What Style Do I Have?
A paper on style. What style's are going on around me? What style do I use? What is my written style? And what is my spoken style? In this English class, the style is the anti-Official Style. The Official Style has become a plague that everyone runs from. While running we develop our own style. In psychology class, or history or geography class, it is usually the Official Style. It's as if the professors say "I have a PhD, so it is necessary that I communicate in a fashion that will accentuate the intelligence that I have acquired from years of studious behavior."
What is my style? My style is a "not trying to be official style" style. It's like starting to relearn a language a person was born into and forgot. The two languages start to intermingle. Some words are in one language and some in the other. The official style is similar. Some sentences are not written in the official style and some seem to creep in.
When I'm in the mood for it, I kind of like the official style. If I feel like teasing my brain, I grab the closest psychology journal. I then meander through an article or two and my craving subsides until a future unknown date. It's also very comfortable writing in the official style. I guess I've done it for so long it comes naturally. I write my psychology papers in the official style because they sound so much more educated. The goal is to write something that a person has to read three or four times to understand.
I don't usually talk using the official style. When I'm talking to my friends I use an unguarded style, although this does have levels to it. I have terrific friends, good friends, and not so good friends. The terrific friends I can say almost anything to. The good friends, I can tell some things to. The not so good friends, on the other hand, I don't tell much. But I still tell more to the not so good friends than I would to others that I don't know very well. The reason that I can tell my friends more than others who I don't know is because I don't have to worry about what they think of me. They already know me.
I use an intimate style when I'm talking to my wife.
Both of the articles “Dancing with Professors” by Patricia Limerick and “Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott resolve the issues faced by college students when writing papers. The first article, “Dancing with Professors,” explains why college professors expect more elaborate papers even though they assign dull and un-motivational reading to their students. On the other end of the writing spectrum, “Shitty First Drafts” explains how valuable the first draft is to students, and why students should not feel weary about writing them.
Sojourner set out on her mission, to educate all people on the subject of slavery, and became a very powerful speaker. She became an influential speaker for women’s rights, as well for the abolishment of slavery all over the country. She became famous for being the first black women to speak out against slavery.
As I look back into my high school years, I thought I wrote papers well. But then coming into a college environment, my papers were mediocre. By overlooking at my past papers, I found that they were unorganized, sloppy and had bad use of diction. From now on, I will use the tools I learned in English 1100-40 as a foundation for the future papers I intend on writing in college. Following the criteria of organizing ideas so that they flow, impacting the reader with diction and also by being creative, will help become an ideal writer. Following the criteria of staying motivated in short and long term goals, taking responsibility for actions and finally the ability to study well will help me develop into a supreme student.
...Academic Writing. Ed. Gerald Graff. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. 179-189. Print.
Sojourner Truth is an American legend. She began life as a slave and ended her life as an outgoing speaker and free woman. Sojourner led a very disadvantage life but was able to rise above her hardships. Truth was a motivational speaker even though she was not able to read or write. Sojourner Truth continues to impact lives today through her works.
Sojourner Truth was a major activist of the abolitionist movement. She was born into slavery in Ulser County New York to James and Betsey as Isabella Baumfree. It is estimated that she was born in between 1790 and 1800. Her life story helps illustrate why her passion and steed ruminated throughout the abolitionist movement. For once, the African American slave woman could share her thoughts, ideas, experiences and hurts about slavery. Her upbringing and experiences as a slave contributed to many of her great speeches and writings, which helped bring awareness to the monster known as slavery.
Turabian, Kate L. 2013. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations Chicago Style for Students & Researchers. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Recently, I have been writing quite a few essays and papers throughout my college experience. This entails, but not limited to, English, History, and Economics. My style of writing and methods have generally remained the same throughout the process. In this assignment, I will be discussing how I prepare to start a paper, what my thoughts are through the process, and my strengths and weaknesses of what my final drafts look like.
1. What you are studying (which three works and the topic of your paper) Topic: I’m going to be writing my paper on Cultural Appropriation. I’m going to focus on cultural appropriation in music and hip hop. Then I’m going to use cultural appropriation in hair as a way of questioning whether cultural appropriation is actually cultural appreciation.
In English 1102, I was exposed to a variety of different genres, including, argumentative research paper, an annotated bibliography, an analytical paper, and a workplace specific piece. Entering this class the majority of papers I had written were all analytical, and in this class we went above and beyond the basic 5 paragraph essay. Though each paper had a different genre and style, I learned that each project was similar in composition.
Dual Enrollment English was the first real college-level class I ever had. I actually have taken other college-level classes before it, but Dual Enrollment English was the only course that gave me an accurate representation of how college will really be like and what it will expect of me. My journey through Dual Enrollment English began with a sense of fear and self-defeat and ended with a sense of satisfaction and confidence with many highs and lows along the way. This portfolio catalogs the evolution of my writing during my two semesters in Dual Enrollment English including seven different types of papers as well as each of their respective drafts and tutor feedback.
Personally, I cannot identify my exact writing style. I do write with clear, concise, fluidity; however, I have no sense of “personal style.” I construct each written assignment with the intention of being blunt and supporting my assertions with facts and details that will strengthen my argument. After reading Ch. 1 “The Transaction” I agree with that Zinsser proposes: my writing reflects who I am as a person (5). I am blunt and to the point. I get tasks done in the most efficient way. Maybe my personality does come through in my writing more than I thought.
What is writing style? I started out thinking that writing style is a personal thing and that all writers have their own style. But, this way of thinking is really just a simple way to answer the question. After more careful thought, I realized that style is actually quite the opposite of personal and original. Style is a form of standardization. As writers, we all follow certain rules and guidelines to make our point. Style is these rules and guidelines.
I have learned many things throughout the course of the term, including such things as: how to write an essay and how to improve on essays that I have already written, how to locate and composite better research through the use of numerous resources found at the campus library, the internet, and the “Common Sense” textbook, how to cite research, examples, and quotations properly within the contents of my research paper as well as document it accurately according to MLA standards. Through the exploration of the “Subjects and Strategies” textbook, I have learned nine different methods used when writing an effective essay and how the different writing styles affect the overall theme and tone of the essay when used properly. This past semester, I have encountered many difficulties when trying to write these essays, but through the use of the textbooks, the aide of the instructor, and once I was able to classify the different types of essays and styles, I found them possible to overcome.
Poverty is defined as a state or condition in which a person has little or no money, goods and/or means of support. No matter how poverty is defined families that have no male figure, single mothers, live mostly in poverty out of all demographic groups. This is often called Feminization of poverty. To better understand the feminization of poverty, it is important to recognize what are the contributions of poverty for women and what factors can decrease the probabilities of occurring. In this paper I will identify the problems that are contributing to feminization of poverty. Also, I will discuss what we need to do in order to improve this issue in America by identifying key agents and their responsibilities.