Monthly Archives: September 2020

Reading “Shitty First Drafts” I interpreted her approach as freewriting for her first draft, allowing whatever came to mind and jotting it down on paper then returning to fix errors and be more concise with her point after her first draft. As for, “Rethinking the Shitty First Draft,” the writing approach of George Dila, first pointing out that she is a careful, obsessive writer, which I already can relate on while reading the article on her approach. George’s approach is writing what you need to and obsessively fixing it along the way because in the end, one is satisfied with the pages written.

As far as my writing approach, George Dila’s approach which is obsessively revising as you type/write is the best description of my own writing process. Although, my older sister gets frustrated on how long it takes me to write a paper, nonetheless a post like this. However, that is just me as a writer, I personally don’t like a “shitty” first draft because it is too messy for me and I’m not able to pinpoint my central idea. Therefore, if my first sentence is bad in my eyes, I won’t continue unless I revise it and I am satisfied with it, although, here and there I do tend to write down thoughts that come to mind to put into my writing besides that, I normally revise it along the way. Revising along the way is my writing approach because I don’t like messy, rough, drafts because it isn’t concise to me and irks me in a way as well. Revising along the way allows me as a writer to comprehend my thoughts and be satisfied with the draft given which I admit does tend to take time, but I would rather give it my all then submit a “shitty” first draft.

After reviewing both articles “Shitty First Drafts ” and “RETHINKING THE SHITTY FIRST DRAFT” I believe that no strategy is right or wrong. I believe that everyone is different, just how everyone has a different opinions in politics or how every professor and teacher has their own unique style of teaching. With that being said, I personally know that George Dila’s method suites me better. I have used his method several of times while writing essays and stories in school. Georges’s method of writing a first draft and revising at the same has worked for me, the reason why is because it is time efficient and because while I write I come up with idea’s to revise what I just wrote. I do not expect for perfection for my first draft but I also think that effort should be put in everything I do. I believe that if you don’t put any effort in a first draft you are basically wasting your time. For example in the text “RETHINKING THE SHITTY FIRST DRAFT” by George Dila it states “Imagine building a house using Miss Lamott’s pour-it-all-out strategy. The builder would end up with a pretty shitty house; so shitty it would probably be easier to tear it down and start over, maybe a little more carefully the next time”. The pour it all out method has never worked out for me for the reason stated above, I believe it would actually create more work like the example of the contractor, and you’re better of starting over. Whatever I do either it’s writing a draft, practicing a sport or an instrument I believe the best way is to always give it you’re all and put effort into it. It is the method that is most productive to me but I also understand that everyone is different and a different method may be more productive for themselves.

We will be using Google Docs to submit the drafts of our Personal Narratives.  Once you have completed your draft, give the file a name that conforms to following structure:

first name.last name.personal narrative

(You should have a title for your essay by the time you submit your final draft.  If you already have a title, include it on the first page of your draft.)

Upload your essay to our class’s shared Google Docs folder using the following link:

https://tinyurl.com/y5u3l8mn

As always, let me know if you encounter any difficulties.  We are all getting used to using these new procedures and new electronic platforms!

The text I chosen, “I Believe her” written by Caitlin Flanagan, expresses her own personal confrontation with Brett Kavanaugh. She looks back on her own demons, Brett Kavanaugh, and how her personal experience with him impacted her for decades. Caitlin recounts her experience of when Kavanaugh drove her home, looked around her empty house for a bit, and then suggested to drive to the beach. It was in his car, in the deserter ed parking lot of the beach, Kavanaugh tried to rape her. Shortly after, he stopped, started the care and went to drive her home. In silence. Well, the fact that Brett Kavanaugh has tendencies where he is subjected to attempt to rape or sexually assault someone and being nominated by the PRESIDENT to be on the supreme court causes major issues. As I said before, When you think of someone on the Supreme Court, you think of them as someone who is able to determine whats right and whats wrong. No one wants someone who is being accused of sexual assault and rape on numerous different people and apologized for past attempted raped.” I saw him coming back; it was the boy who’d tried to rape me. He had tears in his eyes, and he seemed almost overwrought. And right there- in the A&S department store in the Smith Haven Mall- he apologized profusely.”  This is important due to the fact that if he was able to address and say sorry to this person about his past mistakes, he should be able to admit his wrong doings. To be honest, I choose this text at randomly but something hit me, People who entered into power wasn’t because they themselves was the cause but someone allowed them. I don’t know if i’m over thinking or because it’s because of this headache but people allow awful people into power. There’s so much corruption that I think there should be a new generation of people in power and wipe away the old and used up people in power. The people in power who already served their own purpose and is dabbing into other things due to pure boredom.

