Chapter one letter

Dear Dr. Kyburz
I appreciate the opportunity that you gave me to read the first chapter of The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Writing. I can see that it will be a useful tool in helping me understand the different options that are available to me as I fulfil my professor’s requirements in their writing assignments. Before reading this chapter I was under the impression that all essays assigned by University professors were required to be closed-form, five paragraph formal essays. It is a great relief for me to know that I will now have choices when given the opportunity to write. The last essay I have written was for my music professor, on a performance that we were required to analyze and keep to a page in length. At first I had planned on writing a five-paragraph essay including a well thought out thesis sentence, but had trouble trying to keep it within the page long requirement, I had to reassess and adjust my technique which led to a more open-formed style of writing. It was hard at first to try and find words to describe the music that I had heard but as I focused on the questions “how did this performance display a variety of timbre, tone and dynamics? And how did it make me, the listener, feel as a result?” it allowed me to balance gracefully in the middle of the closed to open form continuum. Since my teacher specified that he was the audience, it made it easy to aim these questions in a way that would be appealing for him to read and also relieved me of the added stress of explaining each musical term, which an average person might not know the meaning of.
To be honest, at the time, I had no idea that I was allowed to hand in a paper that was not the typical closed -form prose. I later accredited my good grade on the paper to the fact that my professor taught music and not writing and therefore did not know the difference. After reading this chapter I now blush in the admittance of my ignorance and embrace the fact that I am no longer restricted by my own inhibitions. As long as I understand what genre is acceptable to a particular assignment, remember to start writing with a good question in mind and focus on who my audience will be, I will be able to succeed in any request.
Sincerely,
Ali Spaulding

Pg 11 Homework

Due to the fact that it has been over ten years since I have been in school, it was a challenging task to remember any specific paper that I had written. Fortunately for me, one came to mind. Most likely I remember this paper because it is the only paper that I have ever received an “A” on. I remember it clearly now, I was in my first year of college and my psychology teacher had asked us all to write a paper on a personal predicament that we had previously been in and how we managed to produce the best possible outcome for it. This was the first time a teacher had given me a writing assignment without any limitations. I could write about whatever I wanted and I could write it however I wanted. This became my very first open-form paper and I embraced the opportunity.
I am not sure if it was the fact that I love to talk about myself, or the fact that I no longer had to stick to the strict five paragraph essay form, but I actually enjoyed writing this personal experience which showed in my grade. Granted my experience in writing prose in general is very limited, but I believe my writing is at its best when I am not restricted to the left side of the continuum and am allowed to freely flow by theme rather than thesis. I understand that every form of writing has its’ purpose and proper venue, but if it were up to me, I would only write in the open-form prose because it allows me to be me.