Brian Crittenden - Journal #1

When it comes to writing, I’ve always had a love/hate relationship. Whenever I have been assigned to write a paper, I’ve always dreaded writing it, and most of the time I would procrastinate. However, whenever I actually sit down and start to write, I usually find it easy to express my thoughts. Like most students, I learned how to read and write at a young age. I first began to read with my parents, and then I furthered my reading abilities in elementary school. My favorite childhood books were the Dr. Seuss books. I don’t really have a favorite book currently, but I think Treasure Island by Robert Stevenson is a good book because it is packed with action and has many plot twists.

In my past English classes, the topics have ranged from grammar to reading novels to research papers and everything in between. For my junior and senior year in high school, I had the same English teacher. Her classes made me think about the relations between reading, writing, and humanity. In my opinion, her English classes helped prepare me for college, not only for future English courses but also for other courses. Some of the things we were assigned in her classes were creative group projects the combined research, hands on activity, and oral presentations. I did not take English 1105, but some of the tools I took from my high school English courses include proper citing, a creative writing approach, critical thinking/interpretation, and good oral presentations.

Reading and writing inspires me to be more creative with any work I have to do. When I read poems or short stories, I sometimes try to find the creative mindset from which the author was writing. Reading such works inspires me to find a creative mindset for the paper I’m writing. I wish to improve on reading at a faster pace and understanding more clearly what certain passages mean. Also, I wish to improve on writing more creative introductions and transitions.