Reflection 4

There are a number of things the past three reflections have taught me about my own writing.

ONE

I can’t stand a formal tone. I thought, at first, that a formal tone was appropriate for these writings. It seemed to me that my reflections would read better if I used the long words and spotless grammar characteristic of sentences you would read but not speak. This is not the case. After re-reading my first two reflections, I recognized that the over-wording sounds awkward and makes the writing ineffective.

In my third reflection, I attempted a casual tone, and I consider the results successful. I tried telling a personal anecdote to answer the prompt, which brings me to

TWO

Telling a story is effective. The cohesive narrative of Reflection 3 was much more effective in presenting a point than the essay-style writing of Reflections 1 and 2. This idea, in fact, is not one that just currently occurred to me.

I have recognized the strength of a plotline for a while now. In my senior year of high school, I was given the chance to present a speech in front of the National Honors Society student body and their parents. My only criteria were that the speech must define ‘character’ and present its importance. After a few unsuccessful rough drafts, I decided to frame my speech around the story of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The story of the Turtles, albeit simple and predictable, gave a perfect example of strong character: though the public doesn’t respect or thank the Turtles for what they do, the teenage heroes continue fighting crime because they know it is right. I consider the speech effective, not only because a few students mentioned it later but many parents did, too. One father told me later that he looked up the Ninja Turtles when he got home, having never heard of them before and, through my speech, convinced that they were a fictional group worth knowing.

The secondary bonus of telling a story is that the writing flows quickly and smoothly, as opposed to the choppy, tiresome process of essay-style writing. In this, I recognized

THREE

I like my writing more when it is done quickly. In my own opinion, my writing that flows out naturally and rapidly is much more effective than the writing that I have to trudge through. I am not ignoring the negative side to this method: quick writing is exceedingly simple and sometimes lacks the deep thoughts of well-thought-through writing. Maybe I am misunderstanding the assignment, but I believe that a “reflection” should be exactly the product of quick, natural writing: an expression of the thoughts that are most prominent in my mind at the time. I feel much more confident of my writing when I know it describes thoughts that I can stand behind, and with quick writing, there isn’t as much time to lead myself away from my true point.

THE EFFECT

of these three rules of writing are what the reader finds in Reflection 3. I am happy with this. Reflection 3 basically concluded with the idea that finding common ground with others is a method of inducing conversation. I saw this idea working perfectly in class. Whether you intended to or not, Professor, you brought the level of conversation to its peak when you asked about which exams we liked, and then soon afterwards when you brought up video games. College exams and video games are two subjects that most people my age know a lot about, and it was immediately obvious that conversation flowed actively between the classmates when they realized their common ground. I don’t propose the idea that my reflection inspired this. Instead, I am proud that the idea I presented clearly in my writing later had its effectiveness proved in class.

TO SUMMARIZE

Write quickly, simply, and with a story in mind.