I have always endeavored to improve my essay writing,
because it can always be enhanced! Over the past couple years, I have developed
some strengths. For example, writing a strong essay question is something I
have become proficient at. I can find a good idea to use for the thesis based
on the given reading material. I have also
become adept using good transitions between sentences and paragraphs. It does
take multiple revisions for me to get these right though.
However,
I also have several weaknesses as a writer. I have trouble not switching from
past tense to present tense; I have to constantly reread my essay out loud
to make sure I haven’t switched tenses in the middle of a paragraph. I also
have to be careful about not writing "run on" sentences. I know we were taught
how to avoid this in elementary school, but, even now, I use so many commas and
semicolons that some of my sentences go on forever! Once again, reading the
essay aloud to myself helps me to find these errors.
One
goal that I have this semester for my essays based on the tips and points in
our reading material is: to improve the “voice” of my writing. Sometimes my
writing may make sense, and have the proper connecters, but when you actually
read it, it doesn’t sound natural, or flow quite right. My goal is to be able
to recognize when this happens, so that my writing sounds more consistent. I’m
hoping to improve this by working on my diction, so that the language sounds
more natural to people when read aloud.
Hey Celine! I really enjoyed reading your post because I noticed that the areas of essay writing that you do well in are actually the areas that I tend to struggle with. For example, unlike you, my transition sentences are quite terrible and I usually struggle in establishing an essay question. With that said, I admire you for your essay writing abilities and I hope to improve these areas.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you in that it is a fabulous idea to read your essays aloud. Like you said, reading an essay aloud can help you to catch mistakes that you would have otherwise ignored. I know it's bad, but I usually ignore this step in the proof-reading process. Thanks for reminding of the benefits of doing so.
I enjoyed reading your post. I also need to improve the "voice" of my writing as well. I agree that it is a good idea to read the essay out loud even though I usually ignore this step even though you can get someone else to read your essay out loud because there could be something wrong with the sentence structure when the reader is having difficulties reading the sentence.
ReplyDeleteI know in high school I really had trouble with tense shifts too. It sometimes helps to remember that when you're writing about literature you should always be writing in present tense UNLESS you're talking about the historical context. However, you can still sometimes slip, so that's why you need to have someone else read your work. Don't be too concerned about developing your own distinctive voice yet. That's something that comes with time. I've been writing for a very long time and I'm still working on it.
ReplyDeleteI also seem to have trouble with not switching tenses. It can be really difficult to realize that you're not switching tenses when you're just trying to get your point across. Run on sentences are something I struggle with as well. I agree that there is always room for improvement when it comes to writing!
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