard. In other classes I was limited to proving a thesis or comparing stories, unlike this class where the opportunities are endless. All the class reading from the coarse packet and the book have shown me that a creative nonfiction piece isn't only a memoir. There are many other types of writing that are told in second or third person perspective that tell incredible nonfiction stories. There are also many different styles of writing to tell creative non-fiction stories. The language, difficulty of words, metaphors, description, and the endless possibilities of of topic that make each piece unique.  

I feel that my style of writing has improved since the beginning of class through the different writing assignments. From what the tutors tell me in the writing center, little by little I am writing a story properly rather than writing it how I speak. I also feel that the reading contribute a lot to the way I write. I try to imitate the style of writers from the assigned reading. I also noticed that as I write more I feel a little more comfortable with sharing. Writing essays based on books is easier to structure because all you have to do is prove your points by gathering supporting facts. Writing creative nonfiction is harder to tell because the way you choose to tell the story could determine weather its good or not. I enjoy writing creative nonfiction because I have a lot of interesting stories to tell, I just need to read more so I could become a better writer.

The blog assignments have definitely helped me in organizing my thoughts for class reading and my papers. I feel like the blogs are kind of like a cover letter to our writing assignments. They introduce the story and give the reader a small insight to what the piece is about. When reflecting on the reading I learn a lot about the style each author has in their readings. I try to incorporate a little of their style into my own writing, in hopes of becoming a better writer. I haven’t commented a lot just on a few students from class but I do read their work. I notice how people interpret reading in different ways because of who they are and what they’ve been through. I also like to read the small synapses they post on their page about the assignments. I like it even more because I know these are real stories. From all the blogs I’ve read I get a good feeling of who everyone is and there style of writing.

ENG274 Blog Assignment # 6- Authors Note on Writing About a Place

 I wasn’t able t o post a hundreds words from my assignment on a place but this blog assignment has enough information to know what  I’m talking about.  Something you might need to know in order to understand the piece is that Made Event is a company that hosts all kind of electronic, house, trance, and techno music. They hold events all year round in different locations like Pacha, Cielo, Roseland Ballroom and many other clubs, as well as Randall's Island which is where Electric Zoo takes place. Another thing the reader needs to know is that I’m describing the event (Electric Zoo) that took place in Randall's Island, not the island itself. The island is transformed into a wonderful stage for two days.

When writing the description of Electric Zoo I had Angela's Ashes in mind. I liked the style of writing of this particular author because she wrote a wonderful story without the use if hard words using simple short sentences she described the family’s life style, home, and personalities really well. I wanted to be able to use simple words and still make my description of Electric Zoo powerful.

When I revise this piece for the final portfolio I would like to add the experience of listening to a whole DJ set inside the tent with my friends. Since this assignment was supposed to be a description of a place I limited myself to describing the setting. For my revision I would like to get into more detail about the event, the DJ's, the music and all the fun a person can have if they actually go to the event.

Something I learned from writing this piece is that it is very hard to put what you see in writing so that your reader visualizes what you see. I felt I had to include myself in the story to be able to guide the reader through the event. Another thing I learned was how to break up my thoughts into two sentence instead of having run-ons. I found myself writing really long sentences trying to describe something, at the writing center we broke the sentences down. Once long sentences were broken down they were structured better and clearer for the reader to understand.

When I begin to write stories I usually brainstorm in paper and pen. I did my first draft on the go on my cell phone during my commute on the train. I let it sit for a day then revise it on a computer. Then I go to the writing center to get help with my grammar and sentence structure.  Finally I revise it one more time, print it and have my boyfriend read it to see if the story is clear. It always help that someone reads it because I can clear up whatever he didn’t understand or is confused about.

Blog Assignment #5

One thing that really grabbed my attention about Prozac Nation by Elizabeth Wurtzel is how the author puts you in the characters shoes. She made me realize how a depressed person feels. I am very interested in psychology and have read a lot about it but I never really knew how a person felt.  A quote that really grabbs my attention is “I have spent so much time trying to convince people that I really am depressed, that I really can't cope--but now that it's finally true, I don't want to admit it. I'm petrified by what is happening to me, so frightened of what the bottom of the well will look like once I sink down there, so frightened that in fact this is it”(p131).  This was strong to me because it shows how the author was in desperate need of attention and love by trying to convince people she was sick. Her efforts only led to actually getting depressed. When people are depressed they feel helpless and see the world through a negative perspective, I could really feel how the main character of the story was feeling. If she would have been really sick people around her would have noticed it, she just convinced herself, trying to convince everyone else.

                The author also gives us a good sense of the severity of her situation by describing the people around her, and her relationship to them Dr. Sterling is her psychiatrist and the only person trying to help her. The following grabbed me because it shows Dr. Sterling hard work as a good psychiatrist, “Dr. Sterling is the only psychiatrist about whom I can truly say, she saved my life. I think she knew that she probably wasn't going to be paid for all her efforts, but she did what she felt was necessary anyway”(p.135). I one day hope to become a psychiatrist and would love to have the same affect on a patient to know that I care for them and am willing to do whatever it takes to help them. Dr. Sterling relationship to the patient shows how her family doesn’t care about her since her psychiatrist is the closest person she has.

