Blind Lake Analysis

According to Robert Charles Wilson in his book Blind Lake, “Understanding is better than ignorance. Ignorance, unlike life, unlike narrative, is static. Understanding implies a forward motion, thus the possibility of change.” (Wilson, 263) Without understanding something, people would never learn anything. Without learning anything, people would become prideful believing that we know everything, when in reality, nobody knows everything. I did not want to become prideful, so I decided to go to Southwestern Oregon Community college in order to obtain knowledge. Going to Southwestern Oregon Community College this term was a great way to improve my writing skills, change my life, and gain knowledge.
I earned an eighty-eight percent in writing …show more content…
Before I arrived at the Southwestern Oregon Community College campus on August 28, I vowed to myself that I would never run cross country for a school again because I never had the opportunity to practice on wooded trails, rather than concrete. But that changed one day, when I explored the campus and realized that there were wooded trails intertwining in every which way in the dark green forest lined with salmon berries and blackberry bushes that were surrounding the Upper Empire Lake. My dream has always been running in the forest, and afterwards swimming in a crystal clear, clean, deep, and refreshing lake after a long run. The Southwestern Oregon Community College Campus would provide superior running trails and a lake to swim in for my dream to come true. Only a few days later, after I explored the campus, I accidentally bumped into the cross country coach, Anthony Collins. Coach Antony and I began to talk about running and he offered me a spot on the cross country team. I couldn’t decline the offer after seeing the amazing running trails and the beautiful stunning lake. I was deeply honored to receive the offer, thus I accepted the spot on the cross country team. My dream had come true and my life had changed at the exact moment that I accepted the spot on the cross country team. When Coach Anthony and I finished talking, he asked me if I would like to have a meeting with him about my classes. I gratefully …show more content…
Before I enrolled in Writing 121, I wrote as if I was giving a speech. Speech class has taught me to make my points and transitions very obvious. For example, in speech class I am supposed to say “my goal will be to inform you on”, “my first point is”, “my second point is “, and “I am going to persuade you on”. On the other hand, writing 121 has taught me not to make my points very obvious and bore the audience, but to make my points subtle. Due to the fact that writing 121 has shown me what to do, and speech 111 has shown me what not to do in writing, I understand why I am supposed to make my points subtle in writing. In a speech, the audience cannot visually see the words that come out of the speaker’s mouth, they can only hear what comes out of the speaker’s mouth. Thus, the points need to be easily heard, but in a piece of writing, you can visually see the words that the author is speaking because they are on a sheet of paper. Due to this, points need to be subtle and should not have the word ‘point’ in the points of the essay. Furthermore, my vocabulary has increased. For example, I did not know that are other words for honestly, but some other words that can be used instead of honestly are candidly and frankly. Additionally, I did not know that other words could be used instead of putting down someone. Disparage and belittle are two other words I learned that can be used in place of putting down