Between the drafts

           Reading Nancy Sommer's article "Between the drafts" has extremely changed my idea of what revising means. I too, like all the students that Sommer wrote about in her paper, revise my work simply to fix grammatical errors, spelling problems, and the simple things like that. I now see revising as something  so much more! I am really glad I was able to read this article before I started to revise my work for my portfolio due soon here at the end of the semester. My plan to revise my work is going to be so much more in depth. I need to work on speaking for myself and let my research tie into what I have to say and not let the work of the research take over my paper and speak for me. 

          I really like the idea of stepping away from my papers and giving them time to sink in. This way I can go back with a fresh new mind and see if this paper really reflects me. I have actually had it happen to me once before, this occurrence of reading a paper and not even recognizing it as something that I would write. I have gone back and read papers on my computer that I wrote when I was in high school and to be completely honest, I realized that I was writing for the teacher. But in all defense for myself, that is what we were taught to do! All of my english teachers wanted strict research papers, they taught us how to sound smart and scholarly, and I, wanting good grades, did exactly that, but at the same time, I wasn't speaking for myself. 

         To be honest, Professor Martin is the first writing teacher I have ever had that has encouraged me to write for myself and say what I have to say. Before now, I have been using research and other "authority" to speak for me. I am ready to work on my three pieces of work and revise them in this new way that I now see revising as. I am going to make them my own and re-create them, reorganize them and make them mine. I don't need someone else to make their ideas mine. I can certainly base my ideas off of some of theirs but I know I can think for myself. I am looking forward to re-looking at my work and doing more then just fixing spelling errors and grammatical errors which is typically what i would have done.

A few quotes I found to wrap it up that have encouraged me to speak for myself:

It took me a long time not to judge myself through someone else's eyes.  ~Sally Field 

“The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.” 
― Coco Chanel

“A choir is made up of many voices, including yours and mine. If one by one all go silent then all that will be left are the soloists.

Don’t let a loud few determine the nature of the sound. It makes for poor harmony and diminishes the song.” 
― Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

Losing myself

This is a poem I found online. I love poetry and like to research poems a lot :) thought I would share this one and it kind of explains how I've been feeling a little bit lately but I think it speaks for itself :) here is the link that I found and the poem copy and pasted below: http://forums.familyfriendpoems.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=34508

I'm somewhere
That's darker than a starless night
Created by all the pain I cannot bear
Writhes bitter fear and pure sorrow
Which I would not describe

I lost myself
Deep within the fathomless depths
My lonely soul drifts aimlessly
Lost between the facades and falsifies
I beg for my escape
But I am not granted this wish

The pressure bearing down on me
Is impossible to describe
And after so much contained anger
With tears I have not dropped
Somewhere along the way I've lost who I am
In a place that I've all but forgot

Dance

Just wanted to share :) Dance is my life and I love contemporary, it's my favorite style :)

The Grand Canyon - a digital story

          This digital story was very interesting. It was really sad everything that the guy was talking about but what a creative way he did of telling his story. I was not quite sure where the story was going at first but at the end it all ties together and makes sense. I feel like his voice was perfect in tone and speed because it went with the mood of the story and made it sad. I also liked how we told the hidden story behind the pictures sort of like we did in our first project. To be honest i don't remember hearing any music when I think about it but when I go back, how perfect is that? It great how the music fits right into the story almost going unnoticed but most defiantly helping to set the mood.

Smile

I just wanted to say how much I enjoy this writing class. It has seriously been a class that I look forward to attending during the week. I have always loved writing but there is nothing worse than being forced to write about something you don't want to write about. In this class it isn't that way at all! I absolutely love it. We get to write about things that we care about and that interest us and for me that's what makes this class so great! We have an awesome professor who really lets us explore i writing abilities and I feel that she is so encouraging! This whole blog thing is such a fantastic idea. I will probably continue it just for fun even after this class is over. Its amazing how much you can discover about your self through writing. :) Have a nice day fellow followers!

almost home bound!

Going home this weekend! I am supper excited to go home and spend some time with my family. I do not get to go home whenever I want to because of dance team. But, this weekend we don't have a game or event so i get to go home. Yay! I am looking forward to spending time with my brother mostly and watching him play in his last game of the season tonight.