Once More to the Lake

The writer of this article is very talented at writing. He is a very descriptive writer and very vivid in his memories. It is almost like he is writing about something that just happened yesterday. However, I am bored with his story very easily. I guess it's because the story he tells just drags on and on with seemingly no end in sight. It’s nothing personal to the author at all. This, in fact, is an essay that some people would enjoy to read very much. You can pretty much picture the lake he talks about or relate his story of his vacations to vacations of your own. I know my family goes to a lake every summer and I can totally see myself taking my kids up to that lake when I have them. I guess, for me, it just wasn't my style of writing to read if you want me to be completely honest. My style is short, sweet, and to the point. I also enjoy stories with more conflict in them.  Conflict makes the story more interesting, in my honest opinion. That is ok though because everyone has their own opinions. It’s totally ok for people to disagree with me. 

remembering essay

I agree with this article because I believe that when writing memoirs and other kind of stories like that, remembering is very important. You may have pictures of the event you are writing about but you still have to remember some of it. The author of this article states that when you are telling a story that you should use all your senses to describe it. Describe what you smelled and what you saw. Describe what you heard and what you tasted. I agree because it defiantly puts the reader more into the story. Also, the author says that you can trigger other peoples’ memories by being very descriptive which is very true. Most people can relate to others’ stories.

I do not agree with how the author says to read a remembering essay. I think the author’s way is too long and drawn out. Most people would lose interest after they read it the second time.

When writing a remembering essay, the author and I tend to disagree on some points. I think that her ideas for topics are good. Writing about things that you have experienced are good ways to start. I do not think, however, that you should write it on someone you never met like a famous person. I do not think you should use any resources other than your own mind to write remembering essays. All in all, I enjoyed this article but did not really learn anything new.

Walking by Henry David Thoreau

I strongly agree with Henry David Thoreau. He is right in the fact that if we take care of nature we are taking care of our planet. We are destroying natural habitats of animals that provide food for us. In place of the natural habitats, we are building high rises. I see this especially in Naples. Some places are better about keeping habitats in tact than others but no one does it 100%. I am also like Thoreau because I would love to have more natural resources around us. I guess what Thoreau would love is a world where we had just left everything as it was and not destroyed all the other habitats. All I want is to cut out the unnecessary destroying of habitats.

He also says that he believes some people eat just to eat. This is destroying the amount of food that everyone has and the number of animals left on the earth. He says that Indians only ate what was needed. I tend to agree that people eat more than they should. The obesity rate in America alone is sky high. Even though there are some people who have medical conditions, I believe a lot of people just eat too much. All in all I think Thoreau has the completely right idea about our respect for the environment and how we should change that.

How To Mark A Book

Marking up books has never been anything I have done. After reading this, my opinion is not changed. Taking notes in your book only takes up more of your time. Even though the author tries to persuade me that taking notes in the margin is a good idea and that it is good to slow me down reading, I totally disagree with him. I have a lot of homework to do and little time to do it in. I do not to be slowed down even more than I already am.

Also, he says that you should not worry about selling them back because they should be written in. I disagree strongly. This person must have had a very different college experience than I am. Books are so expensive now. I cannot afford to keep all of my college books or have the return rate drop because I wrote in them.

All in all, I disagree with Mortimer Adler. I have been taking notes on regular paper my whole life and it has never failed me yet. Now it’s even easier because I can keep my notes nice and organized on the computer. Thanks Adler but I think I can handle note taking my way.

Shitty First Drafts

Reading "Shitty First Drafts" taught me very little. I love to write but I really did think that great authors such as JK Rowling and Steven King had always been as talented as they are now. I thought that they were immune to catching writers’ block. Turns out they are just regular people like ourselves, who make mistakes and sometimes get stumped on what to write about next.

My yearbook editors would always act as if my first draft was my last. They would take my paper and tell me it was worthless. I wanted to be the “perfect” writer and wanted to be flawless just like my favorite authors. It turns out that everyone makes mistakes even the most seemingly perfect authors. 

I learned to not let small obstacles get in the way of finishing something that I write. I discovered that the process of writing can be daunting. I tend to think that a more time efficient method would be to do prewriting. Writing four or five drafts for college seems a little bit overboard.

I do not think after reading this that any reader is 100% “perfect” in any way. It would go against all laws. There is no such thing as perfect.