Loving Letters

Short Assignment #1

What is good writing?

[Part # 1]

What do I like to read and write about.

My favorite type of books to read are aligned with my taste in writing and movies as well. Romance and Science Fiction are my favorite styles. For me, it is very natural to immerse myself in countless, lusty, and loving pages, filled with desires and many wishes. At a younger age, I would gravitate more easily towards a good movie, documentary, or family show. Then, as a strategy to develop a better reading habit when in my early school years, I decided to create a personal journal, and that led me to discover my love for a particular literary genre – Poetry.

I am a creative writer of sorts, a part-time poet and I like to hint on aspects of comedy often, as well. I take that from my dad (Thanks, dad)! Because of this, I, like him, have gravitated more towards those types of writing as it easily appeals to my creative sense. I still remember all the details that embellished my journal, filled with little notes among some poems that not even I would fully understand, erratic ’’heart’’ talks; creating artwork outside of an already work of art. After school, in my loneliness, I would look at shiny-shattered broken glass stones standing nearby, which often I had the habit of hand-picking from the nearby bus stop. I chose them for their engaging, almost blinding glow, and at the same time for purposes of matching my journal's content. When waiting for the bus, I would glue them onto the journal. The ones of color green, depicting emeralds, but for the most part the white, those ruled all over, embodying the many stars in the sky and all the hidden pearls in the deep blue sea. But my journal was not just that. My journal had so many drawings, the many colors particularly pink, green, and blue. The smell of the markers was intense – do you remember those 80’s and 90’s markers and their intoxicating scent? - that would not deter me, and space for art was running out fast. Yet, I would always find a way to stick another page on to it. I would carry my journal with me wherever I went, even when I went to school. The world is an incredible place to live in. No other place to live in as well. However, this world can trick us, change us – especially if you are a naïve teenager. One day, back in 1992/93, a couple of classmates decided to go through all the girl's unattended school bags and proceed to pretend to be reading them (embarrassingly scary, and insane – boys will be boys!). Still, the habit did not leave me. I am an over-comer, and I chose to get a new lock and respective set of keys. It was a heart-shaped lock. The gold in its color became all worn out and rusty pretty fast. It was a small and frail lock but, it served its purpose even though, I would often leave it unlocked for fear of breaking it, and that is why I would often leave it unlocked. Carrying it led me to be more in tune with the emotional aspects of my teenage years. It gave me a sense of comfort and security. I am a romanticist and because I am such a dreamer, many times an anonymous poet. I write about the impossible. I mean, not many people would find interesting writing about the unattractive, name of the Corpse Flower, Amorphophallus titanium a ‘’heavy-set’’ weight flower that can weight about 75 Kg, roughly 165.346697 Lb.!

What is good writing ?

Since the beginning of history, it has been an important part of humanity - the process of writing is what makes us human. According to the Oxford dictionary, the word writing is explained as – ‘’the activity of writing, in contrast to reading, speaking, etc.’’ So, to prove good writing skills, another concept and distinction are needed: Academic and non-academic writing (and/or fiction) and the use of a third element is also required. Why writing in Japanese differs greatly from writing in Portuguese, and writing in Arabic differs greatly from writing in Russian? Each of these languages has not only its own set of rules but also styles. Non-academic writing, for instance, is conveyed in a way that touches best people’s hearts through the writing of emotion. Baring that in mind, what is good writing? Or what skills does one need for good writing? It is a great question, especially, but overall, considering my meager understanding. Nonetheless, words cannot fully explain what good writing all is about. The power of writing is much about sharing. A well written academic book will create a sense of familiarity based on facts and knowledge. For example, a physics book would not just jump into explaining the complexities of E=MC2. In opposition to good writing, writing ‘’that could be better’’ really it is both a simple, yet complex answer because it mostly comes down to how well the writer connects with his target audience. This is especially true for love stories. From ’’The Wuthering Heights’’ to ‘’Odyssey’’, to ‘’1984’’, to ‘’Pride and Prejudice’’. Many have been the masterpieces that have filled and misshaped our imagination with new beautiful or strange worlds. Other books have had other purposes throughout History. The Bible, the Tora or the al-Quran provide spiritual guidance. Poetry is also a different kind of writing. Poe, Shakespeare, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, etc. Nevertheless, we are not going to dwell in such masterpieces.

