The journal which was most enjoyable to write was a free-write argument I formed about why Mexican Americans should grasp their roots. It was very enjoyable because as a Mexican American who absolutely adores the Hispanic culture, I had a lot of things to say on my own opinion. My life has been filled with people denying that I could have an ounce of ethnic blood in me, yet I have been able to prove them wrong in the ways which I carry my own spirit. The subject itself has helped me as a writer. Some of the most powerful pieces I have ever written as an individual were during my visits to Mexico and the experiences which I have shared with my family there.
Writing this journal was an opportunity for me to find a form of self contentment and happiness. It did not feel like so much of an assignment as it seemed like an opportunity to tell someone about something I am passionate about. I have been a witness to people trying to free themselves of their roots in order to be more American, yet I crave the unique differences in an individual's background when I am talking to them and learning why they think the way they do. I really enjoyed this journal because it helped me realize that upon my next visit, I want to collect more examples of how the culture itself builds me up to be believe the things I do.
Writing this journal was an opportunity for me to find a form of self contentment and happiness. It did not feel like so much of an assignment as it seemed like an opportunity to tell someone about something I am passionate about. I have been a witness to people trying to free themselves of their roots in order to be more American, yet I crave the unique differences in an individual's background when I am talking to them and learning why they think the way they do. I really enjoyed this journal because it helped me realize that upon my next visit, I want to collect more examples of how the culture itself builds me up to be believe the things I do.
The journal which was most difficult to write was about bullshit, and I really think the essay itself resembles bullshit a little bit. While I was able to form an argument about why politicians and salesman make great bullshit artists, it was the inner conflicts that came of the topic as a whole. The more that I analyzed what turns a person into a "bullshit artist," the more I had to question if I was one, too!
Especially in argumentative writing, you have to do a lot of talking yourself up to sound like a reliable and interesting source. I had to realize that I have opinions leaning one way over the other because they obviously hold a benefit for me in the grand scheme of things. I believe that the more I wrote about how easy it was to despise politicians and salesmen who seem to haunt us, I was more capable of seeing how I used their tactics in much, much smaller arguments. I believe that this journal was difficult to write only because it came with a tough taste of honesty that did not put me in a positive feeling light. However, if I managed to write something that was able to influence my own thinking, I must have done something right!
Especially in argumentative writing, you have to do a lot of talking yourself up to sound like a reliable and interesting source. I had to realize that I have opinions leaning one way over the other because they obviously hold a benefit for me in the grand scheme of things. I believe that the more I wrote about how easy it was to despise politicians and salesmen who seem to haunt us, I was more capable of seeing how I used their tactics in much, much smaller arguments. I believe that this journal was difficult to write only because it came with a tough taste of honesty that did not put me in a positive feeling light. However, if I managed to write something that was able to influence my own thinking, I must have done something right!
The journal most important to your understanding of myself as a person were both journals 11 and 12 as they were reflections of one another. I feel as if these two journals which literally analyzed the thoughts of a journal allowed me to find some reasoning in why I keep private journals. Though this class has taught me a lot about how I view myself when voicing my opinion in a form of writing that would be heard by an undeclared audience, most of my battles of opinion are "fought" between the pages of a journal. I resolve my conflicts through pondering over the words I write that I am able to keep in these books.
The more I wrote about the creative abstract of this visual argument tackling how one event in a person's life can be stronger than is plainly visible, the more I understood how important it is that I keep writing even if nobody is going to read what I have to say. We spend so much time letting the voices and judgement of others float through our heads, but at the end of the day we are left alone with only ourselves. To grow as a human includes a lot of individual thinking that is not always easy. While having a face to face conversation with someone allows for seemingly immediate results in the topic of drawing a conclusion, writing never really has to be "finished." Journals 11 and 12 gave me a perfect example of how I am similar to the subject within them- when faced with conflicts I do favor analyzing the issues with words, and in order to understand much of the life around me, I absolutely need to keep writing every day.
The more I wrote about the creative abstract of this visual argument tackling how one event in a person's life can be stronger than is plainly visible, the more I understood how important it is that I keep writing even if nobody is going to read what I have to say. We spend so much time letting the voices and judgement of others float through our heads, but at the end of the day we are left alone with only ourselves. To grow as a human includes a lot of individual thinking that is not always easy. While having a face to face conversation with someone allows for seemingly immediate results in the topic of drawing a conclusion, writing never really has to be "finished." Journals 11 and 12 gave me a perfect example of how I am similar to the subject within them- when faced with conflicts I do favor analyzing the issues with words, and in order to understand much of the life around me, I absolutely need to keep writing every day.