I picked free writes with well-articulated thoughts.

Free Writes

1. Once, when I worked at the Bridgeport Cinemark theater a few years ago, I received a mass

email from one of my managers. Mind you, she sent out mass emails all the time, absent

professionalism and plain sense, but this time she had outdone herself. She sent an email to the

employees stating that she would start writing up and eventually firing employees who continued

to “drink out of the courtesy cups.” This was offensive because 1, those little cups were the only

thing we could use to get a drink at work, and 2, she didn’t have the authority to fire anyone, let

alone someone who was just parched.

2. It was naturally harder to write the negative letter and memo than it was to write the positive

ones, however, it was harder to substantiate the positive ones, as I couldn’t think of much to say.

For the negative ones, it was easier to fill the page with things to soften the blow and reasons the

decision was made. People generally don’t care about the why when a company makes a

“positive” decision or one people might conceive of as positive. Therefore, I give them the good

news, and I kept the why short for better or for worse.

3. Resumes, as I understand them, market a person like an object. Because companies do not

want to waste their time and energy on unqualified, unskilled people, they look at resumes to

determine if someone is marketable for a position in order to narrow down the candidate list.

You will be able to become more of a person and less of an “object” in the company’s eyes after
you are selected for face to face interviews or field tests. However, the resume isn’t necessarily

marketing you as a living, breathing, functioning human as much as a qualified, decorated

candidate.

4. I’m not the least bit comfortable with designing anything. Despite my propensity for fantasy,

and alleged creativeness, I cannot design anything for the life of me. I have good ideas, but when

it comes time to put pen to paper or brush to canvas or mouse to word doc, I am useless. That’s

why I’m a creative writer – so I can describe my creative ideas to someone else and they

“design” them in their own head. I rely on subjectivity, the mind of someone else to make my

work what it is. Ergo, when it comes down to creating something myself, something objective

and physical, I fail miserably.

5. I feel like I have demonstrated sufficient knowledge of the source material for this class, that

is, the book. I’ve read and mostly understood and, I think, successfully practiced (in projects for

the class) the material from the book. One thing I hope to improve on by the end of this class is

the balance of being a creative writer, and on the same token, a professional one. I’m having

trouble finding the right balance between creativity and professionalism for the projects. For

example, my resume was meant to take creative risks, but I stuck with the format because I was

afraid to make it overly creative.

Supplemental Materials (Various things that were not free writes within my notes)
A) 1. The audience is most certainly students. 2. There are few places you can park free in

Morgantown, and the Valley View bus stops running before most students make it out of class.

B) 1. The audience is students who also have a job/responsibilities and are forced into taking

classes that don’t match their schedule. 2. I have a job, and it is very hard to make all my

responsibilities as a student and as a worker fit together.

The other day, my friend proposed we go to Pittsburg to try a new eatery where they serve

buffalo chicken mac and cheese. Because it was all the way in another state, he had some

convincing to do. He would’ve needed to say an iteration of the following to have convinced me:

1. The food is not expensive.

2. You don’t have to drive.

3. We can split the gas money.

4. We can leave right after we eat.

The best pizza in Morgantown has to be pizza Al’s, and to compare it to other pizzas, we could

use these 5 categories:

1. Taste

2. Smell

3. Cut size (are they even?)

4. Grease ratio (is there a sickening amount of grease?)

Buying a Car-

Necessary:
1. Within budget

2. Good dependability

3. Can run well in the snow/ice

4. Longevity

5. Air conditioning/ heat

Desirable:

1. Leather seats

2. Black exterior

3. Good mileage

4. Below budget

5. Backup camera

Bildungsroman-

1. Harry Potter could be an example of a Bildungsroman because the main character has to

overcome youthful challenges to become an adult.

2. A Bildungsroman is like if you logged your entire pre-teen-teenage years and adapted them

into a novel.

3. Game of Thrones is not a Bildungsroman because it involves already mature characters.