Share an example of a piece of writing that you find interesting.  Describe what you like about it.

The quotations I bring to you are presented all in the same book - ‘’The Bible’’, which is my all-time favorite. A huge, enriched compilation of a few sacred books that are divided into two sections, The Old Testament and the New Testament. In this particular book, the book of the ‘’I Corinthians’’ is, in my humble opinion, the kindest and simplest description of the word love - ‘^’Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now, we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love''.

Key terms:

• Love,
• Faith,
• Hope,
• Pass away,
• Patience,
• Knowledge,
• Trust.

What reactions stuck with me.

Particularly feeling flooded by the Spirit, as I strongly believe in the veracity and power of these professed words - they shake my core, yet again, because this type of writing renews and affirms my belief that there is hope for those like me that have yet to find the face of true love, therefore, ultimately, just want to hang on to the thread of hope; hope that one day it will get to be their day, my day, even maybe your day if you so wish. Such is the power of writing, in excellence. 

I aspire to become better with the more I write and read. I oftentimes look for a pen and paper to simply practice writing, be it loose thoughts, activities, errands, anything. It is clearly a win-win scenario because it is extremely gratifying, it wakes a special need within myself, voicing to my ‘’future-self’’  warnings and suggestions in how to become the best version of myself. I may fear a stanza but will not skip any chapter; although it might sound bizarre, the gain is in learning from mistakes, and those are necessary to witness the rise of a true star. And I envision sometime from now, using the art of writing as holding a tinny brush and with each brush-stroke, setting an image as of a painting or composing a symphony, note after note all in a sequence that must follow a specific scale and tempo. Eliciting feelings, emotions, forming a message that will be passed on again and again and again. Writing with emotion is the most powerful way of writing, sounding like music to one’s ears, the composing of an amazing symphony.

What is good writing? Part #2 Billy Collins’ commencement address

Quote any parts that “speak to you”. Explain.

‘’For the Poetic, the past is simply a source of nostalgia and regret. Susan Sontag, a confirmed subscriber to the Poetic view, once wrote: “Just wait until now becomes then and you will see how happy we were.”

‘’ Robert Lewis Stevenson, representing the Pessimistic view once said concerning the Future that, “everybody sooner or later will sit down to a banquet of consequences,” to which I can only add “Pass the butter.”

‘’I am amused by Philip Lopate’s feeling that the Present is vastly overrated and actually irritating because it keeps interfering with two of his favorite anxieties: lamenting over the past and worrying about the future. It takes a certain temerity to actually disparage the Present. It is too fleeting even to contemplate.. We can assess the present only after it has passed. Or so we may think.

The above three quotations I have chosen were based upon:

Humor, and merely because of its factual simple truth, that most people can relate with. The speech transformed my mood. In fact, it placed me in a great mood, it made my brain giggle.

Is this text “successful” according to the criteria you defined earlier? If so, how? If not, why not?

It was a pleasant read, that I consider as being a success. I never lost interest, kept me engaged from the beginning to the end. The writer gave me sense of familiarity and was able to convey happy emotions, using a very effective comic style throughout the reading.

Do you want to revise your list of key terms based on this reading? If so, explain what you would revise (or not) and why (not).

No,  I don’t wish to revise it because I believe the ones I have chosen, are aligned with the emotions the writer wanted to convey.

 

Reference list:

Oxford dictionary (11/09/2020). Writing <www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/writing>

Wikipedia (11/09/2020). Corpse Flower <https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amorphophallus_titanum>

Sonia Aguiar