The next quote that grabbed my attention was “And quite amazingly, only a few minutes after I swallow the Mellaril, my tears and all my feelings completely subside. Just like that. Just like magic I am calm, carefree, careless....... After the initial euphoria I experienced with my first dose, a standard regimen Mellarin just dulls everything. Instead of being depressed girl, I'm blank girl”(p.139). As a reader I was surprised at the outcome of the medicine.  She seemed to be stuck in a dull world. She just couldn’t smile and enjoy life. I would think that drugs would release serotonin a chemical that produces euphoric feelings. A similar effect is caused by the drug ecstasy. I was actually scared to be a blank girl after reading this story. I think one of the best things about life is being in love, and being able to feel butterflies in your stomach just by hearing a love song or finding gratitude in the small things in life. It would suck to just be stuck in a blank world. The story made me appreciate happiness because I never thought being blank was an option; i though you were either happy or sad, or something in between.  

ENG 274 Blog Assignment #4

The picture I chose to write about for my blog post number four is one by Edward Kelty from his collection of circus photography. The image was titled Ed and Midgets. In the image there is a Caucasian little boy wearing white shorts and a white shirt. He is standing in the middle of two Caucasian midgets. The midget on his left is probably two or three inches taller than the other one. He had his face painted a little because you can see his nose has a circle on the tip and some white paint around his face is smudged a little. The other midget is a little shorter than the other one and a little chunkier as well. He does not have his painted and seems to be a lot older than the taller midget. Both midgets are wearing Chef Hats, the older midget has a larger hat on then the younger one. They also have white collared shirts and have pants that seem to have a metal circle ring, two times the size of their waist, giving the illusion that they are a lot fatter than they really are. Since they look fatter it makes them look even shorter.

            In the picture the midgets are looking at the camera and seem to be forcing a smile. The child in the middle doesn’t seem to be amazed at their size because he doesn’t realize that they are adult, and adults are supposed to be tall. The little boy isn’t even paying attention at the camera when the picture is taken something else in the back ground caught his attention.  His parents probably told him to stand there and take a picture with the midgets because the parents were amazed at the midgets.  If I had speculate on their emotional state I would guess that they are sad and unsatisfied with their life because they are being used as entertainment. I feel like they joined the circus because being a midget in this world alone must be hard. Something outside what our society sees as normal always catches some ones attention. When they join the circus there are other people like them, seen as “different” that they could relate to. In the circus there are all types of people that are different, therefore the mid different anymore. I feel like they are un happy because although I could see that they put a smile on their face something about their eyes and face shows sorrow and pain.

http://www.centuryflashlight.com/tinc?key=QJRB86e0&fs_settings=1,1,0,3,800,740

Blog Assignment #3 "Authors note'' on the Non-Fiction Vignette.

“When I saw my boyfriend I explained what happened. We then spoke with the doctors who informed us she was in the fourth stage of cancer and it was hard to predict how many days she had left. It was up to my boyfriend to decide when to pull the plugs, but this decision was too hard. His mother was all he had since he never got along with his dad. On July twelve two thousand nine she passed away a few hours after visiting hours were over. She never told anyone her time was almost up. She didn’t want to worry anyone but know all that’s left is a great feeling of nostalgia and guilt for not embracing the time she had left. When I went to put a complaint against the nurse that was negligent one of the staff members in the hospital told me Elmhurst Hospital was a public hospital in which the staff is under paid and isn’t regulated by anyone. They follow standard protocol and don’t get any bonuses. Since the staff doesn’t get rewarded for doing a good job, those who don’t absolutely love helping others just sit there at their desk and waste time just to add time to their pay check . Finally she said if I wanted to deal with friendly hard working staff to go to a private hospital.”

Picking a topic for my vignette was hard because I wanted to pick something that would interest the reader and be a strong peice. I began to think of the day that would change my boyfriend’s life forever. My mom is the kind of mom that would make me cook dinner and do the laundry after all in her eyes all members of the family had to help. My boyfriend, Andres had it easy. His mom cooked three homemade meals a day for him. Every two weeks she'd do his laundry and clean his room as well. If he had me or other friends over she'd invite all of us to eat. When I met her and learned about the way she spoiled her son, I was jealous. I wanted to be spoiled and now in a way she would spoil me too. The day she was hospitalized I was blown away by the horrible service they offered. It was a story I wanted to tell. I always think that maybe if she would have been in a better hospital she could have been with us a little longer and suffered less. In order to understand the piece a little background of the family is needed. The family is made up of a sweet caring mom, an abusive ignorant father, my boyfriend who is twenty-two and his little brother who was only six when this all happened. Now Andres is left to care for his brother as if that was his son. The audience also needs to know about cancer. Cancer is very dangerous; it kills a lot of people every year. It's very hard to overcome cancer. Kimo therapy not only drains a patient physically but emotionally too. It alters their state of well being, to the point that the person undergoing treatment is then forced to be in bed rest and can't even eat. There taste buds stop working and everything taste like rubber. There are four stages of cancer. The first stage is the longest one because the cancer is still developing slowly. The second and third stage goes by much quicker because the cancer will be already fully developed by then. The fourth stage is the shortest, most painful, and ends with death. I haven’t written a vignette before; I mostly had to write research papers and comparing books and stuff like that. I like personal writing better because I control what I want to say, it’s my story and it can’t be wrong.  The process I used to write this vignette is first I brain stormed. Then I wrote a first draft in pen and paper. I then edit it and type it up the next day; while I type I make some changes as well to make the piece better. I usually start to type it on my phone on the train or on the bus and email it to myself and finish typing it and editing on word in school.  I then took it to the writing center where I spend an hour with a tutor who helps me understand all my mistakes so in the future I will get better. It’s a long process but my hope is that with time my writing will just get better and better.