Advanced Composition Final



1/13/14

As I strolled into the first workshop of Advanced Composition, thoughts poured into my head: What if my writing isn’t good enough? What if people judge me? What if my teacher doesn’t like it? As my group began reading their Name Pieces, I eventually discovered that mine was nothing like theirs. Even though my essay was something that no one else could produce, I became nervous before I allowed the words to escape my mouth. My hands started to sweat, my throat started to swell up, and my words ran through my lips like an auctioneer. Concluding my paper, I looked up and found that all over my white virgin paper was a sea of purple streaks clearly pointing out my mistakes.

After seeing the distinct purple streaks on my paper, I immediately got nervous...again. As my peers and my teacher criticized my paper, they all came to agreement that they couldn’t envision what I was writing. I was clueless on how to make my writing visual to people. So that night I got home, dashed up the stairs to my room, booted up my computer and got out my purple stained paper.

I sat at my desk for a while before I came up with a second idea for my name piece...rugby. Rugby is such an uncommon sport, especially for young woman, like me. I was positive that this time my paper would allow the reader to visualize what I was saying. Satisfied with my writing, I handed in my paper a second time. A few days later I got it back...with about the same amount of purple streaks on it as the first time. I reviewed the familiar purple stained paper, which had similar comments as my original paper. I got home that afternoon, begrudgingly walked up the stairs, plopped myself down at my desk, got my purple stained paper out, and began to type. I decided to tell a story about myself that few kids my age have gone through-- which was experiencing my dad move across the country. As my fingers caressed the keys, I grew emotional. I wasn’t just writing my story, I could envision it in my mind. I got to school the next day, and turned in my paper for the third time. I waited a few days until I got my paper back. I reviewed it and discovered that the only purple streaks on my paper were comments, and not edits.

Showing a reader my story was something I failed at a few times while being in Advanced Composition. I wanted to give up on the concept, but I knew if I kept trying to teach myself, that I would eventually be able to catch on. Being in this class has taught me many things, but being able to show the reader my story is one of the most valuable.