College Writing Review

In advertising, we work directly with public relations and marketing disciplines. These three combined provide many opportunities for writing. Whether that is from social media to press releases to annual reports. There are areas for creative and professional writing.

For example, when branding a company, you have to create their “voice.” This must be incorporated into everything they produce, from emails to articles to copy on the website. This opens the door to writing with personality. Through this class, I have gotten the opportunity to really let my personality bleed through my stories. The assignments have allowed this because we are required to put a twist on a published story.

(Writing a Paper - Photographer Julia Rymut)

Before this class, I only wrote research papers or executive summaries for advertising campaigns. These were more straightforward and rigid assignments because storytelling was not incorporated.

At work today, some of my coworkers were reading an article about storytelling, and it got me thinking about how even corporate businesses can use this technique. I work for a nonprofit, so storytelling is the heart of our writing because we are trying to pluck the heartstrings of our supporters. However, a business can also use this method because there are plenty of success stories that can be used as promotional materials.

Typing Test Tech Tip

I used TypyingTest.com for my typing test tech tip this week. I was able to choose what type of information I wanted to type for one minute, so I chose Aesop's Fables. I thought it was fitting for this class. With a score of 72 percent, I was pretty happy with myself. I took a test like this last year, and I don't think I scored this well, so it was good to see improvement!

Famous Last Words: Week 11

This week, I read the Looking-Glass unit, which had many stories about the Disney movie Alice and Wonderland. For example, one of my favorite stories was Tweedledum and Tweedledee. I have always referred to them together, but with Tweedledee coming first in the pattern, so that was an interesting formatting difference I picked up on. The story was a funky one because to be honest, the characters were quite odd. They talk so quickly and “poetically” that the reader has to really hone in on each sentence to fully comprehend.

My other classes are going well. I took a test this morning for my Languages Across Cultures class, which went pretty well. I mean, I haven’t gotten my grade back yet, but I am feeling pretty confident about my performance. We read a book this past month about languages dying out. We went through the different aspect about endangered languages that make them so incredibly unique. For example, some languages have 60 words to describe different types of reindeer. This is necessary because they are traditionally reindeer herders so while these names require more memory, they make life easier and more efficient when it comes to working the field.

(Grazing Reindeer - Photo by Dean Biggins)

I also took a major point away from this reading in my Languages Across Cultures class. I was misinformed about something, so the book set me straight. I thought one of the main differences between languages was that you couldn’t communicate all of the exact same thoughts because of language differences. I was wrong though because the book explained that you can express the exact same thoughts in every single language. You might have to use 20 words to express a thought that takes only one word in a different language, but in the end, you can express it as well as comprehend it.

Essay: Looking-Glass

The Looking-Glass was a fun unit to explore because it brought me back to my childhood. I haven’t seen the Disney movie Alice and Wonderland in years, so the stories were a good reminder of the plot and characters. I liked how this unit was split up into little sections so some stories were all connected while all of the stories fit into the same theme. My favorite story of the unit was Tweedledum and Tweedledee because the two little men were so clever with their poetry and remarks. At points, they were a little annoying and immature, but that is what made the story so excellent. I understood who the characters were after just one or two stories about a simple conversation.

(Tweedledee and Tweedledum - Illustrator Ward Kimball) 

After read the title of the unit, I would have had no idea what the stories were about unless I had read the little description under the title. When I read there would be some stories about Tweedledee and Tweedledum and Humpty Dumpty, I knew I wanted to read more.  I read the author’s note and realized the title comes from the world Alice explores. This was a great piece of information to include because I would have been unsure what the title meant without it.  

I also noticed in the little summary of the unit, the name “Tweedledum “ is spelt with an “e” at the end. I am pretty sure that letter that needs to be deleted. That is the only part I would change though, and even that isn’t a huge deal because I still understood who the character was because of his outlandish and memorable name.

I left the unit wanting to go watch the cartoon version of Alice and Wonderland. I actually haven’t seen the more recent version with Johnny Depp, so now might be the best opportunity for me to watch it since the story is on my mind.

