Writing center

Marinda Hsu

I went to the writing center a few days ago with my draft and received some helpful tips to fix my essay from Ms. Swift. I learned these two vocabulary words—Protagonist, which is the main character and antagonist, which is the opponents, villain. Therefore I could use the word in my thesis or analysis, for example:"In both, Me and You and Like Stars on Earth, the protagonists' lives are changed by the influence of another positive person who enters their lives. Ms. Swift wanted me to read out loud my essay which was helpful because as I read it out, I found a few mistakes in the sentence and a few run-on sentences. As Ms. Swift asked me a few questions as a person that hasn't read Me and You nor watched Like Stars on Earth, I realized that I have to put stronger evidences and details for readers that did not know the plots for both stories in order to understand my concept and argument better. I also leanred a new technique or in another word, a new way to start off an introduction paragraph. The way is to start the introduction with a broad statement then gradually condense them into a specific thesis statement. It should be like an upside down triangle with the pointed side on the bottom as the specific, strong thesis that you're going to argue. We also came up with a short paragraph that I think could be useful in my latter revise and edit on the essay, this is what I wrote: "Sometimes people feel lonely and as if no one understands them. In the book Me and You by Ammaniti and the film Like Stars on Earth by Taare Zameen Par the protagonists, Lorenzo and Ishaan feel misunderstood by the people in their lives until someone reached out and gave them hope." After this paragraph more likely a summary, I'll put a more analysis sentence after it to connect this to my thesis. During the time I spent in the wring center, I had not decided yet what exactly is my thesis and argument. But this is what Ms. Swift and I came up as a temporary thesis that loneliness can be changed because the protagonists have discovered the potential and confidence within themselves and throughout the love they received from people around them. But on the other hand after I visited the writing center, I decided that I didn't want the argument to be too specifically about leaving loneliness behind, but instead, about how love has the power to change a close-minded person into a bright, open-minded person. In conclusion, after visiting the writing center, I received good tips on organizing the introduction paragraph like a upside down triangle, also the most important part is that I brainstormed a lot within that few minutes; moreover, I eventually found my direction on what specific argument I want to make after brainstorming and speaking, answering questions with Ms. Swift. It was a pretty helpful experience again and I will definitely include advices I recieved in the writing center into my next revision on the essay to improve it either grammatically, on the developments on ideas and also the organization that I wanted to improve the most.