Read and Remix: Blog #1

In Anne Lamott’s chapter “Shitty First Drafts”, there is a relevant connection between my previous English assignments I have completed in my high school’s IB program, as well as this Honors ENC 2135 course. During the summer going into my senior year, each IB student was given a topic to create, brainstorm, and compose a 4,000-word research paper relating and revolving around a subject within the IB program. Our first draft, which was assigned in order for us to reach our fullest potential on our own, was submitted to our ‘Extended Essay Advisor’. The advisor would review the paper, offer ideas for improvement and aided as a resource if we were unable to figure things out or hit a road block in the writing process. Unlike the examples given in the chapter “Shitty First Drafts”, we were given the opportunity to ask for ideas and help from an advisor, instead of struggling day after day with a mentor. From summer break to Christmas break, the IB students were given 4 deadlines that we had to meet: an outline with quotations and sources, a first draft, a breakdown of each paragraph and building them back up, and a final copy. Just as Anne Lamott was preaching, we began to brainstorm, create, break down, and build our essays back up again. It was a very impactful way to show our improvement and growth throughout the writing process, as well as prove to ourselves that with some advising and recreating, we were able to create a research paper worth submitting in order to obtain our IB diplomas. After attending the first day of classes and going to ENC 2135, I was extremely overwhelmed by the amount of submissions, assignments, and due dates that I was writing down in my planner as I was reading through the syllabus later that night. I began worrying more about when the items were due and focusing on how I was going to be able to manage my time and complete them, instead of viewing the assignment as a learning process and witnessing the building of material each time there will be a submission. After reading the chapter, I began to comprehend the layout of the class more and understand the reason for having so many due dates and submissions in this course.