Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Assignment 9

1. Happiness is, quite simply, that which causes you pleasure.

2. I take joy in sports and physical activity. Happiness is rooted in companionship, which comes from being on a team, which is something that sports provide. I also take joy in music, because listening to music connects you to the artist and to other fans, so it again comes back to companionship. When I go canoeing down a river with David Reiersgord, I feel happiness because I am reminded of the joy that I take in the things that he has quit doing. (football)

3. The little things that make me happy throughout a day are when people say hi to you in the hallway. The people that I don't really know make some effort to make me happy, that is what reestablishes my faith in humanity.

4. One person whose happiness that I am impact is Grace. When I am not happy, then Grace is not happy. When I am having a good day, then Grace is having a good day. Our relationship is remarkable.

5.My greatest need in life is love. When I feel loved, or have seen the evidence of love that is reflected towards me, I am happy.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Assignment #7

1. I appreciated writing poetry, because there aren't really strict rules that dictate what you can say, or the subject of your writing. This freedom allows writers to further develop, inside the parameters of the prompt, which inspires directed yet creative writing.



2. One of my pieces that I liked the most was a poem called Statement of Style. It was just a commentary about social interactions, and how people portray themselves in society in order to cause a predetermined conclusion about themselves. It was easy to write about because I see these things everyday, and so I just kind of thought about them and wrote. The poem ended up being a political commentary at the end, which was not what I had originally intended, but it kind of transformed from what I had envisioned, but I liked the change and kept the ending.

3.I find that I write best when given a prompt that has some connection into my mind. What I end up writing is probably not directly applicable to the prompt, but that's where the writer's creative license gives way to greatness. Giving a little instruction is where things work out best.

4. As I approach college choices, I still don't know what I'm going to do and I have thought about journalism. Writing news in a newspaper or some kind of societal analysis would be interesting, but it also lends way to observing the different kinds of biases different authors inflect into their writing.