Willow Leitner

First-Year Writing

Professor Enos

Self-Placement Essay

Ever since I was a little girl I have been extremely interested in stories. At

bed time my dad would always read me fairy tales that I would have memorized.

Then, as soon as I woke up, I would grab a few pieces of paper and write my

own story books. Metaphors and things that had double-meanings always

fascinated me. I can still remember a story I wrote about a little alien girl named

Ali Ann. Creative writing was something I have always enjoyed doing, and that

has stuck with me all the way until now.

Throughout high school I was involved in a literary arts magazine

called Soupstone. I submitted multiple stories and poems to it just for fun, that

ended up getting published. In high school, I was placed into an honors English

class. This class was where I had the most growth in my writing and reading

skills. We discussed topics ranging from the power of different voices to the

differences between similes and metaphors. Further, we read novels, poems,

memoirs, and plays. The best part about these classes were the discussions

about the readings. They really helped broaden my horizons to ideas that I would

never have thought about before.

The three books that really have stuck with me since high school are The

Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, and Lord
of the Flies by William Golding. Although these books are all very different in

genre, what makes them similar is the massive amount of imagery and

symbolism used in them. The Great Gatsby focuses a ton on the symbolism of

color. If one read that book and ignored all of the colors spoken about, the reader

would have no idea what was going on in Gatsbys head. In Cold Blood plays

with perspective by telling the story from multiple points of views, thoroughly

describing the scene of the murder from the view of the murderer and the view of

the detectives. Lord of the Flies is symbolic for the struggle of power in society

and how that want for power affects people. These books helped my writing

ability because they made symbolism a large part of my creative writing. The

idea of being able to say something but mean another deeper thing fascinates

me and helps make my writing more meaningful. Further, these books have

helped me develop my imagery skills. They helped me realize the importance of

setting scenes by using imagery that appealed to all of the senses, not just one.

All of these literary techniques have helped me become more confident in my

creative writing.

Although I am very confident in my creative writing, writing formally is a

very different playing field. It took me awhile to figure out how to use creative

writing skills in formal essays without making them sound too cheesy. In creative

writing, it is easy to throw in a few metaphors or symbols and then describe the

scenery. In formal essays, when things are strictly factual, these literary

techniques do not help too much. It took me awhile to realize that structure and
organization are the components of formal essays that make or break them.

Once I figured out how to organize formal essays, I was able to play with the

creativity of them a little more and soon realized that description and types of

voice play a huge role in them, also. I figured out the perfect balance between

creative writing and formal writing. I realized that although formal essays are

factual, it is better to elaborate on the facts than to just spit them back out in

paragraph form.

It is apparent that my high school honors English class really shaped my

reading and writing abilities. I am very excited to see what my college first-year

writing class will do for me too. I hope to develop a greater understanding of

formal essay organization and to master my writing skills. Since the assignments

in the class can be on any topic that I choose from, I am hoping to really

challenge myself. Further, I am hoping to receive some great book

recommendations from my teacher.

My love of reading and writing started at a very young age and I believe

that helped shape the writing skills that I have today. Humans learn by example

which is why I think having read so many books from my childhood all the way up

to today has really strengthened my writing ability. Although my formal essay

abilities came about at a later date, I believe that it was important that my

creative writing one's developed earlier. I think this because it helped me not be

stuck to one formulaic way of writing. Since I am confident in both my creative

writing skills and my formal writing skills, it allows me to use pieces of both to

create papers that I am proud of.