"No Modifiers!"

Last weekend I found myself arriving late to a birthday party. I was not late because I did not get into the shower on time. I was not lat because I could not find my keys. I was late because I could not find a pair of socks to wear. This all started out as a great day that just took a turn for the worst. Earlier that day, I had returned to my dorm room after just completing my first full week of junior year at Manhattanville College. I placed my book bag on the floor of my room, turned on some tunes on my I-pod, and jumped in the shower with plenty of time to drive to the party. After drying myself off, and picking out something nice to wear, I pulled out my drawer and expected to find it filled with socks. I stuck my hand all the way to the back of the drawer, and still no socks. I had decided to continue getting dressed, leaving the socks for last. With just an hour before the start of the party, I had begun to worry that I would be late because the house was just about an hour away with the car. I decided to ask my roommates if they would lend me a pair, but they had all already left for the weekend. So now here I am with a nice suit and tie on, with no socks! Knowing I would be terribly late if I did not leave within the following minutes, I put on my shoes without and socks and headed for the door. I ended up being 2 hours late for the party anyway because of traffic, and everyone noticed that I didn’t have on any socks!

Leonardo DaVinci

I do think that writing is progressively becoming more visual as the author asserts. I think that with a culture as technological as ours, people are craving more than simple words on a page. In this day and age people have become so frustrated by lengthy reports and sophisticated words, that a clear image would put things into a greater perspective. The visual medium is something very powerful is taken advantage of. I think that it would be a great way for writing to evolve along with people and the times. Obviously, there will always be a place in my heart for a classic novel, but like all things, this too will change. The internet is a powerful tool and can heavily influence people to do certain things. Even if there are a group who remain steady to their old fashioned ideals of words as part of a page in a book, they will be forced to make the change because they masses will make it inevitable. This Da Vinci style of expressing thought visually to an audience helps to provide for a platform for someone else to come along and add to that particular work. When thoughts are integrated like this, it invites others to challenge that specific thought, and go beyond. These thoughts will flow easier without having the writer restricted by columns, but at the same time will not provide for a quick read. Every time that someone picks up a piece of work like this, they will need to dedicate a portion of their time to trying to interpret the information.

Grammar: Good? Bad?

I think that authors who make a strong case for knowing the rules of grammar make a strong point. Too clearly illustrate the authors point of view about certain topics/issues, there needs to be certain grammatical tools that need to be put into effect in order to do so. I think that this creates a certain structure and arrangement that an audience needs in order to completely understand the point that is being made. Knowing the rules of grammar allows an author to reach out to any audience that they wish, and not be constricted to the confines of certain viewers/listeners or readers. It is very nearly impossible to write well without knowing some basics grammar such as: sentence structure, punctuation and spelling. If these elements are missing from a writers’ work, they will not be taken seriously by many. Instead, they will be portrayed as an uneducated person who just decided to wake up one day and ramble. Grammar knowledge also shows a certain level of self-pride in ones work. It shows that the writer took enough time to learn how to get across to his or her audience and to do so in an effective way. It would be extremely frustrating to attempt to read a piece of literature written by an author with a low proficiency in the usage of grammar. One would have to constantly stop and think about what the author is trying to say rather than just letting the meaning jump off the page and into the mind. I think that the people who have gotten used to saying that grammar is something unimportant are those who never really obtain any knowledge of it, and are trying to make a case for their own writing and make in blend in with the grammatically correct works.

Academic/Future Plans

I am currently in the second semester of my junior year of College here at Manhattanville College. My collegiate academic career altered from its original course as I completed my first year of college at Fordham University. Before entering college, I was a four year honor student at Fordham Preparatory High School in the Bronx. I have always taken a great interest in writing courses and I look to continue to write throughout and beyond my academic days. I take an interest in various types of writing, some of which include: Magazine articles, Newspaper articles, and fiction/non-fiction novels. I am a Business Management Major with a double minor in Communication Studies and Sociology. Being a young, spirited overachiever, I would like to simultaneously compete in the professional soccer world, and at the same time, own a successful business. My future plans are all contingent on these classes that I am taking for major and minor credits here at Manhattanville. With the skills that I acquire here at college, I will learn how to progress in the highly competitive business world. With my personal background, and my hunger for greatness, I think that the sky is the limit. This Writing for the Media class will propel my writing style in another direction. I think that it will help to get my ideas to a wider audience and will teach me how to do so to appeal to specific target audiences. I think that many young adults like myself are not used to aiming their thoughts and ideas to a large scale audience and this class will help to build confidence in individual thoughts and writing.