Life of Spiers

 This semester I think my writing has gotten a bit better. The main thing I’ve learned is how to not only make my writing sound good, but actually have good substance and have my words carry more meaning. The process has not been easy but I’m glad I’ve been able to improve my writing for the future.

This is the image I chose to analyze. Popular around the UNCW campus, especially the rec center. This image is the logo for UNCW’s healthy hawks program. The logo is visually pleasing, being centered and aligned perfectly. The logo is meant to promote a healthy lifestyle to UNCW’s students much like what #dubhealth’s goal is. The logo features eight different values of the healthy hawks program that are meant to help build strong foundations for the student’s as they come together, as the logo is symbolically linked, to live healthy lives using these pillars. These eight key words don’t just promote physical health, but mental as well. This shows that healthy hawks and #Dubhealth are not just talking about working out or eating right, they show the goal is bigger than that. A healthy lifestyle and a happy one is the goal of both. The logo’s appeal is mainly ethos and logos in this case, with it mainly relying on the audience putting their trust into the values featured in order to achieve their goal of living a healthy lifestyle. After looking hard at the image I can say that it helped me understand my topic more and realize that it was much more than just working out or eating better. 

After reading “How to Write the Perfect Sentence” I can say one thing I found interesting was “the perfect sentence”. Specifically the part where Orwell states that a “memorable sentence makes immediate sense but sounds just slightly odd.” This really made me think, is that really what the perfect sentence would be? Something that sounds just a little off? Whenever I say something that doesn’t make sense I immediately get embarrassed and try to retract what I said, so I wasn’t sure how much of Orwell’s statement I was going to believe. After thinking about it more I realized that using different words in different ways than normal can help you create a unique writing style that the reader or listener can recognize and enjoy. Changing it up also can help keep your writing from being boring or stale, bringing the reader in even more. Overall I think Orwell had some great ideas and advice that will surely stick with me.

Most of the suggestions I get on my work tell me to try and be less repetitive and to take away run-on sentences. Since I hear this a lot I’m able to really work on cutting back those two things, along with fixing grammar and spelling mistakes. It’s very helpful to me to get another opinion on my work so they can pick up things I may have otherwise missed, and I’m always willing to help with a classmates as well.

In the article “Is Sushi Healthy” I learned many shocking facts that changed my view on many foods and drinks. The article uses the ethos method to convince the reader that the information they give is true. Throughout the article there are charts of different food items along with a poll of expert nutritionists. This made me think and take the information given in the reading to be the truth. The article seemed to be written for just the average American trying to eat healthier. Reading the article and looking at the polls was pretty shocking to me. Many foods I though were healthy turned out to not be as good for you as I thought before. These foods include wine, granola, protein bars and more. These foods were considered less healthy to experts than what the public thought. The article also listed some that are actually better for you than you think like cheddar cheese, popcorn and even wine! I think the writer did a great job using the ethos approach to argue their point in this case. Reading this article mad me really think more about what I’m putting in my body and convinced me to not just listen to popular opinion when it comes to eating healthy.

Four years later, you still find yourself thinking about Mrs. Glasses class, your freshman year and everything that you learned. The foundation of you, as a writer, a student, and as a person was built that year. The same writing techniques she taught you as a fifteen year old are present in the letter. In fact they are in everything you write, to this day. After spending time working day after day with Mrs. Glass, you become a strong writer and that really does help in the long run. For example, later on when you want to apply for college, your writing skills will come into play in a big way. It was because of your relentless work at english that you were able to get into the school of your choosing. You will definitely thank yourself down the line for working so hard. You also will have to thank Mrs. Glass, she is a huge reason you are where you are today.