Favorite Author

One book that I really enjoyed in high school was recommended to me by my AP Lang teacher. I told her that I was planning on attending The Citadel in South Carolina (obviously that changed). She told me about Pat Conroy’s book, The Lords of Discipline. It’s about a senior cadet at the Military Academy in South Carolina who is charged with looking over the first black student admitted to the school. His strongest tools in the book were imagery and analogy. Now I am pretty familiar with a lot of the military terms and the process at the school because I applied at this school and the Naval Academy so the analogies weren't too necessary; but I can imagine that for someone who knew nothing, that they would be able to follow the story fairly easily. He does a really good job a relating and explaining the situation and that can help with the ethical side of the story. A lot of the corruption and foul play that goes on in the book is done by superiors and that’s important to note because the events wouldn't seem as dramatic if one didn't understand that. The imagery is what I love in this book. I went to the school and stayed there overnight to see it. When I read the book I could see myself exactly where Mr. Conroy was describing. I was in the hallways and running on the beach with the cadets. Because of the scenes painted in my head the emotional side of the book came out so much easier. It was like I was living the book and couldn't put it down.

My favorite author

 The way a story is written can greatly influence how well it is accepted.  One of my favorite books is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain.  Huckleberry Finn is a wonderful adventure story of a young boy and his friend named Jim.  During the course of the book, Huck Finn and Jim travel down the Mississippi River, coming across many instances of danger and excitement.  I love this book because it’s a great adventure story, but it also is very well written.  Mark Twain does an excellent job appealing to his audience.  One of the things that he does, that I really like, is the use of local dialect. Twain has many of the characters speak as if they are from the south, since the setting of the book is the southern part of America. By having the characters use this language; it adds appeal to the books plot and characters.  It makes everything in the book more exciting because we aren't use to such language when we read.  Another thing that Twain does well is visualization.  Twain does a great job explaining the setting and the story without making it complicated.  As a reader this is very nice because you aren't trying to piece the thought process of the writer together, instead you can just read and enjoy the book.  The last thing that I love about Mark Twain’s writing is that there is always a deeper meaning behind his story.  He has great life lessons as themes that can be found throughout his work, especially in Huckleberry Finn.  The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a wonderful novel that I would recommend to anyone.

Style- Andy Cummock

I often think back to my humanities class when I hear the word "style".   More specifically about the process for critical writing, or in other words, responding to our experiences with certain arts.  We learned that the effectiveness of a critical response is split into three parts: the purpose, the style, and the audience.  The three are interconnected and when used properly, makes an essay effective.  First being, what is your purpose? Then, who is your audience? And lastly, Does your style fulfill your purpose and appeal to your audience?  So for me style plays a big role and also gives you voice in your paper.  It makes your unique and stand out from the crowd.  When I write my papers I feel like I often write without style, more of an methodical way of expressing what my claims and reasons.  Thus my papers often have a strong logos appeal and very little emotional appeals.  This is probably due to the fact that I haven't quite been able to put my "voice" into my writing.  Because when I'm around my friends, I like to laugh and have fun.  However, when I'm writing I feel like I have to go into processor mode.  Like a computer putting out data.  I mean let's face it, everybody has had that class where the professor talks monotone and within five minutes puts everyone to sleep.  That to me, says he has failed to appeal to his audience, that he has no connection with them and like a chain reaction, he can't fulfill his purpose.  Its like having all long sentences in your essays, without good diction or syntax.  It makes for a boring and plain waste of reading.  Which is why I believe, humor can help build that connection and relate yourself with your readers.  But of course everything in moderation, too much humor and your not going to be able to make a convincing argument about your issue.  So I feel like I am always faced with this problem. I like to organize my ideas and my paper with outlines and a lot of planning.  But the funniest moments I remember are always spontaneous and unrelated.  This makes it a challenge for me to put my voice in my writing while still maintaining a professional writing style.  Its something I believe through free writing can be improved to sound more fluid and more real.  So definitely something to work on for the next paper.

