English blog

In the memoir “Profit and Loss’ Betsy Sharp starts out by talking about a check that is being given to her family because her childhood house has been sold. She was very sad and uneasy about her childhood house being sold because it has so much history inside of it that is special to her and her family. As years pass and she grows up she still thinks about the house because those memories are unique to her and will always be cherished. However, she realizes that the neighborhood is filled with newer, younger people and the houses, including her childhood home, are only being looked at as a check in peoples eyes but to Betsy she thinks of the house with much more meaning.

I liked this essay because as a child my parents got divorced when I was around four and I got to stay with my mother which was inside my childhood home in Plymouth. Growing up that house was so special to me and I have so many memories that will never be forgotten. When I was about seven years old we had to move to a different town because my mom was getting re-married and moving away from that house was so hard for me and whenever I drive past it I always miss it and my mind is flushed with memories. I can relate to what Betsy describes as her childhood home very much and I thought it was cool that she feels the same way I do. When I drive through the neighborhood now it is completely different families that I’ve there and my old house looks very different from when I lived there.

This essay could definitely connect to others because at some point in life, nearly everyone has to move out of their childhood home and watch a brand new family that are complete strangers move into your house and take over what used to be your room. This can be very difficult for people because it is understandable that a childhood house would be something to get attached to.

link: https://www.thesunmagazine.org/issues/192/profit-and-loss

1. My hometown was a small, fun, cozy place where everyone was so kind to one another… it was a great place to grow up.
2. Laci had a unique style of her own which was a true reflection of her personality,  her bright pink hair ties that always matched her skirts defined the happiness portion of her.
3. Mr. Brown assumes everyone automatically knows everything about the class, he never explains the lessons and refuses to help us when we ask.
4. The room surrounded us with bland gray walls with nothing on them except for the empty, unappealing chalkboard.

She watches the sun slowly set by the ocean, the light fall breeze blowing her dirty blonde hair around. The dark green grass she sits on is slightly cold but the sunset takes her mind off of it. The water twinkles from the sun and it reflects a light pinkish/orange color. Addison slowly forgets all her worries about college and making friends while her mind is gazing into the view. All of her thoughts are relaxed and she has finally found her happy place.

For me writing has always been a “safe haven”. Everyone has their own way of dealing with their thoughts, anger, or emotions and my way of doing so is getting it all out on paper. When I have a paper or an essay to complete I do not follow the typical “rules of writing” because the only way I can get everything out of my mind and onto the paper is to keep writing. Sometimes I will make little side notes or ideas, and other times I will write everything that I am thinking down on the paper and then fix things after.

After reading Metaphoric Musings for College it helped me realize that there are some rules that you do not need to follow while writing. Throughout junior high and high school many teachers have taught me different rules for writing. My eighth grade english teacher always gave us very specific “rules” and it made me hate writing more than anything in the world. She had a requirement of five to seven sentences in each paragraph and each sentence had to have at least eight words in it or we would get points off. Another teacher used to make her students avoid certain words. When teachers put many restraints on essays it has an impact on the way the students write. They then feel pressured to get a certain grade, or to focus on how many words are in the essay and then the students are taught to utilize writing only when it has a grade attached to it. That stressed me out so much and I stopped focusing on what I was supposed to be writing about, and started to only focus on how many words in a sentence I had. It wasn’t until high school that I realized I am a better writer if I write all my ideas and sentences down first, and then go back and fix things. That helped me out a lot because I then realized that there isn’t really a set rule on writing because you could have an amazing piece of writing without applying some of the rules that teachers have had us follow.

Also, another great point that the author made was explaining why the writers need to go into detail while explaining an object. I am a very visual learner and reader, for example when I am reading something I always have a mental image in my head of everything that is being read. The author mentioned to “show, don’t just tell” because for example, if I say “the little girl wore a coat”, it would be better to explain in detail what exactly that coat looks like because everybody reading that sentence is most likely picturing a completely different image in their head. However, if I say “the little girl wore a red and blue striped raincoat with black buttons going down the middle” the readers have the same mental image of what they are reading to themselves. Just as this author gave very helpful tips, I believe that by the end of this semester I will become a better writer and I will adapt new skills to enhance what I already apply to my work.