I've been playing around with what to write my paper on for days. Frustrated when the time I thought i had to figure it out was taken away from me because of the flu.

I've been writing this paper for a couple of days and now it's the night before it's due and I've added and taken away so many things I'm afraid it won't make my point strong enough.

The idea was to argue that Annie Dillard's assumptions that people either dislike her writing or cannot understand it are false. I was trying to prove that Annie is wrong, that all along her growth as a writer has been followed and anticipated by more than just the critics she believes she's writing for.

My supporting examples for proof have included another metaphor about the audience watching her split wood ( I thought this could be the public anticipation and enjoyment of her work), the instance when the children ask about her 'burning moth' story (this would prove that her work is admired not just by critics and that people do understand what she's saying), and the Yale critic who seemed to understand where she was coming from (again this would prove that people do understand).

i then felt that if I was going to try and prove that Annie was wrong for believing that people disliked or didn't understand her writing, I was first going to have to prove that this is actually what she thought.--Overall the process has been confusing and longer than I had imagined. I hope the final product at least makes my point and supports it.

Pulling these together and making a strong point has been more difficult than I thought; especially since the main focus of this writing are the metaphors describing the difficulties of the writing process.

A Woman's Struggle

My favorite aspect of Virginia Wolf's novel called "A Room of One's Own" is the description of how difficult it was for a woman to actually write. She wasn't allowed to walk in certain places like the library and even some places outdoors. How could she get a feel for life if it was so limited? I thought it was really interesting that she also discussed the new ability for women to vote. For her to be unexcited about the new privilege says a lot. Even if women have the right to vote there are so many other aspects of a woman's life that will remain limited.

Dillard & Sanders

I enjoyed reading the excerpts from Dillard's and Sander's writings. It was comforting to me to know that these literary artists had such problems with figuring out what to write. Dillard's was my favorite, though I'm not sure why. I think maybe it's because she was so passionate about what her life as a writer was like at the moment. She described how difficult it was for her to get coherent thoughts down on paper. Whereas Sanders spent much of his time talking about where you write from; Dillard spend her time discussing what writing was actually like for her.

Metaphor About Writing

For me writing is like dancing. I love to dance and I'm ok at it but I'm still not very good. A professional dancer would not see my dancing as anything more than ordinary. I always want to better because I think it can be so much fun. However, when you're not really good at something it takes away from the appeal.

For me reading is one of my favorite things to do (the reason I took this class is because I knew I would get to read a lot). I've always wished I could be on the other side once in a while though... writing instead of reading. I'm not bad at writing; I just wish I was better and more creative.