question: how am i influenced by my past?
Original
I am influenced by my past in every possible way. The way I talk. The way I walk. The way I hold eye contact when someone has something they want to say. I believe that the negative and positive experiences one has made in their past defines everything they hold true to in the present. It is common that we observe someone acting out of impulse, but is that derived from a past experience? I am specifically influenced by the family dynamics of my past. Growing up I believe your surroundings determine everything you become, and I was blessed with a positive one. My parents brought me up with comfort, and relative bliss. However, I was quickly thrown into a contrary situation. Although a wonderful experience, feeling left alone in a distant country from a young age determined a lot about what sort of a person I came to be. It is because I know the pain of being neglected that I try to be empathetic towards everyone and anyone. “We are products of our past, but we don't have to be prisoners of it.” (Warren). I believe the only way to break through the barrier of our defining factors of the past is through introspection and positive influences. Sometimes you may not find it necessary to break the influence of your past, but I believe it is more common to do so. I think this is so because the world poses us with more negativity which I find more impactful than positivity, hence making our negative experiences give us lasting scars. Such scars are harder to tend to and therefore require further introspection. As we saw with Perry in “In Cold Blood”, the past may alter us in many ways. Sometimes turning us into absolute monsters. This brings about the argument of nature vs nurture in which most cases the “nurturing” factor is predominant. Our past therefore reinforces every action, every thought and every word that are directed from our experience driven brains.
revised
I am influenced by my past in every possible way. The way I talk. The way I walk. The way I hold eye contact with someone. I believe that the negative and positive experiences we make in our past defines everything we hold true to in the present. It is common that we observe someone acting out of impulse, but is that derived from past experiences?
I am specifically influenced by the family dynamics of my past. Growing up, I believe our surroundings determine everything we become. I personally was blessed with positive ones; my parents brought me up with comfort, and relative bliss. However, I was quickly thrown into a contrary situation outside my bubble of contentment. Feeling left alone and disregarded in a distant country from a young age determined a lot about what sort of a person I came to be. Nevertheless, this was a valuable experience and it is because I know the pain of being neglected that I try to be empathetic towards everyone and anyone. I believe the only way to break through the barrier of our defining factors of the past is through reflection directed towards the betterment of our lives.
“We are products of our past, but we don't have to be prisoners of it.” (Warren). Sometimes we may not find it necessary to break the influence of our past, but I believe it is more common for us to do so. I think this is so because the world poses us with more negativity which I find more impactful than positivity, hence making our negative experiences give us lasting scars. Such scars are harder to tend to and therefore require further introspection. As we saw with Perry in “In Cold Blood”, the past may alter us in many ways, sometimes turning us into absolute monsters. This brings about the argument between nature vs nurture in which most cases, I believe, the “nurturing” factor is predominant. Our past reinforces every action, every thought and every word that is directed from our experience driven brains.
I am specifically influenced by the family dynamics of my past. Growing up, I believe our surroundings determine everything we become. I personally was blessed with positive ones; my parents brought me up with comfort, and relative bliss. However, I was quickly thrown into a contrary situation outside my bubble of contentment. Feeling left alone and disregarded in a distant country from a young age determined a lot about what sort of a person I came to be. Nevertheless, this was a valuable experience and it is because I know the pain of being neglected that I try to be empathetic towards everyone and anyone. I believe the only way to break through the barrier of our defining factors of the past is through reflection directed towards the betterment of our lives.
“We are products of our past, but we don't have to be prisoners of it.” (Warren). Sometimes we may not find it necessary to break the influence of our past, but I believe it is more common for us to do so. I think this is so because the world poses us with more negativity which I find more impactful than positivity, hence making our negative experiences give us lasting scars. Such scars are harder to tend to and therefore require further introspection. As we saw with Perry in “In Cold Blood”, the past may alter us in many ways, sometimes turning us into absolute monsters. This brings about the argument between nature vs nurture in which most cases, I believe, the “nurturing” factor is predominant. Our past reinforces every action, every thought and every word that is directed from our experience driven brains.
comparative essay
Writing can be strenuous, especially when one is involuntarily forced to do so for the sake of an assignment. Long hours of constant finger-drumming on a keyboard is the last thing an uninterested student wants to do. However, let us not forget about the due beauty of writing; it is a form of tangible, printed communication that allows us to elaborate and express our thoughts with lucidity, style, and diversity.This is exactly what Yuki does in his digital portfolio reflection. An eloquent recollection of his difficult past produces a whirlpool that tugs on and twists the reader’s mind, and leaves them paralyzed in awe. Nevertheless, even a skilled writer like Yuki can be prey to the birds-eye critic. There is always something that can be presented better no matter how learned a writer may be. Therefore, let us examine, deconstruct, and rebuild Yuki’s reflection for the sake of improvement.
Yuki’s linguistic abilities are of substantial quality. He begins his reflection with a sound and broad introduction, and then he effectively hits the audience with an intriguing dilemma about the impact past events have on people. The discussion is then taken deeper when he provides a relevant personal example of being socially disregarded in his past. Yuki’s reflection is definitely an honest reimagination and reanalysis of his experiences, and that is what makes it stand out. It is a role model for writing that has an optimal balance of formality and playfulness; he is adept at creating absolute structure, but simultaneously able to make use of graceful style and literary devices. His sentence, “the world poses us with more negativity which I find more impactful than positivity, hence making our negative experiences give us lasting scars”, is a beautiful example of his expertise in verbal matters. By reading Yuki’s writing, I have gained some valuable verbal tips and tools that I can apply to my own writing.
