Last week, I focused on my composition of two genres. I had my compositions done and I just needed to complete my rationale. after setting it aside for a day or two, I finally got to work on it and I finished. I had a rough week.

This week, we wrapped up novels and we are exploring genre for our project. I am doing a drawing and a journal entry for my genres. I find this project super fun because it is not the typical assignment. You have more freedom for creativity. So far, I have completed my drawing and I am proud of it. It took me a day and a half because I am not the best artist and I was trying to get every detail perfect. My drawing portrays Constance looking away from the outside world. I chose to do this because the fact that Constance went through all of that for her little sister just resonated with me. She is living in a life molded by the actions of Mary Katherine. I did not want that detail to just be looked over so I decided to capture it through art. I am so excited to put myself in Charles’ shoes so I can write that journal entry. I wanna write the entry by hand and burn the papers at the edges a little bit so it can look like they were recovered from the house fire.

This week, I learned about different genres. Genre is important when you are trying to convey a particular message to an audience. One example that stood out to me as I read Dirk’s essay is the ransom note. Using the wrong genre could lead to the wrong impression and the ransom note would not be as effective. In addition, the letter to the bank that was trying to dispute a wrongful charge was effective by the way it was set up. The person established their credibility and then made it clear that the late fee was charged by mistake. The way the letter was written asserted the power and position as the customer while being respectful to the institution. This essay broadened my view on writing and it showed me that you don’t have to stick to a formula.

On Tuesday, I had a decent amount of time to read and on Friday as well. I thought I would be finished reading by now but I’ve had so much to to it is hard to keep up sometimes. I am determined to finish my book today because it is finally the weekend and I got a lot of my work out of the way during the week so I do not have as much to do.

This week, we read “Now We Are Five” by David Sedaris and “Strawberry Spring” by Stephen King. I enjoyed “Strawberry Spring” a lot and it didn’t feel like an ‘assigned reading’. It felt like I was reading a story in my leisure time. I liked the mystery element and how clueless the narrator seemed despite being the culprit. I suspected the narrator of being the killer from the beginning because he seems a little too observant and practical the entire time. From his observations, everyone else around him was paranoid and freaking out but his fear seemed minimal. I wonder what might have caused him to start the murders again at the end. Also, I wonder why the particular campus is of interest to him. Why is that his target area for murder? I wonder why he might have chosen that girl who studied art as his victim. There are a lot of parts to the story that leave me curious.