The Value of Studying English Literature
I have always been an avid reader, since I was a little kid. I loved to escape into other worlds and try to place myself in the shoes of others, whether it brought me into a school of wizardry or inside of a magic wardrobe. As I’ve grown in my education and my understanding of literature, this idea of “putting oneself into another person’s shoes” still reigns true, except I feel that it implies my development of empathy rather than escaping into a daydream or fantasy. Literature breeds connection, and it bridges the worlds of people together in order to create understanding.
Writing is one of the world’s longest-running tools in order to share stories and ideas. It allows other perspectives to be shared to people who may never meet each other, it shows the truth of reality to those who may never get to experience a certain perspective, and it spreads ideas. If I couldn’t write down my thoughts onto a piece of paper, I would not understand my own self as much as I do today. The same sentiment works with other people’s thoughts. Literature reflects the most brilliant of minds along with the most dangerous of minds, and these voices are used to teach us how to best live our lives in a world that humans are constantly seeking to navigate and understand. This is exactly why I believe there is such value in studying English literature. If we cannot see beyond our own selves, how can we know that we are actually benefiting the world around us?
My Personal Writing Process
My writing process usually starts with searching for quotes. As I read a novel or a poem, I read with a pencil in hand to find important quotes. Some of them are simply for my enjoyment, and others I know will be helpful when I eventually have to begin my analysis of the writing. Usually, I am able to find a pattern within the quotes that help me to organize them into a concept or theme that I want to focus my paper on. If I cannot do that and I have to brainstorm ideas for a paper, I simply go through the writing again to try and find more quotes that apply to my idea for a thesis.
The next step is creating an outline out of the quotes that I have highlighted. I always make an outline, starting with each of my claims and the subsequent quotes that I believe help support my claims. The thesis finds itself about halfway through this process, and the introduction and conclusion wait their turn until I begin to start fleshing out the outline into an actual paper. I feel as if I cannot make an intro or conclude my paper until I have placed all of my analysis and all of my interpretation into the paper. My conclusions feel stronger when I feel there is a full paper created before I begin to write it.
I flesh out my quotes and topic sentences into paragraphs, and once I have a complete first draft I begin the revision process. Revisions can go different ways depending on whether or not I have the ability to submit rough drafts to my professor or not. A one-time paper that I can only submit when I believe it is complete requires a visit to the writing center and a few peer edits, but with this English 305 class I can ask my professor for advice with my revising. I believe that my best work usually occurs when I have allowed more than one set of eyes to critique my work, rather than when I am the only one to look at my paper and make judgments of it. However, I am becoming more and more confident in my personal work, and my use of peer review is now only for small areas of confusion that I may have in my writing.
Individual Style
Quote analysis has always been my strong suit in writing papers. The minute that I can find a quote that can support my claim, I utilize it. I also have a great sense of organization when it comes to how I structure my paper and the point that I seek to argue. My topic paragraphs flow well into the next, and the way that I present the continued analysis of a topic stays consistent and balanced.
When it comes to fatal flaws in my writing process, generality is mine. I cannot think of an accurate number of times that I have been told that my first drafts of papers have been too general. I struggle to focus on what I really want my claim to be until I have spent enough time with the material. My work in my process portfolio shows the efforts that I have put in this semester to focus on improving my writing. By focusing on the content and working on making very clear claims with enough support, I’ve begun to improve my ability to make solid claims and to avoid general statements in my writing.
