Thursday, January 24, 2008

Why I Write: Post Essays Here

Put your finished drafts here as a comment to the post. Try to get it done before Chinese New Year! See you all in two weeks.

Here are links to student essays from the 2006-2007 class:

Why I Write (first drafts)

Why I Write (revisions)

4 comments:

kamila said...

WRITING FOR ME


Do you like writing? Have you ever wondered why so many people find this act so pleasant, even therapeutic? Different persons have different reasons why to write. For me, there are three the most essential things that make me want to write.


First of all, the process of writing gives me an excellent opportunity to share my life with others. Anytime when I am feeling happy, sad or even frustrated I can pour all these feelings onto the piece of paper. It is like a long talk to a very close friend. Afterward I can only feel better. Writing is a great tool that helps me to get rid of bad emotions and to relax.


Moreover, this is one of the best ways that I know about that lead to getting to know my inner-self better. It is an amazing opportunity to explore hidden parts of my personality, find corners of my soul that I would never even supposed may exist! When I write I can express my “ I ” in a thousand different ways. Just like an every single day that brings a new adventure, a surprise.


Finally, what I love about writing most is that it takes me to a different world. I can be whoever I want to be and see whatever I wish to see. My land of fantasy! All I need to do is to close my eyes and begin the act of creation. Any of my dreams can come true when I am the one who is writing a story. I simply love the power that gives us our imagination.


These are the main reasons why I want to write; to express myself and to share all the hidden emotions with others. Writing has many meanings and every one of us can find something special about it. Something that won’t let you stop.

(310 words, first draft)

Masaru said...

Why I Write by Masaru

There are a few different style and reason when I write on paper. Those are letter to a friend to communicate, essay for homework to express my inner spirits about topic and story to share my feeling with unknown people.

Writing a letter is the most reliable way to communicate with friend for me. Unlike spoken language which will be disappear in the air, written words will stay forever unless it will be thrown away. For that reason, whenever I write a letter, I will choose best way to express my feeling by trial and error. Receiving a letter does same thing to me to keep record of a friend just like picture on an album. As a picture dose to vision, so letters remind me writers feeling of mind forever.

When I have to write an essay, it is time to investigate about my notion of the topic. Many times I was disappointed with how little I knew about the topic and how poorly I could express my opinion. Nevertheless, the more I search appropriate sentences, the more I will find my true opinion about it. Writing an essay is one way to broaden the intellect and to contemplate my inner feeling. Therefore, whatever the topic will be , I always take it as a defiance to do self-examination.

Telling a story is another way to express my ideas or ideologies to the public. It doesn’t matter based on true story or fiction. By reading many good books, I have learned different world which I couldn’t experience in my single life time. Unfortunately, I am not neither a good story teller nor a poet but I can try to show my feeling by writing with a few words using Japanese “Haiku” style. Like Shakespeare’s sonnets, some old Japanese “Haiku or Tannka” still carrying strong messages to modern world. It became one of my pleasures to write dawn some poets on paper and to imagine sharing same feeling with unknown people when the time came to show it to them.

Writing sentences is surely hard work for me especially when it is not my mother language. Nevertheless, to write down sentences creates chances for me to communicate accurately, to record development of my soul and to share my thought with the other people, I hope.

(389 words, first draft)

Hongxin Guo said...

Writing for Enhancing

I am not a writer, but I like writing in Chinese usually. Now,I am a pupil in English, and I still like writing to enhance my English skill.

My first goal is to learn survival English. In the course of the communication, my teacher taught us the fundamental skills in writing and pushed us write the summaries and the essays to express our feelings vividly and our thinkings precisely. While I made a brainstorm writing, I surprised that I only piled the simple sentences up one by one, and my vocabulary was so poor that just made the composition flat and dull to read. I realized that even a letter or a note was not a easy for me.

Eventually, I made a little progress. it is just like a snail crawls on the thorn, and the way is long. When I skim through my "Error Book", I find I made the foolish mistakes hopelessly time and again in grammar and usage. So many Chinese-English sentences came from the influence of my mother tongue.This influence likes a shadow followed me to everywhere. To paraphrase and abandon the translation is the only way-the "snail" finds it eventually and keeps his writing on this way to improve.

"Your writing is very interesting to read and it continues to improve. Keep...working on eliminating those grammar errors," my teacher commented. Yes, I have to keep on writing. Now, I have a feeling of the process of the hatching: the shell was broken bitted by the nestling, but the young bird is still unfledged. Things keep on going. After becoming full-fledged, the young bird will fly towards the blue sky.

I never dreamt of to be a writer, for I don't possess any talent of writing. However, in the progress of my enhancing, I like reading and writing in English more and more.

suzanne said...

The Motivation of My Writing

Writing is like a nourishing energy. This energy not only gives me spiritual enlightenment but also enriches my soul like a vital spark. I exult in my writing improvement as this gives me a powerful strength to express my feelings.

Without immigrating to Canada, I would never have had an opportunity to take courses in PALC, Pearson Adult Learning Centre. Although I can write in Chinese, English is very important and necessary now I live in Canada. The sentence structure and grammar in English are difficult for me. However, I enjoy the challenge because I learn new things constantly.

After continuing education, I realize that writing drives me to read more in order to improve my knowledge. The more I know, the more I feel satisfied with my life. No matter how many ups and downs I confront, writing makes me proud of my ability to express myself. For example, I once disputed a wrong payment for my credit card through the internet and got a refund. So, writing motivates me to continue my education.

All material can be bought with money but content is spiritual. My life has been enriched since I have learned the skill and I can write down whatever I want. If there were no writing, life would become very boring and silly, like “a blind man feels an elephant,” a Chinese proverb, meaning unable to see the whole picture. Writing acts as an important element in my spiritual life.

Becoming an author is a lifelong effort whose rewards are evident to those who attempt it.