Writing as designing with words
I have loved to write since childhood. Lately, I've enjoyed writing about design as a way to work through my thoughts. Click here to view my blog post, "Designing for Basic Human Needs," published by imprint magazine.
You can also check out this selected post from my thesis blog, as well as other thesis and environmental-related musings at http://jennysthesisproject.wordpress.com/.
The following essays are selected examples from a Spring 2010 graduate writing course at Carnegie Mellon University, taught by Professor David Kaufer.
“Leaving the Farm: A Story about 1950s America”
The goal of this essay was to give the reader a sense of displacement by transporting him or her to a different place and time period. I chose to write about life growing up on a farm outside a small town in Michigan during the 1950s.
“The Shirey farm was isolated; the few miles to downtown Perry might as well have been 50 miles. Then again, Perry didn’t offer much in the way of city life. When the family wanted to go shopping, they would drive 12 miles to the bigger town of Owosso, where Ben thrilled at riding the department store escalators...”
To read more, download a PDF of the essay.
“Misconceptions about Homeschooling”
As a former homeschooler, I have come to realize that people have many misconceptions and stereotypes about homeschoolers. When Professor Kaufer asked us to write an essay that would allow our audience to learn something new, I was excited for the chance to teach my co-students about homeschooling—from an insider's perspective.
“When I tell people that I was homeschooled from 1st through 12th grade, they are usually curious. “How did you make any friends?” and “Did your parents have teaching degrees?” are two questions I am often asked. I have realized that these questions tie into two distinct, but false, ideas about homeschoolers and homeschooling...”
To read more, download a PDF of the essay.
“I’m Breaking up with You:
The Case for Ending our Nationwide Love Affair
with Bottled Water”
Our capstone assignment in my graduate writing course was to write a paper that would lead the reader through a thoughtful, original, persuasive argument. I wrote about a topic near and dear to my heart: the negative environmental and healthful effects of bottled water.
“U.S. citizens are in a codependent relationship with bottled water. Every day, we as a nation consume 1,500 bottles of water per second. A few years ago, I would have said, “So what’s the problem? Water is healthy!”...”
To read more, download a PDF of the essay.