Christoffersen Style

I have never thought that everyone has there own style and that our own style is what can make a paper unique. I have always thought that everyone was trying to develop the right way to wright a paper, and that this way was the only. But after thinking about it i realize that if there was just one style, then reading would be very boring. The style that i use when i wright is usually emotional, backed up with facts, and with something that can help the audience relate. I believe that this helps the reader understand, enjoy and agree with what i write. But what my writing style doesn't include but my personality does is humor. I am not very good at writing humorously. I feel like being funny a lot of the times is on the spot. But knowing this makes me wonder how well being funny can help you in a paper. The style that i use also doesn't have to do much with big and fancy words (losing half of your vocabulary because of learning spanish doesn't help either). But rather the words that i usually use in my every day life. Because of high school i always thought that the papers that received good scores were those with words that have to be looked up in the dictionary to understand. One  of the things that i would like to improve on in my style is being able to create a better flow with in my paper. This includes from paragraph to paragraph and from sentence to sentence. The second area that i want to improve in my writing is being able to organize my information in a better way.

style

everyone has a style. from clothes worn, to friends chosen, to words written, we all have a brand for ourselves. trying to put that style into words can be a bit difficult sometimes, however, and if done in the first person. i think we all look at our writing style through the lens of pride, which may be an improper representation of our style, but no matter!
i diagnose my style as primarily wordy. i love choosing big, juicy, words from an ever expanding vocabulary to paint what i am trying to say. and while choosing these words is one of my favorite components of the writing process, it is also one of the most frustrating. something "on the tip of your tongue" is almost debilitating, when you know that a phrase could drive home your point, you just can't draw it to the surface. that being said, reading through a final draft with a few diamond words amidst the rough makes it all worth it.
my style also tends to be more vague than i aim for. to save readers from something repetitive i often skip some of my thought process, and lack a comprehensive map for my audience to follow. with rereading and revisions this is easily remedied, especially with the help of peers.
finally i think my style is a little bit unorthodox. i don't love following all conventional writing techniques. i try to stick to things like varying sentence length, and a clear style, but especially concerning things like five paragraph essays, the bare bones model isn't exactly my style. i am more of a blog writer, or humorous writer; i love writing in a more casual setting.
maybe i am selling myself for more than i am worth, or completely missing the mark on others perceptions of my style, but this is my "diagnosis"!

Writing Style-Sterling Paulson

Writing style definitely varies from person to person, but I feel like aspects of our writing style can be described using universal terms. My own writing style seems to be fairly logical.  I think a lot of this stems from my writing process. I begin by making an outline and listing my main ideas on it. I then use these main ideas to build paragraphs by adding supporting information. Due to this, my writing is very straight forward and tends to be very organized. I find this to be useful because it helps me make sure I am tying everything back into my thesis and staying on topic. This means that my writing style is easy to follow for the reader, but it tends to lack in emotional appeal. Something that this Op Ed assignment has helped me to realize is that I can improve my writing style by directly addressing my audience, as well as by sharing personal experiences with them. This seems to help people relate to me and my viewpoint, which is helpful when you are trying to convince them. As far as sentence length and syntax goes, I tend to use medium-length sentences, oftentimes with ideas, introductory phrases or commentary on subjects tied together through commas. The only issue that I have with this is that I sometimes feel like my sentences get too wordy or do not have enough variation in length. As a whole I feel like my writing style is logical and organized when writing on a topic, but I also feel like there is plenty of room for improvement.

Thomas Style

Writing style is very important in writing and it’s what keeps the reader interested in the paper. I find that many times when I read, I lose my focus really fast because the author is really bland (like my Engineering teacher in high school). Yes, everyone has a different writing style, but I have to admit a lot of writing styles are very similar.  I tend to lean more towards a creative way of writing just because it drags my mind away from my daily troubles and clutter in life. I feel like the Joker sometimes when it comes to writing and I think he puts it best in most cases, “Why so Serious?”. Yes, I know sometimes writing needs to be serious in order to persuade or call others to action. The fun stuff to read, however, is more humoristic. I like to add humor to my writing but at times it’s hard to find the appropriate time to add in a joke or two.

I do have trouble in my writing once every so often. I tend to repeat what I say when I need my paper to be longer. I tend to repeat what I say when I need my paper to be longer. It’s always a challenge for me to write a lot because I tend to say what I need to say pretty quickly then I go back through my paper to add in those “filler” words and sentences.  As always I need to work on my writing and I can always do better at my writing style.