Assignment 0

I am fine arts major and an English minor. In studying the fine arts I am able to take classes in art history as well as dabble in the studio arts. In the past I have taken many classes in Renaissance art although as of recent I am interested in looking at more contemporary works. In terms of studio, last semester I fell in love with oil painting. I don’t actually believe that I will pursue a career in the fine arts. I decided upon this major based purely on interest. My English minor is a different story. I have always enjoyed creative writing and took several classes in the subject all through high school. When I got to SLU I found out I also enjoy journalism. As a result, I am now taking feature writing and helping out at the Hill News. I could definitely see myself pursuing a career in writing- although I’m not completely sure where exactly that will take me yet.
Greenwich, CT is my hometown. It can be described as a preppy, yuppie, affluent area filled with expensive cars and homes. Greenwich is divided into several smaller areas including: Riverside, Cos Cob, Byram, Central Greenwich, and Old Greenwich. Central Greenwich fits the stereotypical description that I said before. The main avenue, also known as “Greenwich Ave”, is a one way street with stores like Tiffany’s, J.Crew, Polo, and Vineyard Vines. I, however, am not from Central Greenwich. I am from Riverside. Riverside is on the quainter spectrum of the town. The houses are small, everyone knows each other, and there is a small main street with ice cream shops and boutiques.
At the moment painting is my favorite hobby. I am always trying to improve and even convinced my mom for my last birthday to buy me an easel, paints, and brushes. My friend Jordan and I actually hope to start up an art club this semester where artists of all skill can come so it is not as intimidating as the studio classes can be. Music is also up there in terms of interests. I like most music and I like finding out about new music even more. Of course I love typical twenty year old things like friends, parties, and clothes. I find another new interest of mine is trying new sports and hobbies. This has started since coming to SLU because SLU is so influential in outdoor activities and has so many new things to try.
Last year in both my creative non-fiction course and my journalism course (where I had the same professor all year) I found that I had the best feedback I’ve ever had. I felt challenged and I felt that I liked the “nitpickyness” of my professor. From small to large details she had good and bad critiques. I found the biggest criticism my professor had last year was that I usually was good with elaboration and content, but sometimes lacked a point.
I have always been a fan of American literature. Two years ago in my American Lit class I found that I was a fan of many well-known names. These include authors like Frost, Fitzgerald, Hemmingway, Updike and others. As an independent reader away from class I recently read a few novels by Khaled Hosseini. I found his writing to be, well- very readable. I couldn’t put any of his books down. He had an amazing sense of putting fiction together with fact. Another author I enjoy is Philipa Gregory. She writes easy to read historical fictions that are good for relaxing and not having to put a lot of thought into taking in what is being said. I also recently came upon a non-fiction author and journalism Bill McKibben. He just published a book of personal essays about the environment, which I found very readable. Normally I read a paragraph of that kind of thing and put it down straight away. He made me want to learn and take in all the lessons he was conveying in his work.
Good writing keeps its reader captivated. The author finds a delicate balance between intrigue and suspense. There is detail, but nothing over the top. Another words one does not need to skip paragraphs of non-sense to attempt to enjoy the writing. The words from page to page flow well in good writing. There are no tangents or unneeded information.
I have taken many writing classes in my life and hope to find something out about my writing that I have never considered before. In my last writing class, journalism, I found a new thing that I liked to do. Perhaps I will learn that I am better of sticking to factual writing over fictional. I also hope to learn from others in the class. I always find that by critiquing other students work in a sense I am critiquing my own work and realizing similar errors that I make.