Part 2 of Random Essays - Eng. I Portfolio Assignment
Favorite Essay – “Incident in a Rose Garden”
I wrote this essay at home. It is my favorite largely because of its subject, Death. I have a morbid interest in the Grim Reaper and I thought the twist at the end was clever. Additionally, I thought about it, to such an extent, weaving it with what I knew of Death beforehand in my head, that I believe it safe to say it helped me to gain a clearer perspective of Death as it will affect me in my life. Needless to say, the cogitating I did was pitifully represented on paper. To speak of Death, I felt I somehow had to tie to it every aspect of life, and I fruitlessly attempted that impossible task, then, panicking because I knew it meandered, began scrubbing away the excesses until the result was terribly unclear. Speaking of unclear, this sentence definitely is. However much I may dislike the destination, the journey I enjoyed a great deal. I'm giving clichés a bad name. If I look at this essay in the future, I will remember that I used to think this way, and be able to pinpoint when my views began to change. That, to me, is the ultimate in the learning process, a triumphant moment in the work of progress that is my life. My thesis was fairly simple, and I had hoped a general statement would allow me to deviate a bit, but I strayed much, so that was of little help. The idea that humans for the most part have no say in when they leave this world has intrigued me ever since I realized my own existence. That's very melodramatic. I think I wrote the summary in the introduction a bit better than before. Unfortunately for myself, my standards seem to slide past those of the school, never quite coinciding. Some things never change. The mental challenges, due to other concerns in my life at the time of writing this essay, that I had to, if not overcome, then face, make this essay a personal pet and overwhelm, in my mind, the obvious flaws. This is an awful plea for mercy.
Most Challenging Essay – “The Odyssey”
I wrote this essay during class. Regretfully, I did not overcome the challenges that confronted me in this essay. I have loved this story for years and became so caught up in the story, the narrative, that I indeed began to write short summaries rather than paragraphs. I so far forgot myself that I neglected to write proper topic sentences. Embarrassingly enough, I began to ramble. I do this regardless of liking the subject or not. Moreover, it was as if all the interesting bits were so firmly entrenched in the story itself that I could not pry them free for my essay. The Odyssey essay that I wrote is tedious and were I to look back on it, I would not cringe, nor wail, only throw it away. There is no merit in it, nothing to save it from deserving obscurity. I scrambled over the story, poring line by line to incorporate quotes, so if I rewrote this essay I would rather refocus my attention to supporting my thesis with appropriate concrete detail and commentary. Since I have not had this difficulty before, I am surprised that only now does it develop, and I think that it is the main reason I did so poorly. A hideous piece of work, this essay was.
“Writing Progress” Essay – “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”
I wrote this essay during class. I improved my organization and limited my commentary, generally, to what was pertinent. While I see how this essay is technically superior to previous ones, it has no heart in it for me to like. I literally was writing whatever came to mind, and it was an orderly mass of nothingness. Notice I have nothing to say.
I wrote this essay at home. It is my favorite largely because of its subject, Death. I have a morbid interest in the Grim Reaper and I thought the twist at the end was clever. Additionally, I thought about it, to such an extent, weaving it with what I knew of Death beforehand in my head, that I believe it safe to say it helped me to gain a clearer perspective of Death as it will affect me in my life. Needless to say, the cogitating I did was pitifully represented on paper. To speak of Death, I felt I somehow had to tie to it every aspect of life, and I fruitlessly attempted that impossible task, then, panicking because I knew it meandered, began scrubbing away the excesses until the result was terribly unclear. Speaking of unclear, this sentence definitely is. However much I may dislike the destination, the journey I enjoyed a great deal. I'm giving clichés a bad name. If I look at this essay in the future, I will remember that I used to think this way, and be able to pinpoint when my views began to change. That, to me, is the ultimate in the learning process, a triumphant moment in the work of progress that is my life. My thesis was fairly simple, and I had hoped a general statement would allow me to deviate a bit, but I strayed much, so that was of little help. The idea that humans for the most part have no say in when they leave this world has intrigued me ever since I realized my own existence. That's very melodramatic. I think I wrote the summary in the introduction a bit better than before. Unfortunately for myself, my standards seem to slide past those of the school, never quite coinciding. Some things never change. The mental challenges, due to other concerns in my life at the time of writing this essay, that I had to, if not overcome, then face, make this essay a personal pet and overwhelm, in my mind, the obvious flaws. This is an awful plea for mercy.
Most Challenging Essay – “The Odyssey”
I wrote this essay during class. Regretfully, I did not overcome the challenges that confronted me in this essay. I have loved this story for years and became so caught up in the story, the narrative, that I indeed began to write short summaries rather than paragraphs. I so far forgot myself that I neglected to write proper topic sentences. Embarrassingly enough, I began to ramble. I do this regardless of liking the subject or not. Moreover, it was as if all the interesting bits were so firmly entrenched in the story itself that I could not pry them free for my essay. The Odyssey essay that I wrote is tedious and were I to look back on it, I would not cringe, nor wail, only throw it away. There is no merit in it, nothing to save it from deserving obscurity. I scrambled over the story, poring line by line to incorporate quotes, so if I rewrote this essay I would rather refocus my attention to supporting my thesis with appropriate concrete detail and commentary. Since I have not had this difficulty before, I am surprised that only now does it develop, and I think that it is the main reason I did so poorly. A hideous piece of work, this essay was.
“Writing Progress” Essay – “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”
I wrote this essay during class. I improved my organization and limited my commentary, generally, to what was pertinent. While I see how this essay is technically superior to previous ones, it has no heart in it for me to like. I literally was writing whatever came to mind, and it was an orderly mass of nothingness. Notice I have nothing to say.
This is all very sappy and self-pitying.
