Throughout my high school career, my teachers always assigned essays that were to be written quickly and in one sitting. This tactic was done to prepare us for essay prompts that might have been on state testing or the SAT’s. Although this technique helped me to respond to test prompts, I feel like it hindered the essay’s that I had to write as class assignments. I tended to compose my papers that counted as class credit similarly to how I wrote essays for tests. I typically wrote them the night before they were due and then edited by reading over them once. In many ways I feel like this method prevented me from writing strong essays that truly expressed the information I had learned. I could have improved my high school paper’s if I had brainstormed long before the due date. Even though this is how I wrote my essay’s in high school, I am learning new methods in my college INTD class that have taught me to write stronger papers while avoiding procrastination.
Along the journey of writing my Bloodchild essay, figuring out how to write a strong paper was an aspect I focused on. Getting a head start on it to avoid having to write it the night before was strongly encouraged in the class. Descartes Discourse on Method clearly states how to write a paper that allows thoughts to build on each other while avoiding procrastination. Descartes recommends conducting “your thoughts in an orderly fashion,” meaning that your ideas should begin small and build up. I did this by thoroughly examining the story to find quotes and information. By doing this, my paper became stronger because I related found evidence to my original point’s. I also took time to construct a strong thesis that I could build on. Once I had my thesis, deciding on what points to write about came easily and I could think much more efficiently. Some of what I wrote about was built off class conversation. By discussing the story in class, I realized more information that related to my thesis. Since we were all working on essays about Bloodchild, building off my classmate’s suggestions helped me to improve my paper. Our class shared insightful information from the story that allowed us to bounce ideas off of each other. Doing this allowed us to build on our original drafted points by helping each other realize new ideas. Avoiding taking ideas from others was always advised against in class. Rather, the professor reminded to take our classmate’s “they say” and create an “I say.” As the Globe states, “The entire College community works together to advance knowledge.” This statement relates to the assignment because the entire class came together to speak about the fundamentals of Bloodchild. The teaching assistants and professor reminded me of the Globe statement when they offered me insight. By running my draft through them and developing an academic partnership, I positively transformed my paper. They gave me wonderful advice that allowed me to write a properly structured essay. Their insight on what I should focus on made it easier for me to build on my idea’s to create a comprehensible paper.
Working on the paper for a couple of weeks helped me to discover points about my thesis that I would not have realized if I had procrastinated. By gaining insight from my classmates and working with the professor and TA’s, I was able to create a draft that I was confident in handing in. Working on my draft for several weeks has made me realize the importance of structuring my time responsibly when working on future essays. It also taught me to discuss with others to gain insight on how to improve my paper. Learning new methods to improve my writing has been a journey, but it has made me excited to continue to develop and become a confident writer.