1. Include the link to your blog here: https://joshualaucreativewritingwriters.poetry.blog/
2. Which of your pieces most helped you identify or explore and develop your God-given abilities? Discuss.
During my time in high school, I came to understand that I am not an exceptional writer. I would even go as far as to say that during my freshman year and early sophomore year I was a terrible writer. However, as I was writing my restaurant review I found that I was able to put my ideas on paper with relative ease. My ideas now flowed out and I was able to focus more on details rather than struggling to figure out the structure of my essay. It was at this moment that I realized that I was able to develop as a writer and finally put my creativity to use.
3. Which of your pieces best demonstrates your ability to communicate effectively? Give three reasons and explain.
I believe that the Kite Runner( Final Essay) demonstrates my ability to communicate effectively as I was able to take an idea from the book, internalize it, and – in my opinion- effectively convey my observations to the reader. I introduced my main point immediately so that the reader would be able to get an idea about what my entire essay is about. Moreover, I was able to structure my essay in a way that introduces the reader to the idea before explaining my reasoning behind certain points. I also believe that I was able to help the reader understand my point by introducing the well-known story of David and Bathsheeba as a parallel example. By making sure the reader understood my main point and structuring my essay, I was able to effectively communicate my final statement to the reader. Furthermore, I was able to use an example to further bolster my statement.
4. Which piece either demonstrates striving for excellence or discusses striving for excellence and its importance in another area besides writing? Explain.
I believe that my Mini Kite Runner Essays demonstrates how I strive for excellence. Despite being assigned multiple essays during exam week. I still kept up with the kite runner books and completed my essays without sacrificing quality. At the risk of sounding conceited, I believe that it was my work ethic that allowed me to give 100% to everything that I do- whether it be writing essays or studying for exams. I believe that the piece that best demonstrates my drive to excel is my kite runner final as I was unsatisfied with my original draft so I rewrote it and implemented parts of my original draft into my final draft.
5. Which of your pieces explores why it is important to act as a responsible member of the global community? Explain.
Kite Runner( Essay 5) focuses on the idea that individual values can and will impact others at some point. Often the first thought that people have when discussing the idea of acting as a responsible member of the global community is taking care of the earth or actions that benefit society. However, we forget that at the end of the day the individual is part of the community and that we have a duty to put others first. Just as Amir changes the reason behind his actions from gaining approval from others to caring about others, we should learn to do the same.
6. How did this course help you to know, understand, and apply biblical principles? Explain, giving specific examples.
This course allowed me to know, understand, and apply biblical principles through various essays and discussions. However, the one thing that stood out to me the most was when we had class discussions about the Kite Runner. The Kite Runner is a book that has a heavy emphasis on the impact culture and religion has on our daily lives. From the book, we learned about Amir’s thinking process and how he developed over time. Amir’s initial struggles led me to think about how I was living and whether I was living in a way that would make god happy or not. Personally, I don’t really focus too much on religion but seeing how Amir shut himself away, I began to think that I may need to be more open about the current state of my faith.
7. How did this course help you to think independently, creatively, and analytically? Explain.
This course helped me start to think independently, creatively, and analytically through various different assignments. Obviously, the creative writing pieces helped me stretch my creative muscles but I believe that the Kite Runner Essays and the Merchant of Venice Essays helped me truly develop my creativity. I had to analyze the book or play before writing the main idea of said book or play in a way that wasn’t a simple regurgitation of information but rather an independent and original input. Other assignments helped me develop skills such as analytical thinking- an example would be the research essay, duh.
