On "First Person Female" by Jim Harrison

It is hard to specifically take an opinion on this article considering I have not read any of the author's novels about women, so I can't say yea or nay to his accuracy:) That being said, I don't think there is anything wrong with male or female characters creating characters of the opposite sex or different ethnicity's portraying other ethnicity's or cultures.

When reading anything that is well written you don't usually even think about the sex or ethnicity of the author because the characters are realistic or the sex/race is unimportant to the story. Although sometimes characters are not portrayed realistically, most of the time that is done on purpose. For instance in the play Trifles by Susan Glaspell, the male characters are ridiculous. This is done on purpose, it is a feminist play and the playwright is trying to make a point through the overemphasized silliness of the characters.

Is a piece of writing authentic if characters are created by people of the opposite sex? No, not a hundred percent, but it can be accurate or close to the mark. No matter what you do a man is not a woman and a white person is not an Indian and vice versa, but that does not mean that experiences with them, observations, study, or living like another won't give you a good insight into how they act and feel. Authors must not be presumptuous though and constantly aware of the balance of their characters.

On "The Ecstasy of Influence"

A very intriguing article. When I first began to read I felt a defense come up as I read the authors words (much taken from others, but freely admitted and cited later), because I can't stand plagiarism. As I read on however, my opinion has changed to a degree.

No, you should not steal papers and type your name on the top and turn it in as your own, but how can you always remember if you read what you said someplace ? As I read Jonathan Lethem's article and his break down of second, third, fourth, and beyond "uses" of different works ranging from novels to art to music, I could not help but wonder why is the world so defensive and possessive over materials? If medical researchers shared information, how much further could we be? I never before contemplated the irony of Disney suing other people for usage of their movies when all their movies are borrowed from other sources.

I agree with the authors view on how Jefferson would view copyrights and how they evolved away from his intentions, but I bet he would be pulling his hair out over many changes that have occurred in the government that he felt ought not to be. Should we not be human beings working for the betterment of society?

A final question that I often think about when writing papers for classes, Is there anymore original thought? Can I actually come up with an idea no one else has thought of? I doubt it.

On "The Tower of Babel and the Teaching of Grammar: Writing Instruction for a New Century" by Amy Martinsen

In this age of texting and e-mailing grammar has become nearly non-existent. I have not quite fallen in that trap but when a person mentions the word "grammar" I have to admit that it makes my eyes droop and my mind go blank. I obviously use it, but I can't say I am overly concerned with it, mostly because I can't remember much from grade school. As I think back to all the classes I have taken I can't think of a single one in which a student , in reference to a writing assignment, did not ask, "Does grammar count?" For each of those classes a different answer was given. As this article pointed out there is a great pendulum swinging back and forth between strict grammar and no grammar. Martinsen, the author, comes to the conclusion that a medium needs to be reached and maintained and I agree. Written language relies on grammatical elements to help relay information and meaning to what is being read, without grammar much of that understanding is lost. Grammar allows the organizing of language. On the same hand, constantly worrying about getting every grammar rule can be daunting. Even now after reading the article I am very worried about my grammar, I apologize for any mistakes!

On Annie Dillard's "Write Till You Drop"

I recently came into contact with an article entitled "Write Till You Drop." It was a very interesting article which brought several things to my mind:

1. That when I write I don't usually use all my intensity. I sometimes use writing as a healer, for instance when I am really angry I write down all I am feeling and why I feel that way, until that emotion has drifted out of me onto the paper. This I do only on occasion. I bet I would write better if I wrote as Annie asks, "What would you begin to write if you knew you would die soon?"

2. Annie makes a good point by using many examples of famous authors who have a favorite author. She says that a poet loves poetry and an author loves the type of genre in which he/she writes. I have read several books, websites, or seen shows of author's being asked what advice they have for others interested in writing and all of them have said to READ. One of my favorites is Vivian Vande Velde ( you can visit her at her website which is her name put all together with a .com).

3. I like how Annie encourages you to "Push it." You can definitely tell she is very adamant about her own writing and encouraging other writer's.

I definitely have a desire to become a better writer, I hope I can develop some of her enthusiasm. It was overall a good article but I have to say she used some out of the ordinary vocabulary!

Advanced Writing

I never even considered making a blog unil it became a requirement for my advanced writing class- so here I am! I am not even sure what to do on this so hopefully I learn quickly.