The Valpo Core Reader
 

Authors

Myranda Bellman

Document Type

Portfolio Introduction Essay

Publication Date

2005

Excerpt

The second birth and creation essay was the hardest to begin. I had no idea how to write about confusion-it's unnatural--or so I thought. Once I started the paper, however, it was easy to continue talking about the issues, which seem never-ending. I needed to write about my questions because it gave me a new experience in writing. I had never before seen an essay as an exploration through a topic. Before writing this, I used essays to inform my audience, persuade the readers, or (for exams) to regurgitate my notes and show what a great memory I had. I had never used it as a tool to open my mind-the way I had to in order to write this paper. Being able to write and include my questions allowed me to be more complex. Normally I would have had to prove a point, which means a complete understanding of the topic is necessary. In these topics, a complete understanding is virtually impossible. When I have to know everything pertaining to an issue about which I am writing, complexity in the paper is lost. Allowing myself to be confused, and using that to explore more into what confused me, was liberating.

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