Zelie's ePortfolio

After reading Anne Lamott’s “Shitty First Drafts” (est. time: 15 minutes), take a minute to compare and contrast your own first draft (and the experience of writing it) with Lamott’s descriptions. What did you notice? Did anything surprise you about this short essay? Did anything offend you?

After reading Anne Lamott’s “Shitty First Drafts” I can compare myself to her very much. When I go to write a first draft for something, I always get writers block. I always struggle to start the essay. Once I find something to talk about, I usually just word vomit everywhere. At least I can say that I put something down for a first draft. I always jump around and make paragraphs incomplete or never actually write about then topic I am supposed to be writing about. I am shocked at how to the point I got in some of the paragraphs. It’s like I made some good claims and had strong opinions. Nothing about her article offended me.

For my revision process, I am planning on taking things step by step. I will first fix any of the punctuation mistakes I had made, since those will generally be the easiest to approach. Next I will look in to areas where wordplay, sentences, or misused vocabulary are and make them more clear to the reader. I will lastly look at things to include or major paragraphs that need to be turned around. Those generally will take the most brain power to I try and get the easy stuff done first so its not a hassle at the end. My biggest challenge is probably going to be the areas where I may need to add more context. I generally have a hard time getting started and getting information down on paper. Should challenges become to hard for me I will advocate for myself and get help, either from a friend or from a professor.

Please write some sentences (around 50 words) about something you learned from this first very important stage of peer review.

Peer review is very important because without it people would assume that their work is suitable to be turned in without a second eye reading it over. By peer reviewing you get to read another persons paper in your tone. This will allow the reader to come across any confusing sentences or misusage of vocabulary. It also helps the reader “hear” the flow of their writers voice and how they interpreted the information.

What are the limits of the art discussed in your choice TED talk? What is the power of the art discussed in your TED talk?

The limits of art discussed in Titus Kaphar’s “How Can We Address Centuries of Racism In Art” TED talk, is it’s ability to speak all measures of life. Art can limit the eyes ability to pull out meaning. Kaphar uses his TED talk to discuss how art in this time hides hidden messages about who were used to be as well as who we still are. He gives the example of a statue of Teddy Roosevelt, place out front of the Museum of Natural History. Many look at that statue in awe of this grand figure. The power he hold in our founding constitutions. But many don’t take the time to step back, and see the bigger picture. The bigger picture of a white male riding his steed, while those of color around him walk. This piece of art has drawn a lot of controversial conversation. Art is powerful. It can send a million messages across to it’s viewers. Unfortunately, still to this day there is art that limits the possibility for inclusion and expansion an of education and conversation.

In Rhys Southan’s “Is Art a Waste of Time,” there was a part of the passage that stood out to me. It was on page 4, “Artists paint the beautiful landscape in front of them while the rest of the world burns”. This really speaks to me. How many times have you been to a movie and you say to yourself “gosh, I would love to live there”. Or “If only it was like that today”. These thoughts is what people need to become vocal about. Artist do paint beautiful landscapes, picturesque view of life we could only imagine.

Southern argues that too many times we see suffering, in yet we don’t take a step towards solving the problem. I believe that because of this, we will never reach that “beautiful landscape” we dream of. It has to start one step at a time if we are even going to come close to solving todays problems. Southern also makes a great point about “if you happen to be successful already, you can always earn to give”. This is a powerful statement. If you are a successful artist who’s focus is on animal endangerment, use the money you just earned and donate to a organization that supports what your art displays. Give back to the community and organization who can make a difference, while using your work to spread the news to others.