Figurative Language In Anne Lamott's Shitty First Drafts

One example of figurative language in Laurie Hale Anderson’s book “Speak” is when Melinda decides to rid her garden of all weeds, and does some spring cleaning after it finally stops raining during May. Around the same time, Melinda is realizing that she wants to make some new changes in her life and in this figurative language example, Melinda’s life is her garden. She decides first to rake the leaves “suffocating the bushes” ; Melinda is ridding the demons from herself on the first layer of her skin. She says that she has to “fight the bushes (her problems)” and the bushes don’t like getting cleaned out but it is something one has to do if one makes the

One example is when Melinda states, “I stumble from thornbush to thornbush- my mother and father who hate each other, Rachel who hates me, a school that gags on me…” (pg. 125). Melinda feels as though she is trapped in thorn bushes because everywhere she retreats to she is an awful position. As a result, Melinda is miserable and constantly mopes around. Another way Anderson incorporates a metaphor to present Melinda’s low emotional health is when Melinda says, “There is a beast in my gut, I can hear it scraping away at the inside of my ribs. Even if I dump the memory, it will stay with me, staining me.” (pg. 51). This quote definitely demonstrates Melinda’s poor, despondent condition by comparing the memory to a beast in her gut. The main cause of Melinda’s unhappiness is not speaking up about the beast in her gut that is scraping the inside of her ribs. Melinda’s dark, depressed thoughts are once again presented through a metaphor when Melinda says, “IT is my nightmare and I can’t wake up. IT sees me. IT smiles and winks. Good thing my lips stitched together or I’d throw up.” (pg. 45-46). The cause of Melinda’s dreary mood obviously comes from IT’s abuse. Andy Evans constantly harassing Melinda in the hallways reminds her of the horrid rape and keeps the image in her mind. This is why Melinda cannot wake up from her nightmare and is emotionally unstable. To sum up, Melinda’s dismal mood is greatly portrayed through the metaphors of

Writing a first draft is like giving a speech for the first time. The first time you write a piece of work or give a speech there always is lots of error. The part of “Shitty First Drafts” that I liked the most was when Lamott states that the first

Intro:I never find a way where I can easily start writing with no problem. I am either too distracted, too bored, or trying too hard to focus that I actually don’t get anything done. Forcing myself to sit down and focus doesn’t give me a great start, it worsens my mind because I’m feeling more pressured.I know that writers struggle at first and once they start there is no stopping them. I wait for that to happen to me, but I find myself stuck. I didn’t how to start writing because I kept over thinking that whatever I had thought already was wrong.Thesis:For me, the best author that provided me with the most valuable information was Anne Lamott’s “Getting Started” because she gave me ways of how I can begin to write when I have zero ideas as to what to write, how and where to write it. This chapter served as a guideline for whenever I find myself struggling with writing. I even looked back at it with this assignment because I was feeling insecure as to what I was writing.

In literature, the setting poses itself as a vital element in literature. When characters interact with the world encompassing them and respond to its atmosphere, we unearth various underlining traits and secrets that ensconce betwixt the pages. Ann Petry's 1946 novel The Street accentuates the relation between Lutie Johnson and the urban setting by employing figurative language, such as imagery and personification conjointly with selection of detail.

Helen Keller once said "...although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it." This quotation means that in life, you come to find yourself in many struggles, but there is always a sense of accomplishment over such problems. The reason I agree with this quote is because such triumph can only be accomplished after the fact of the occurrence of a struggle. The realistic fiction book, Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is a perfect example of my interpretation of the quote. The author uses conflict, figurative language and characterization to show that this quote is true.

Children from as young as the age of 6 began working in factories, the beginning of their exploitation, to meet demands of items and financial need for families. In Florence Kelley’s speech before the National American Woman Suffrage Association in Philadelphia 1905, Kelley addresses the overwhelming problem of child labor in the United States. The imagery, appeal to logic, and the diction Kelley uses in her speech emphasizes the exploitation of children in the child labor crisis in twentieth century America.

In the article “Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lemott she discusses how every writer has difficulty putting their ideas on paper because writing should be seen as a process that even the best and famous writers follow. She also talks about how even the best writers don’t just come with ideas and just begin writing on paper and make it as their final draft. Lemott also points out the importance of being able to just write down every thought into the first draft regardless of the structure of the draft and how it makes it easier to start the second draft. After writing the second draft it makes the final draft a review of punctuation and grammar corrections. As a food reviewer she struggled putting her ideas together because she would start doubting

This chapter can help young writers in English class with their papers in many different ways. For instance, Trimble gives examples on what a veteran writer does in order to make their writing interesting. He also gives out techniques on how you can get a reader’s attention or how you can fix your writing to make it readable instead of having nonsense. What makes this difficult for me as a writer is that I write what ever comes to my mind and it will not make sense. Another thing that makes it difficult for me as a writer is that I am not good at getting the readers attention and having him hooked on to my work. This is how this chapter could help me in English class and how it can make it difficult for for others, including myself

Bird by Bird is a novel reflecting on Anne Lamott’s writing technique. She reflects on her writing to help other writers with their own processes. She uses her childhood as the pretext for what made her want to become a writer. Lamott talks about how her dad getting brain cancer, aloud her to write her first book to be published and how she felt after it was published and reviewed. She describes her thoughts on the writing process and her techniques she uses.

Transitioning from high school to college can be overwhelming. Before English 1301, I did not worry about preparing for college. I quickly realized that my little background in writing essays was not enough for college courses. Writing is not just a skill that I will need for English classes. In college, I will have to use effective writing skills in all my classes to complete research papers, essay tests and communicate with professors. Throughout my education, writing strategies persisted to be a challenge for me. I dreaded writing because I could never find ways to transition my thoughts from my mind to the paper. Ironically, a class that petrified me due to the amount of required writing ended up helping me in numerous ways. English 1301 and my professor prepared me for college and real life by giving me a foundation of effective learning strategies.

Over the course of the semester, my main goal was to become a more precise writer and develop my identity as a writer. According too, the Portfolio Letter assignment sheet, becoming a better writer consists of precise planning, draft and revising. It also includes understanding a variety of academic genres by examining the basic characteristics that defines each type. In order too efficiently meet my goal of becoming a better writer, it was very important to have my work evaluated by others and myself as well. The use of rhetorical knowledge, critical thinking, reading and writing all are the important aspects in this course. All of which helped tremendously with becoming a more precise writer and developing my identity as a writer.

Creations, like most things in life, are improvable. Ideas and theories are always evolving into different ideas or more sophisticated ones. Discourse communities is a term that has been debated over the years. Three of those debaters are James Paul Gee, James P. Porter, and John Swales. In this essay I will analyze what each of these writers see as the definition of a discourse community while comparing specific points that each of them have regarding their personal view on the subject. It is also important to keep in mind that these authors published each of their articles within a 3-year period. That is important because Swales was the first of the three to publish his paper, everyone who wrote about discourse communities after him, already

In “The Great Scarf of Birds” by John Updike, the speaker concludes that his heart has been lifted by the image of a gray scarf. The poem is marked with joy and reverence to the natural world around the speaker, but there is sadness in his last few words. The speaker prepares the reader for this conclusion through an abundance of imagery, similes, and poem structure.

Eudora Welty autobiography “One Writer’s Beginnings,” about her early experiences of reading and books. In which it help her impact her writing career. Welty utilizes strong figurative language to convey intensity and value.