Where I'm From: Notes, Outline, and Rough Draft.

Notes For "Where I'm From" Narrative

Here are my frightful rough notes for my first assignment for English Composition 1.  The essay prompt was "Where I'm From." I started out by answering some questions that my professor provided for us. When writing an essay it tends to be organized chaos as you can see.  I am all over the place. I like to write anything and everything that comes to mind. What I have learned about writing is that I need to write anything I can think of down. When I am taking notes I am never thinking about if I am writing anything of substance. But instead just trying to get the ball rolling. I started out thinking narrowly. I thought about writing about where I have lived my entire life but decided that it would be too predictable and mainstream. Then I thought about where I grew up in the summers. However, writing about Maine didn't feel right. Then after several awful ideas and notes, I found my topic. I decided to write about The Meteor and make it into a somewhat coming of age essay.

Outline for "Where I'm From" Narrative

The next thing I needed to do once I figured out my topic was to organize the chaos I had created. I        started by creating an outline for myself. This outline consists of five paragraphs. The first is the introduction which includes the thesis statement. The second is about the coffee scene in Little Rock, AR. The third asks a question, "Why The Meteor was so important?" The fourth paragraph is about the closing of The Meteor. As well as, end of youth, end of time in hometown, and finding and building new relationships. The fifth and final paragraph is the closing paragraph. It consists of a revised version of the thesis statement mentioned in the first paragraph. It also touches on a little bit of everything that has been mentioned throughout the essay. Plus some new and final insights. I use this outline for everything I write. I had to use this method of writing from grade school all the way through high school. It has helped me tremendously. It has also saved me time and many headaches. As you can see I have jotted down some additional notes under each paragraph. My notes and outlines are guides. I never follow them closely. They are intended to guide me through my writing process. After I take notes and create an outline I go straight to Microsoft Word and start writing. Once I have an outline and notes I don't need anything else except for my laptop and music. I can write everything down and get in a writing flow. Once I am in this state of mind I can write and rewrite multiple times until I have reached a place that seems like it could be useful to me. When I reach this point all I need to do is keep rereading and editing it until I have my final draft.

Second and third page.

"Where I'm From" Narrative (First page). 

This is my first draft for the "Where I'm From" narrative. It is about the coffee shop and people that made an impact on my life. Also, it is a story of my friends and I grew up together in this special place that helped shape the person I am today. This is before any feedback from my fellow students and professor.

In our class, we were asked to answer a few questions once we read one another's narratives.  

Peer review questions:
1) List three things that stood out to you about this narrative and why you think they were effective.
2) How did the writer use descriptive language to "show" you the hometown or hometowns they wrote about?
3) How did the narrative's opening draw you in as a reader?
4) Is there anything in the narrative you would like to know more about?

I had two responses that answered these questions. 

First Response:

1- I like your narrative! After I finished reading there are three things I like the first thing that you choose the coffee shop as the place where you from and where you spend your life in childhood. second things when you were talking about how you meet you and your friends it did make me think to abut my favorite place for me which is my grandmom house. the last thing is you describing how the sun goes inside the coffee shop, during you sitting together with your friends.

2- " had the perfect atmosphere that I had been looking for. Not only did it feel like it had a rich past within the red white-washed bricks, but it had a relevant feel within it. It was trendy without it being a fad"  this describes making me think about a coffee shop I use to go to me and my sisters back home in Jordan.

3- "I am not just from Little Rock, Arkansas. But I am from the community that has shaped me throughout my lifetime of living here." this makes me want to know more information about you!

4- I would like to know if you still see the same friends you used to hang out with.

Second Response:

1) I really liked your narrative! It made me think of the show Friends and what a central part their coffee house Central Perk played in their lives just as The Meteor did within yours :) I love how you were able to convey that it was more than just a hangout or a place you got coffee with your friends. It was a sort of haven, a home. The last thing that stood out to me was how you equated The Meteor to a place you were "from" in a sense because of the impact it had on your life. 

2)   "An abundance of sunlight rushed into the interior showering it with natural energizing sunlight. I felt happy and exhilarated. Everyone within this chic coffee shop was very kind and overall fun. Not to mention the coffee was always stellar." The way you described The Meteor made me want to go there. It seems like an amazing coffee shop! 

3) What drew me in was your mention of coffee shops and the community is brought into your life. It made me want to find out what exactly it was that impacted you so greatly.

4) I would like to know if you have gone to either of the new The Meteor coffee shop locations?

The feedback from my peers not only helped encourage me but pointed out a few things that they think I should have included in my narrative. By learning what I can do differently will help me improve my writing for the future. I learned that I needed to include a few follow up details. For instance, have I visited any of the other locations? Do I still see the same friends I use to hang out with? 

Edited "Where I'm From" Narrative. (First page)

Second & third page. 

Comments by Professor. 

These three pages provide feedback from my professor. Including, encouraging feedback and edits made to my paper. Mainly centered around pesky commas.