James Baldwin and Brent Staples

These two essays have similar messages that show the audience examples of racial discrimination. Baldwin wrote about his experience in Switzerland where he was a complete outsider, and some people had never even seen a black man. This was in a time when white people did not accept black people as equals. Staples wrote about examples of how he has been racially profiled in present day. There are clearly some differences in how these essays affect their audiences. Baldwin's essay created a situation that the white readers could identify with. He wanted them to discover a part of how they saw black people. However, he was not necessarily trying to persuade. Staples' essay was directed to young white women who saw him as a threat. Unlike Baldwin, he tried to convince them that he was not a threat. For example, he catches them in the act by using his opening story to put racially profiling thoughts in their head, only to show how he was not dangerous. This example he used was written because of the audience he was writing to. The audience for Baldwin was white men and women. This brings out another similarity between the essays. Both use examples of how they were profiled by people who are in the category of their audience, and this definitely helps to make the essays effective.

Identity Brainstorming

I grew up in a suburban home in Richmond, Virginia in a white Christian family. This is a pretty generic childhood, so it does offer much to work with on writing about an innate identity, but I think Christianity fits into one of the topics. This is a group that I consider myself to be a part of that is often stereotyped in ways that does not fit me. This also makes me think that suburban children can also be stereotyped. That is at least two possible options for that topic. If I chose one of these, I would have to somehow make it into an argument. I could use examples of people's feelings toward the group and examples of people in the group to disprove the stereotype. The only thing about my physical identity is that I am tall, but there's not much to say about that. Also, I don't see any form of an argument that could come out of that topic. The other two options for the paper are more complicated, and I will have to think about them some more to try to come up with some ideas. It seems like the four choices for this essay are all about race, and I don't really have anywhere to go with mine, so I will have to work harder to find a topic to write about. To find something, I need to focus more on smaller, more specific characteristics and groups. Maybe the best way to go about it is to put myself in someone else's position and imagine what they would think of me just by seeing me or knowing my broadly identifying characteristics. The problem is that people are only born with so many qualities. I think it comes down to finding something unique that fits into the given identity definition. These characteristics are all very broad things to write about, so it will be hard to find unique examples. I guess I just have to use one of them and use situations in my life to make them unique. I'm done with my rambling now.

How I Write

Reflecting on my own writing process, I have found some things that I do well and some things I need to work on. I think that what I do well is analysis and technical writing. Normally, I use correct grammar, structure, imagery, and transitions to make my writing flow well. This also helps to show instead of tell. However, I need to improve my creative writing. This area of my writing is weak, and I do not enjoy it very much.

The process that I use for developing a paper is probably not the best, but it works fine for me. I never do much prewriting. Instead, I spend about thirty minutes just thinking about what I am going to write about. This way, I get my thoughts collected, and I can start writing. When I begin to put the words on the paper, I am very careful about each word I choose because I want to get each sentence right the first time. I think this is one reason my creative writing is restricted since I never just write down my thought flow. However, I have improved on this and get my thoughts onto the page a little better.

I think something that would help me write better is to do more prewriting. If I had a whole page of brainstorming, I would have a lot of information to draw from even if I did not use all of it. With my style of writing, I sometimes end up getting stuck trying to think of where to go next or the perfect wording for a sentence. Prewriting would give me more time to prepare, and a loose outline would guide me through the paper without restricting it to a formula. Something else that I could try is not spending too much time on the first draft. If I first went through the paper quickly without worrying so much about making it just right, then I could get all the information down at first and edit afterword. For my next paper, I should think about trying to integrate these techniques into my process.

My Bedroom

            My bedroom was always the most relaxing place in the house.  It was somewhere I could go to be alone.  The peaceful blue-gray walls and the one beam of light coming in from the window added to the effect.  The primary purpose of bedrooms is for sleep, and I made sure to keep to the tradition.  There was my bed that was too small, but I liked it anyways.  It had a huge comforter that I could use year round because I kept the room cool.  This was partly accidental because as I turned on the ceiling fan one day, the chain broke.  It has now been on for at least four years.  Sometimes I would just come in from school or work and lie down on the soft carpet under the fan.  With the door closed it is always silent except for the white noise of moving air.  One day I managed to get the best chair in the house and put it in the corner of my room.  It was one of those extremely old and beaten down chairs, starting to form holes in the fabric of the arms.  When I was really young I slept in it sometimes, because it was awesome to recline in.  The recliner is sort of broken, and it won’t fold back up unless it is fully extended first.  There are only two pieces of furniture in the room.  One is an old wooden bookshelf with stuff I never use, but there is always clean clothes piled on top of it.  The other is a wooden nightstand with all my important things in it.  The reason for the lack of furniture is that there are two bifold door closets.  One is for clothes and the other was transformed into some sort of desk area.  I never really ended up doing work at it though; it just became a giant shelf.  My room will always be a place of sanctuary and rest for me.