Reading Diary A: Looking-Glass

Looking-Glass

Looking-Glass: Tweedledum And Tweedledee: I haven’t watched the movie Alice and Wonderland in so long that I almost forgot about Alice’s encounter with the two twin characters, Tweedledee and Tweedledum. The two little men seemed so mischievous and cunning with their directions and poems. After reading the line, “But the little men only looked at each other and grinned,” my view of them was confirmed because their pesky personalities were revealed through their simple grins. I also liked that the story inserted bits of information about Alice’s feelings after her journey. It gave the story a deeper, holistic summary.

(Tweedledee and Tweedledum - Illustration by John Tenniel)

The Walrus and Carpenter: It was cool to read another unit where some of the stories were connected to each other. I almost felt like I was reading a short novel about Alice.

In this snippet of the little men’s poem, I started realizing how purposeful each word was placed. For example, the moon was not referred to as an “it” but instead a “she”. Here is the section of the poem:

The moon was shining sulkily,

Because she thought the sun

Had got no business to be there

After the day was done —

"It's very rude of him," she said,

"To come and spoil the fun!"

There was a friendly war between the moon and the sun that reminded me of some of the Native American stories I had read a few weeks ago for this class. After reading this story, I also looked up the word “sulkily” to confirm its meaning. That then led me to look up words in the definition, so I now know more synonyms for the word “sulkily." These include ‘sullen,’ ‘morose,’ and ‘resentful.’

Reading Diary A: Blackfoot Stories

Blackfoot Stories 

Two Fast Runners: This story had its own unique writing style that was slight, but noticeable because of the short length of the story. For example, this sentence shows the style I am referring to: “So they agreed that they would have a race to decide which could run the faster, and on this race they bet their galls.” Instead of simply saying, “which could run faster,” the word the is inserted to give attention to the word faster. It made me realize how small changes can really make a difference to a reader, even if you think it is too minor to notice.  

I also had to look up the word gall to make sure I knew what the two animals were talking about as they bet who could win the race. I was correct that the word gall stood for gallbladder, but I never knew that when the name of that organ is shortened, it is referring to an animal’s gallbladder instead of a humans’.

(Antelope - Photographer Unknown)

The Wolf Man: I noticed the author mentioned what a piskun was in the author’s note. This was a helpful hint because I find myself constantly looking up the meaning of words sprinkled throughout different texts.

The man moved away from his wives to a butte. When taking Geology last semester, I learned about buttes, so if you can believe it, my Geology class helped me better understand my Mythology and Folklore class.

Man, those two wives were brutal and clearly possessed seared consciences! It made me happy though to see animals come to man’s rescue instead of the other way around. The idea of a punishing society makes me think it was the Indian’s primal form of a government or court system.

Famous Last Words Week 9

I keep writing this every time I do a Famous Last Words post, but I think my best writing for the week came from my Bible Women Storybook. This week, I revised my second story, and when I read back through it, I was super proud of my writing! I had a few corrections to make, but overall, the story flowed well from top to bottom, and it fit seamlessly with my overall theme.

When I want to get into the writer’s groove, I usually try to write all of my thoughts down, not worrying about the grammar or correct formatting. This way, I can let my mind breathe and rest from the anxiety of looking at a blank page. Once I get on a roll, I keep writing until I see an ending point. After I complete all of my thoughts on a Word document, I read back through the story to correct the spelling mistakes, complete confusing sentences or omit empty thoughts. I want to start looking for images on Pinterest instead of just Google Images because I like it when I can find paintings of the objects or people.

I went to Cancun, Mexico this week for spring break, which was so much fun! I went with three of my girlfriends that I used to live with when I lived in Oklahoma. Since I am graduating in May and getting married in June, I wanted to have one last trip taking advantage of my spring break. When we were there, we had a lot of great conversation and most of it was about the books we were reading. I decided to re-read The Screwtape Letters because the first time I read it I only reached the half way point before I switched to a new book. It was full of so many intelligent and convicting thoughts. It opened my eyes to the ways I can be tricked into thinking I am being righteous when really I am being a hypocrite.

(Turtle in Cancun, Mexico - Photo by csp_lunamarina)