Creative Writing Reflection

This was a good semester for my writing. Especially for my creative writing. Since I've entered this class, I have found myself actually attempting to use more writing prompts instead of just writing whatever comes to my head. With excercises I can still generate my own ideas while having at least a limit of what the story should be about.

The packets were a good idea too, because I could get more feedback from others about a whole collection of work instead of just small individual stories. The feedback was very good in this class, since it was nice to hear from other students. Sometimes that's the best person to review your work.

Overall, I'm glad I took this class. It was amazing and helpful. I enjoyed the assignments and I hope to take another class like this in the future.

Sunday

Honestly,  I was kind of surprised this was short. Cause it was an essay packet, I thought this was going to be a long written essay. But I'm going to get to the point. Sunday, was a well written account of a young African American applying for a job at a restaurant run by a white family. I like the fact that it's very relatable and realistic. The protagonist is clearly annoyed with the fact that the 'white people can't  cook.' often pointing out little flaws in their style of cooking while describing various techniques that his or her family used in cooking.

The essay makes surprisingly good use of flashback and detail in its short time. For example when the protagonist details how their grandfather would 'Stir the mint leaves with sugar...'. I thought that was a pretty good use of flashback. The ending is pretty funny too seeing as how they point out the fact that white people need black people because of our cooking prowess.

When it Rains it Rains a River

The short story When it Rains it Rains a River was pretty confusing but a pretty accurate story detailing what its like to be a young man. The confusing half lays mainly its descriptions of various activities that they do. This is shown mainly in the first paragraph where the protaganist (possibly the older brother) describing what they do when it rains. "Us brothers, we love mud. We sing and we sing until the rain stops falling down."  So it's clear they're relatively young and this is another bonding excperience that they have.

It's just in the second half where a mountain called 'Girl' is built. I thought that was kind of a metaphor for when young boys go through puberty. But it also kind of just felt like another activity that they do in the rain...

The Blackend Eye

The Blackened is most certainly one of the more grim stories I've read. Mainly because of it's dark content and detailed depictions of being the victim of a rapist. But despite it's grim and almost hopeless story, there is a lot of depth in this story. Most of it lies within its writing style.

The author really helps you connect to the character and experience what she's going through. You feel terrible for her, because this guy who kidnapped her is a sick man. He beats her, rapes her then includes her in another kidnapping. The author even leaves the protagonist's feeling about the whole ordeal to be ambiguous, which I think is pretty good on the author's part. It leaves the reader wondering and discussing the ending.

Writing Fiction

After reading Burroway's guide to writing fiction, it opened my eyes to why and how we write fiction. Specific details, an Active voice, Rhythm and connections some of the many ways to write convincing fiction for your audience This makes sense, because without any of these in your story your audience will barely remember your story.

I really enjoyed the examples in the packet too, because they demonstrated everything that should go into writing a fictional story. It gave me some inspiration to write some of my own short stories. I'm looking forward to this new chapter on writing fiction, it sounds like it'll give me some more inspiration for my own stories.

Parade

After reading the poem 'Parade' a few times, I finally began to get an understanding of what was going in this poem. The poem is set during a march, as seen in the line that mentions the planning of a parade which could mean a march for freedom. The later lines when they mention the motorcycle cops being white.  A first reading makes you think this is about an actual parade but after looking at some of the other lines in the poem the setting becomes a little clearer.

I feel as if the author of this poem is making a statement about the time that this poem takes place in. Pointing out the point of view of those who watched and or opposed the Civil Rights movement. In the last line of the poem, "I never knew there were so many negroes." This could be referenceing the people who are genuinely ignorant of the Civil Rights movement and the trails African Americans had to go through.

Writing and Me

I have always enjoyed writing. It served as an outlet for my overactive imagination as a child. I could write down my ideas and give them life. Since I was 5 years old I have always written my own stories, ranging from outrageous school stories to quiet super hero stories. It wasn't until high school I began get serious about my writing. My stories had intriguing plots, characters with backstories, and imaginative worlds. I was actually writing every day until I began to get more involved in school. Writing papers was easy for me, although I wasn't a big fan of school writing since it was a bit boring to me.

Now, I would like to focus on my fictional stories. Because fiction has always been my forte I would like to work more on writing fiction. I 've always had some trouble with detail in my stories and I would like to strengthen it. I want the reader to get a clear picture of the character's face and the world they live in. I'm sure after taking this class my writing will be filled with details.