However, if there were one thing Yuki can improve, it would be the impression of his closing statements. In his reflection, Yuki does not point a finger towards the future. He is missing a conclusive idea that emphasizes the concept of advancement. In his text, he writes “Although a wonderful experience, feeling left alone in a distant country from a young age determined a lot about what sort of a person I came to be” (Fujiwara). As can be seen here, he claims that his experience in a different country had some good sides to it, but he ends the sentence with a negative statement that talks against the experience. Some rearranging produces the following: “Feeling left alone and disregarded in a distant country from a young age determined a lot about what sort of a person I came to be. Nevertheless, this was a valuable experience” (Fujiwara). By rearranging the positive statement to be after the negative one, an insightful, flexible mindset is more effectively shown.
Structural changes like so can make a big difference, but large gains also come from subtle changes that are often not noticed. In his original piece, Yuki writes from multiple perspectives. Although this is acceptable, writing from first, second, and third person perspective and using words such as “you”,“I”, and “they” in succession blurs his point of view and makes his claim seem weaker. It would be a waste if a few stylistic faults hindered his argument, because the ideas he presents are absolutely compelling. Writing from a constant viewpoint increases logicality, and in this case I chose to universalize his perspective to first person. A reflection is a personal account and using words like “I” and “we” emphasizes the values of pure, self-oriented writing. Through revision of Yuki’s writing, I have specifically realized the importance of paying close attention to the details a such.
In conclusion, Yuki’s reflection is more than reasonable, but my revision is evidence that even an exemplary piece can be made better. All it really takes to improve is the correct attitude based around constant growth. The merit of being an exceptional writer like Yuki who knows his linguistics is that he can venture deeper into his writing to achieve something that is absolutely explosive. Of course, there are demerits; being so remarkable can make it difficult to retain a growth mindset. Nevertheless, the only route to success is continual refinement. When things to be better at seem to have run out, taking a closer look will always result in the discovery of a new issue to be resolved. This consequently and continually fuels an iterative process of improvement. Revision after revision, one should keep attempting to reach perfection. Although this may never be achieved, the closest anyone can get to being so is if they keep trying.
Yuki’s linguistic abilities are of substantial quality. He begins his reflection with a sound and broad introduction, and then he effectively hits the audience with an intriguing dilemma about the impact past events have on people. The discussion is then taken deeper when he provides a relevant personal example of being socially disregarded in his past. Yuki’s reflection is definitely an honest reimagination and reanalysis of his experiences, and that is what makes it stand out. It is a role model for writing that has an optimal balance of formality and playfulness; he is adept at creating absolute structure, but simultaneously able to make use of graceful style and literary devices. His sentence, “the world poses us with more negativity which I find more impactful than positivity, hence making our negative experiences give us lasting scars”, is a beautiful example of his expertise in verbal matters. By reading Yuki’s writing, I have gained some valuable verbal tips and tools that I can apply to my own writing.
However, if there were one thing Yuki can improve, it would be the impression of his closing statements. In his reflection, Yuki does not point a finger towards the future. He is missing a conclusive idea that emphasizes the concept of advancement. In his text, he writes “Although a wonderful experience, feeling left alone in a distant country from a young age determined a lot about what sort of a person I came to be” (Fujiwara). As can be seen here, he claims that his experience in a different country had some good sides to it, but he ends the sentence with a negative statement that talks against the experience. Some rearranging produces the following: “Feeling left alone and disregarded in a distant country from a young age determined a lot about what sort of a person I came to be. Nevertheless, this was a valuable experience” (Fujiwara). By rearranging the positive statement to be after the negative one, an insightful, flexible mindset is more effectively shown.
Structural changes like so can make a big difference, but large gains also come from subtle changes that are often not noticed. In his original piece, Yuki writes from multiple perspectives. Although this is acceptable, writing from first, second, and third person perspective and using words such as “you”,“I”, and “they” in succession blurs his point of view and makes his claim seem weaker. It would be a waste if a few stylistic faults hindered his argument, because the ideas he presents are absolutely compelling. Writing from a constant viewpoint increases logicality, and in this case I chose to universalize his perspective to first person. A reflection is a personal account and using words like “I” and “we” emphasizes the values of pure, self-oriented writing. Through revision of Yuki’s writing, I have specifically realized the importance of paying close attention to the details a such.
In conclusion, Yuki’s reflection is more than reasonable, but my revision is evidence that even an exemplary piece can be made better. All it really takes to improve is the correct attitude based around constant growth. The merit of being an exceptional writer like Yuki who knows his linguistics is that he can venture deeper into his writing to achieve something that is absolutely explosive. Of course, there are demerits; being so remarkable can make it difficult to retain a growth mindset. Nevertheless, the only route to success is continual refinement. When things to be better at seem to have run out, taking a closer look will always result in the discovery of a new issue to be resolved. This consequently and continually fuels an iterative process of improvement. Revision after revision, one should keep attempting to reach perfection. Although this may never be achieved, the closest anyone can get to being so is if they keep trying.