Writing that moves me

Writing that moves me....

In this assignment, the class was asked to write about a piece of writing that touched us. I wrote about a quote. I think that quotes withhold the most powerful meaning behind them, you just have to know how to decipher them.

Creating a powerful piece of writing can require much effort. It has to entail not only passionate meaning but also utilize flawless grammatical creativity. With the two pieces combined, it creates a beautiful song that can touch anyone’s soul. The unique and perplex combination is used by various writers that have gone beyond the stage of ordinary writing in order to move the reader. Recently, I came across the quote, “Don’t just look, observe…Don’t just swallow, taste…Don’t just sleep, dream…Don’t just think, feel…Don’t just exist, live...” (Unknown) This quote was able to capture my attention for numerous reasons including passion, meaning and grammatical originality.

The first part of creating a beautiful piece of work that can touch people is the meaning. Meaning is the part of the song that is the lyrics. Without lyrics, there would be no fully functional song. Just like without meaning there would be no passion to the writing. Thus no point to the writing to which is an essential part. There is one general significance to the quote previously stated; that is not to exist, but to live. This writing personally influences me in several ways. The writer talks about basically how people don’t just need to survive but actually experience things to the fullest. Too often people take life for granite. We just see with our eyes but don’t really observe what we are looking at. Meals are not enjoyed, but swallowed and consumed for just energy purposes to move on with the day. Sleeping becomes a requirement to renew our bodies but is never enjoyed just to dream. And work becomes so over bearing that we shove feelings aside to constantly think. Combining all of these habits of our daily lives, it becomes a repetitive process in which we are just existing but not living. Another reason that this quote is powerful is because the message is relatable to almost anyone. I think that having a meaning be relatable is a potent and effective technique to use because it can really communicate a clear message to the reader. This quote as a whole has introduced me into a new mindset. Instead of taking life everyday as just life, I want to embrace it and truly appreciate every moment that life has to offer. Now that the lyrics and message have been established, is crucial to place the lyrics with the right melody just like the message with the right grammatical methods.

When placing a structure to meaning, it is important to use the right techniques. In order to convey the point properly, the structure and meaning must flow. Just like you can’t place country lyrics to a classical melody. The entire point will be misconstrued and confusing to understand. The unknown author from the quote above did a good job with merging the so-called “lyrics” and “melody” to create the proper idea that the writer was trying to convey. He used the technique of repetition schemes, more specifically the method of anaphora. By using the word, “Don’t” at the beginning of each sentence; it creates an intense read that separates each piece of the whole. Also by separating the sentences with the three periods, it makes you pause and think about each section but not so much by separating each sentence by one period. It shows that it’s still a continued thought. With these grammatical structural skills and the previous meaning, the author was able to create an insightful and powerful piece of writing that inspired people. 

TIB

THIS I BELIEVE

      

  This project was to write our personal story on what we believe. As far as writing goes, I think that this is the most personal piece that I have ever wrote. It was very hard to write because it brought back a bunch of emotions that were very hard to reopen. Once completing this assignment, we had to upload it to the this I believe website.

I BELIEVE IN PERSEVERANCE
A week shy of my sixteenth birthday, I was living the typical teenager life. I was hanging out with friends, playing sports, and of course, procrastinating on doing homework.  Life was perfect and my future was bright. On the morning of my sixteenth birthday, my home phone received a call that shattered 
my life. The hospital was calling to inform my family on a CAT scan that I had received previously that week due to a minor volleyball related concussion. With unexpected results, the doctors needed to see me immediately.  The next day I received the news that I had a rare and incurable disease called NF2. NF2 is benign tumors that grow on the central nervous system. They also delightfully informed me that I would be deaf by the time that I graduated high school and there was nothing I could do about it. Upset and traumatized wouldn’t begin to describe how I felt.

To make matters worse, when I told people about it for support, my so-called friends weren’t there and my boyfriend dumped me. My family dealt with the news in various ways such as depression, alcoholism, and busily buried their minds in work. This was the first time in my life I had to stand on my two feet, and my two feet alone. I literally had no one. Shortly after, I fell into a depression, since afterschool friend hangouts became doctor appointments and weekday volleyball practices turned into chemotherapy sessions. The hospital became my second home, but sometimes it felt like my first. I was lost, terrified, abandoned and felt like there was no future.

 These emotions and hopelessness continued until one day I was sitting in the infusion room and decided that enough was enough. A thought was planted in my head that day and I’ll never forget it. It was, sure I have Nf2, but it doesn’t define me. Who I was and who I thought I should become wasn’t who I was meant to be.  But that’s okay. I will be better. I decided from then on that any obstacle that I was going to face, no matter what, I would preserver and never give up.

Two years later, during my senior year of high school, I had to receive brain surgery to de-bulk one of the tumors and relearn how to walk. But I pushed through it and graduated three months later with scholarships, a 4.2 GPA and full hearing.  I found new friends and a new boyfriend worthwhile. My family dealt with their issues and became a backup support system. While my disease is incurable and still requires regular chemotherapy infusions, doctor appointments, surgeries, and MRI’s, I no longer let the fear of the unknown frighten and define me; I know whatever obstacles come my way, I will strive through them. I strongly believe that perseverance has laid the foundation to create my own backbone of strength. Without perseverance, I’d be a shadow of the person that I am today.

Inquiry

Inquiry Question 2

Growing up, I was surrounded by friends always commenting on their body image. As I got older, I started to question where these thoughts derived from. Where is there a sign saying that this is the perfect body image and that everyone should strive to be there. I have researched this topic and I have found some interesting things. I think that skewed body image starts with the media. There are many words in there that make young girls mind think that they have to look and even act in a certain way. 

http://www.nursingcenter.com/prodev/ce_article.asp?tid=1024096

This was an article I found on girls body image and how the media can skew it. It also explains what a normal teenage girl should look like and by either trying to fit the perfect body image they are depleting their health.

This article  below also talks about the negative side affect that photoshop can do. It demonstrates that photoshop can be used to completely and massively retouch the entire system.

http://www.squidoo.com/photoshop-retouch

This picture shows how bad that retouching can be.

Inquiry Question

My inquiry question is, how the negative media, such as magazines, tv and internet has skewed girls perspectives on their own bodies.

ABOUT ME

    My name is McKinnon Galloway. I am a sophomore at UNCC and I am currently undecided. I have lived in charlotte for 14 years. I am a really outgoing person that loves to spend time outside. I am really involved in the community by doing thinks such as volunteering and working. I am involved in campus life and am apart of Chi Omega. I am undecided because I love to do so many things. My life is filled with friends, sports and academics. This blog is for my English Two class. The purpose of this blog is to improve my writing through implementing my own personal voice with the proper grammar. For outside readers, this blog is  great way to see my writing process improve and to be able to capture my thoughts on who I am. As far as blogging goes, I actually don't mind it and think that it is a great way to be able to speak your mind.