My Revision Process

http://blog.patrickrothfuss.com/2010/08/fanmail-qa-revision/

http://jsascribes.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/rereading-revising-and-rehashing/

My writing process is definitely not as good as I would like it to be, but I guess if I think about it, I do have some methods to my madness.

The first thing I do is just start writing. I don’t pay too much attention to all the details, spelling, etc. and I just keep going until I’ve answered all the questions I need to, or covered all the topics I need to. Once I finish with that I do somewhat of a revision. I read through the paper and edit as I go. I change sentences that don’t flow correctly, fix typos and misspelled words, and anything that stands out to me as needing editing.

My next step would be to read the paper out loud. I find that when I read it out loud I notice a lot more mistakes or sentence issues than when I read it in my head. I think it’s because sometimes we see what we want to see when we read in our head, but it’s different when you read out loud. As I read it out loud I also fix any errors that I notice, whatever they may be.

Once I’ve done that I usually work on my thesis or introduction to the paper because it’s much easier for me to do so once I’ve already written everything I want to. This is usually the hardest part for me and I used to try and write the thesis or introduction first and I would get so stuck on it because I had no other ideas in my head and I hadn’t quite figured out what I was going to write. I found once I started doing this after writing the paper, it was a lot easier for me to come up with that main idea.

Once I’ve done this I read through the paper again in my head, and out loud. I probably do this numerous times. I do last minute fixes or changes as I do these read throughs. Once I’m comfortable and confident that I’ve said what I needed to and wanted to say and it makes sense, flows well, and is in the right format, I am finished.

I guess that I do use some form of revision in my writing. I certainly don’t just write something and then leave it at that. I think that revising is the best way to write a paper, even though I don’t always do it. This is the best way for a paper to be the best it can be. I would like to say that I spend a lot of days doing my revising, but since I work full time and have a baby boy constantly on the move (he is SO close to walking) I more often than not just spend one day doing it. I think the better way to do this would be to spend several days working on a paper. Sometimes one day you might see a mistake that you didn’t the day before. Or you may think of a better way to say something. You can give your brain time to think about what you wrote and add or subtract from it the next day you visit the paper. I really do want to try harder to write my paper this way as opposed to how I normally do.

As I mentioned earlier, working on my paper far in advance isn’t usually something I do, therefore I turned my first draft in with little to no time for any of my peers to evaluate it or make suggestions. I am disappointed it happened this way because I would really like outside input. As a write this blog post I don’t think Mrs. Cline has given me her suggestions yet either, so I don’t know specifically what revisions I will make. After reading my essay over again I feel like I might have had two thesis statements in a way. I know that I need to do some more revising and rearranging and probably change some things up, I just don’t know quite how yet. If anyone wants to give me some suggestions, even though the comments aren't required for a grade now, please do!

Our instructor gave us some great resources for revising, and I found another that's fairly simple but has some good tips.

Frankenstein

 

http://ttcritic.wordpress.com/2011/05/08/maryshelleysfrankenstein/

“One of the best of these I entered; but I had hardly placed my feet within the door, before the children shrieked, and one of the women fainted. The whole village was roused; some fled, some attacked me, until, grievously bruised by stones and many other kinds of missile weapons, I escaped to the open country, and fearfully took refuge in a low hovel, quite bare, and making a wretched appearance after the palaces I had beheld in the village.” (Pages 70 & 71)

I think that this passage is important because this is when the Frankenstein’s creation comes into contact with mankind as is badly treated. The passage itself is just a summary of what happened to him, being attacked and yelled at by complete strangers, but I feel the significance of this experience is quite important. When first reading the novel I began to think the main idea of the story was going to be concerning Frankenstein creating a creature out of selfishness and loneliness for himself. Further reading about the creature’s experiences is leading me to believe the meaning of the novel might be more about the brutality of mankind and how we treat others that are different from us. It seems that this experience of the creature is what made him the way he is (so far) and is what caused his fear of man. He only went out at night and avoided man as best he could and learned a lot of what he did from spying on his neighbors. I think this fear and negative experience in the first place is going to affect the rest of his experiences later on. This creature was created by a man but he looks like a monster and has the emotions and feelings of a man, yet he is treated much differently. Even his creator at first glance hated him and was disgusted by what he had made. This theme is not all too uncommon even in today’s world. We learn about cultural diversity in college and how importance equality is, but let’s be honest, we have all experienced bullying of some kind (no matter which end you were on). We know what it’s like for children who are different and how they might be looked at or treated. I have a feeling this will be a reoccurring theme throughout this novel.

Here is a link for a wonderful website concerning the topic I mentioned of bullying... this has tips for children, teens, parents, and educators.

The Second Coming... Of What?!?

http://coyoteprime-runningcauseicantfly.blogspot.com/2010_11_01_archive.html

 
Here is my rough draft. Also, here is a link that I looked up after I wrote this, but it's some very interesting ideas about what the poem means.