The excerpt Chameleon from Born a Crime By Trevor Noah is about Trevor Noah and his struggles growing up as a mixed, half black, and half white child in a black household in South Africa. With Trevor being half white, he grew up with a lighter skin complexion.  There are mentions of how the racial difference causes a rift in his family and he notices how differently he is treated from his cousins because he is half white. The central issue raised by this text is the racial and cultural differences between Trevor and his family, and how one can be viewed as less because of these differences. For example, as Trevor watched the American TV shows, he noticed that the black characters had American accents which “felt like foreigners” he then proceeds to say “Language brings with it an identity and a culture, or at least the perception of it.” Trevor recognizes that this is in general reversed in the daily reality of most people: black people that look like his family sound different because of the way they speak English, and it quickly becomes apparent that Trevor tries to appeal to people who believe he is “colored” by speaking their languages, which outweighs their ethnic distinctions. Throughout the text, I noticed that a lot of the issues states are still very relevant in today’s society and some even link from personal lives to politics. For example, due to the deep roots of racism in the American system and police brutality against black people, someone who may look like Trevor, would still face those injustices. Although his family might treat him differently, the system was created against colored people, so Trevor does not hold the same privilege outside, as he may in his home. There are many reasons why I chose this text, a few being, the lessons being told, the relation to today’s society, and the fact that these racial differences play such a huge role in our lives today. It all connects to something important to me, being a person of color living in America. I am very familiar with the feeling of being different in a crowd of people. Not only by cultures and race but by the way I look. Another thing that is important to me that this text connects to is the racial injustice that is still alive in the world. We still live in a world where our skin color is much more important than the people we truly are.

In the autobiography “Born a Crime” in chapter 4, “Chameleon”,  Trevor Noah establishes the foundation of his childhood through race, identity, and discrimination. As a young child, Trevor struggled to fit into society especially because of the color of his skin. His parents were from two different worlds, his mother was black and his father was white. During this time, interacial marriages in South Africa under apartheid were illegal. Trevor Noah, being labeled under both races had a huge impact on his life.  His physical attributes determined how he associated with others around him. His childhood gradually taught him that everyone is alike. However, the color and languages we speak, places us in different categories. His perceptions and experiences about racism can reflect on how we view different ethnic groups in America. Today, children whose parents are interracial have become a more prevalent part of society that people need to accept. Children who encounter similar experiences like Trevor Noah, should be able to recognize and embrace their identity without society’s discriminating actions weighing them down.  I think the metaphor he utilized to describe himself and his parents was important. He says “Dad was white chocolate, mom was dark chocolate, and I was milk chocolate.”But we were all just chocolate”. This quote striked me because at the end of the day we are all humans and the color of our skins shouldn’t define our status. The word “Chameleon”, he uses is significant throughout the chapter. Chameleons are a group of lizards that are able to adapt to their surroundings and change color. Likewise, Trevor is able to adjust to both sides. He recalls a memory when he was operating his cousin’s ear and accidentally perforated her eardrum. His grandmother found out and beat everyone except for him. She stated, “Because I don’t know how to hit a white child”(Grandma,52). She knew if you hit a black child, he will remain black but if she hits a white child they will have different colors and she didn’t want to hurt him. As a result, Trevor had perks of being “white”. However,Trevor felt alone. He says, “There were no other mixed kids around so that I could say, oh, this happened to us”(Noah,53).  I found the text, “Born a Crime” interesting especially because I read and analyzed different sections of his book in high school. In addition, coming from an Indian background, society perceives Indians differently than they would perceive a white person. After 9/11, innocent Indians were detained by the government and put into jail because they resembled those who were part of the attack. Their skin color, being “brown” not only affected Muslims but Hindus, Buddhists, and Sikhs.Indians were labeled as “terrorists”.

• Personal Narrative Assignment: I have posted the assignment for your Personal Narrative in a separate post.  Please read the assignment very carefully.  If you have any questions about it, use our Slack channel to ask.  (Maybe your classmates will be able to answer even before I do!)

• Brainstorming and Idea Development: Spend the time between now and our Wednesday class developing your ideas for your essay.  This may look like free-writing or list-making or idea-mapping or even sketching, depending on how you work best and what helps your creative process along.  Your goal should be to have a working idea of what your essay will be about and some thoughts of how to develop it on paper by Wednesday.  Please share your work with me via email by 11:00 am on Wednesday (9/9) at [email protected] and have it available during our zoom call at 12:30.  If you have been working on a computer, you can simply email me your file, but if you have been working in an analog medium (pen and paper, for example), you can send me a clear picture of your work.  Just make sure that i will be able to read it!

• Reading: Read Anne Lamott’s essay, “Shitty First Drafts” and George Dila’s “Rethinking the Shitty First Draft.”  (Both of these essays are available under our “Texts” tab.)  What do you make of these two approaches to writing?  Which one best describes your own process?  Why?  Please share your response in a post to our blog (250 words min.).  To receive full credit, your post must be shared by Friday, September 11th.

• Turnitin.com: Follow the instructions I’ve posted in the turnitin.com section under the “Technology” tab above in order to sign up for this class on the turnitin.com website.  Contact me via Slack if you have any difficulties.  Please take care of this by Monday, September 14th.