IsabelKrull

September12,2016
WritingGoals

GoalOneDialoguing:Mygoalistointegratedialoguewithcorrectformattingandpunctuation.
Anexampleofthisinmycollegeessaywasthesentencewhenmysisterrespondstomy
question:

Canyoupleaseputyourphonedown?Iaskedfromacrossthetable.Whatareyoueven
lookingat?

Myfriendssnapchatstories.Youlookedupatmehesitantly,andwhenIfailedtoreply,you
continuedtoscroll.

Iconsistentlyforgettherulesofwhentobreaktheparagraphwithdialogue,whentocapitalize,
andwhethertoaddacolon,comma,orperiod.

Toworktowardimprovingthisskill,Iwillresearchthecorrectwaytoinsertdialogue,andto
continuethesentenceafterthequote.Iwillalsoresearchiftheruleschangewhenwritinga
formalorinformalpieceofwriting.

GoalTwoWritingargumentsthatarewellsupported,withoutunsupportedgeneralizationsof
misinterpretations:IrunintothisproblemwhenwritingpersuasiveessaysthatIhaveapre
existingbiasfor.Forexample,inmyTocquevillewriting,Iwroteasapartofmythesis
statement,Idonotconsidermyselftobeanaivecynicintheleast.HoweverImayaswellbe,
forIconsidermyselftobeontheoppositesideofthespectrumasanaivebeliever.

Whilethisis
notasanextremeexampleasitcouldbe,sinceanaivebelieverisnotatechnicalterm,Ineeded
toexplainwhatthattermmeans,becausethestatementcanbemisinterpreted,andisunsupported
byfurtherinformation.

Toimprovethisskill,Iamplanningtobeginwriting,leavingoutmybiasasbestIcan.OnceI
havethebasicoutline,Iwouldliketogothroughandaddinmyperspectivewhereitisneeded,
butbecarefulofthetermsandlanguageIusetodemonstratemyperceptionoftheissue.

GoalThreeIntegratingquotesandevidenceintowritingseamlesslyintegratedandcorrectly
introduced:Similarlytoinsertingdialogue,Irunintoobstacleswhenquotingfromarticleswith
thecorrectformat.Forexample,inmyTocquevillewriting,Iwrote:

Inthearticle,TheHabitsofHighlyCynicalPeople,RebeccaSolnitwrites,
Nonpundits,too,usebaddataandworseanalysistopronouncewithgreatcertaintyonfuture
inevitabilities,presentimpossibilities,andpastfailures.Themindsetbehindthesestatementsis
whatIcallnaivecynicism.Itbleedsthesenseofpossibilityandmaybethesenseofresponsibility
outofpeople.

Toimprovethisskill,IwilllookupthecorrectwaytointegratearticlesquotestoensurethatI
amdoingitcorrectly,andtolearnifthereisadifferencebetweenquotingfromarticlesorfrom
peoplewhohavequotedverbally.

OneskillinparticularthatIimprovedonwhilewritingmycollegeessaywaswriting
clearandindepthsentences,whileconsolidatingmyideastomeetthewordlimit.Inmyfirst
draftoftheessay,Ihadwrittenitmoreasaformalessayoutliningthebenefitsanddownfallsof
technology,butmyvoicetookmoreofapreaching,livelifetothefullestpointofview,which
isnotwhatIwastryingtoportray.

Forexample,Iintroducedthemostchallengingpartofbeingateenagerinasentencethat
beganwithaninteractionwehad,butIwasnotspeakingtomysisterdirectly:

Itwasamorningbeforebothofushadschool,andwehadfifteenminutestospare
beforeweparted,andyetshewastunedintothelivesthatshewouldbesurroundedbyforseven
hourslaterthatday.

Withtheessayformat,itwashardtomeetthewordlimitwiththelayoutofthesis,topic
sentence,analyze,repeat.Itwasntnecessarilyboringtoread,butitwasntoriginaland
wouldntgivetheadmissionscounselorsasenseofwhoIam.Thisledtothemostbeneficial
pieceoffeedbackIreceived:towritemyadviceintheformofalettertomysister.

Tomakethisgrowthhappen,IfreelywrotedownmythoughtsasifIwascasuallyhaving
aconversationwithmysister,andthenwentbacktoprofessionalizeit.Writingtheletterthis
wayhelpedmetoexpressmythoughtsinawaythatfulfilledthepromptefficiently,answering
whatadvicewouldyougivetomyfriendsandsiblings.Aquotefrommyfinaldraftthat
demonstratesthisis:

Myadvicetoyou,dearsister,isthatyoucanusetechnologytostrengthenpreexisting
relationships,andtouseittoopendoorstonewopportunityratherthanclosedoorstopersonal
communication.

Myfinaldraftrepresentedtheimportanceofbalancewhenitcomestotheuseof
technology,andthatitisnotrealisticornecessarytotrytoabandonit,butnottorelyoniteither.