The Second Coming Is Not What You Think

            William Butler Yeats certainly depicts a morbid and disturbing world that seems to be conquered by what only can be described as evil. As a Christian myself, this poem created many different emotional reactions for me, but mainly I was incredibly appalled. I think that the theme of this poem is evil and what can happen to our world if we let evil take over. At first I was really bothered that the poet could seem to mock my faith and what I believe in. But as I dug deeper into what I believe the meaning is, I find that maybe it isn’t mockery. Maybe this poem is meant to be a warning? Maybe this poem is meant to scare people with the idea of evil taking over? Maybe this poem will further strengthen the faith of fellow Christians? Maybe this poem will bring non-believers to the “light”. Whatever the case may be, I find myself respecting the poem and its message more and more, even if I don’t like the image and feelings it creates.

            The Second Coming is a dark and unsettling representation of what happens when the world is corrupted by sin for so long that it awakens an even greater evil. The speaker in the poem is a man who believes what he is seeing is the Second Coming.  The Second Coming refers to the return of Jesus Christ which, to Christians, is supposed to be a magnificent and glorious happening. Unfortunately, this man soon realizes that he is very wrong. What this man thought was the second coming is something much more sinister. It’s as if the world has been so corrupted by evil that Satan is able to make his appearance through the evil of mankind. A beast “slouches towards Bethlehem” (Yeats Line 22) and mocks Christianity by being born in the same city that the son of God was.

            At first the speaker of this poem is not quite clear. As you get to the fifth line of the second stanza, it is evident that the speaker is the person viewing some very supernatural events. The dark and scary tone of the poem leads me to believe the speaker is a man. This man is witnessing the world spinning out of control, “turning and turning in the widening gyre” (Yeats Line 1). He claims that “the falcon can’t hear the falconer,” (Yeats Line 2) meaning, God created man in his own image, but man has turned its back against God and no longer hears Him because the majority of mankind no longer has a relationship with God. Then “things fall apart and the centre can’t hold and anarchy is loosed upon the world” (Yeats Lines 3-4) in other words, all “hell” breaks loose. “The blood dimmed tide is loosed and everywhere the ceremony of innocence is drowned” (Yeats Lines 5-6). The “blood dimmed tide” represents the blood of the innocent that is being shed while mocking the blood of Jesus that was shed when he was slain on the cross. The speaker states that “the best lack all conviction” (Yeats Line 7), meaning even the very best of humanity are no longer believers. He also states that “the worst are full of passionate intensity” (Yeats Line 8). Passionate intensity could refer to sexual intensity in a corrupt world?

            This stanza is where the beliefs of the speaker start to emerge. A Christian man would not only know of the Second Coming, but also be excited about it, which becomes evident in this part of the poem. In this stanza the speaker claims that “surely some revelation is at hand, surely the second coming is at hand” (Yeats Lines 9-10). This is the evidence that the speaker is a religious man himself. In the bible, the book of Revelations also depicts scenes of blood and beasts taking over the world. This man believes this to be a revelation at hand for these reasons. This man is witnessing these events and certain it is the Second Coming. In the next line there is an exclamation “The Second Coming!” (Yeats Line 11). Again, proof that he is a Christian because Christians would be rejoicing for the Second Coming.

            Unfortunately just as the speaker starts to think this, a troubling image appears in the dessert. The fact that the speaker describes this image as troubling once again provides evidence of his faith. If this man is expecting Jesus Christ to be returning again and he sees instead a beastly creature, this would definitely be a troubling sight. He claims that “a vast image appears out of Spiritus Mundi” (Yeats Line 12). Spiritus Mundi could mean that the image he sees is of spiritual nature or appears out of thin air as a spirit would. What this man sees is a beast with the body of a lion and the head of a man (Yeats Line 14). He says it has “a gaze as blank and pitiless as the sun” (Yeats Line 15). This represents no mercy, no love, no feeling, just emptiness. Next, the man sees desert birds circle this creature, much like vultures might circle a dead carcass or something that they knew is nearing death.

            The last stanza says that the “darkness drops again” (Yeats Line 18) and the speaker realizes that this Second Coming is not what he thought. This Second Coming is something that has been sleeping for centuries and was “vexed to nightmare” (Yeats Line 20) or tossed about until it was asleep, but not in a dream like you would imagine. Humans would be rocked to sleep into a dreamland; this creature was sent to a nightmare, meaning hell, where it has been sleeping for centuries. Now that this beast has returned it slouches, which is a very creepy image of a part man, part lion beast, not crawling, not walking, but slouching towards Bethlehem, to be born. This is quite significant because this is the city where Jesus was born. Is this beast mocking Jesus by being born in Bethlehem? Or is this beast being born in Bethlehem so that everyone will believe it is the Second Coming to be praised and worshipped? What seems to be clear is that this is not the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, but the second coming of evil.

            When you first read this poem there is no denying the darkness and creepiness that lies within. At second, third, and fourth read metaphors are evident in nearly every line. The Second Coming is a frightening poem with serious religious overtones. Whether the reader is a religious person or not the theme of evil is quite easy to acknowledge. From the anarchy and blood-dimmed tide to the rough beast that slouches towards Bethlehem to be born this poem displays an apocalyptic world being corrupted by evil.

Works Cited

Yeats, William Butler. “The Second Coming.” The Classic Hundred Poems. Harmon, William, ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 1998.