Week 7 (Essay): Writitng and Proofreading Strategies

 (Someone Writing BY anyaberkut; source:Thinkstock)

Through out my college career, I have not had to write as much until this class. However, in high school, I had to write a lot. I learned a few tips and tricks along the way.


For choosing a topic, a good tip is to choose a semi-general topic. Then research the topic a bit to find something to focus on more. I have found this tip particularly helpful. For me, I am very indecisive and sometimes I want to write about everything so it is difficult for me to focus on just one topic. Another thing is to not be afraid to edit or revise the topic. I have learned that my initial topic will most likely be different from the topic of my final draft.


For brainstorming, I do a few different tricks. Sometimes I will do a web bubble with the topic in the center small details or notes branching out from the topic. Other times, I will do an outline with topics I want to discuss and the order I want to discuss them. This method really helps organize a proper formatting and organization with my essays. The final method that I like to use and use the most out of the prior three is to just start writing about the topic and do not worry too much about the punctuation or the grammar. Once I am done with that, I will go through each paragraph looking for grammatical errors, awkward wording, unimportant context, etc.  I find this tip most helpful because I can see what topics I need to expand on and which ones I can leave out. I like to use this method the most because I have less chance of writer’s block when I just write and not worry too much about the small details.  

Week 7 (Storytelling): White Man vs Snake

(Young Rattle Snake Under a Rock)

One day, I was minding my own business when all of a sudden, a huge rock fell upon me.  I tugged and slithered, but I could not move because of this rock. Therefore, I patiently waited. I laid my head to the ground and felt footsteps coming. These footsteps were large and shook the ground with each stomp. All of a sudden, the ground stopped shaking. The rock was lifted from my body and I was free again. I looked at my savior. He was a large white man. He had very large round eyes, a large protruding nose, and his most noticeable features were his large ears sticking out of his head. He also had very pale skin. It was so pale that someone would wonder what he was doing in the middle of the Amazonian jungle.

Nonetheless, he was my savior. I slithered up to his foot to thank him, but then he kicked me to that very same rock he lifted from my body and said, “Stop! Do not bite me, you wretched being!”

I waited to regain my composure. Then I hissed at him, “You imbecile, you kicked back whilst I was going to thank you. Now I want to bite you.”

The white man with the large round ears said, “Stop, let us first speak to wise people.”

We came to a hyena. The white man asked the hyena, “Is it right that Snake should want to bite me, when I helped her as she lay under a stone and could not rise?"

The hyena responded, “If you were bitten, what would it matter?"

Delighted, the hyena and I laughed. Then I began to slither to him so that I could bite him.

The white man cried again, “Stop, let us first speak to wise people so that we may know if it is right.”

Then we found a jackal. The white man came up to the jackal and asked, "Is it right for Snake to want to bite me, when I lifted up the stone which lay upon her?"

The jackal replied, "I do not believe that Snake could be covered by a stone so she could not rise unless I saw it with my two eyes. Therefore, let us go to the place where the incident happened.”

We returned to the place where the rock trapped me and where the white man kicked me. The jackal told me to lie down so that the white man could cover me with the rock. I followed and the man covered me with the stone.

The jackal said, “Now, try to escaped.”

I tried to move, but to no avail. After that, the white man moved towards me to lift the rock again. However, the jackal told him,  “Stop, do not lift the stone unless you want her to bite you.”

I cannot believe I was tricked! The white man and jackal both laughed hysterically and left me under that stone. Ever since then, I have a great distaste for humans.

Author's Note - The original storyline comes from The White Man and the Snake in the South African Folktales Unit. The main difference from my story and the original is that my story is from the perspective of the snake. In the original story, it is written in 3^rd person. Another difference between my story and the original is that the snake does not have a specific reason for wanting to bite the man. Therefore, I added gave her a reason. I did that because I wanted to add character and a bit of sympathy for he snake. Other than that, the plots between the original and mine are pretty much the same.

Book: South African Fairy Tales

Author: James Honey

Year Published: 1910

Web Source: Google Books

Week 7 (Reading Diary): South African Unit

 South African Unit

Dance for Water I could not tell if the rabbit was the protagonist or antagonist. At first, I did not like him because he reminded me of high schoolers who were "too cool" to do anything, but they would use the rewards of other people. Then when the group of animals decided that they wanted to kill the rabbit, I felt sorry for him because I did not want him to die. However, the rabbit was able to escape. It is a bit of a confusing story, but nonetheless, interesting.

Jackal and Monkey This had an unexpected ending. Maybe it's because I grew up with American stories and fairy tales where there is always a happy ending. I cannot believe the jackal would be so sly and evil as to leave the monkey in the noose.

The White Man and Snake After reading a lot of stories from this unit, I could see where the story was going to go about half through the reading. I still enjoyed this one a lot. I found it a bit humorous.

The Judgement of Baboon This was hilarious. I like how it kind of explained why each animal or element did not like the other. It is a bit out there since wood, fire, and water cannot "speak" as it mentions in the story. Nonetheless, it was an interesting story.