Josh Weckesser
AP Language & Composition
Journal Entry Number Four: Response to listening to peers
October 13, 1999
I found listening to my peers to be an enlightening experience. This truly opened
my eyes to the rich oral tradition in literature; I understood how Homer could write such
an epic from an orally transmitted medium. There was something special about hearing
the authors reading their own work to an audience of their peers, I think that most people
felt a little bit of strain and rose to the challenge. There were moments when I become so
enraptured with the story that I forgot that I was in a classroom at all.
However, there were readers who read in a flat, monotone. The best example of
this was Nate. This really sticks out to me because I thought that his piece was well
written but it was read so poorly that that I found it hard to pay attention. I found this a
damn shame, as I wanted to hear what he had to say, yet I just couldn’t make myself
catch everything. I think Rehan’s was similar, but to a lesser extent. Rehan had some
baseline philosophy, which kept me engaged.
Yet on the other side of the coin were Sammi and Steph, both of who spoke with
great emotion and feeling. Sammi’s tale seemed that much more tragic due to the quiver
in her voice and the week-kneed way that she stood. Steph’s appeared even more
humorous with her facial expressions and light, bouncy voice driving the words home.
The writing word, translated by these people into the spoken word worked magic. It
allowed me to see, if only for a moment, an event though another’s eyes.
(I realize I’m jumping around, however I’m going to type it up the way I
originally wrote it)
These readings in class also gave me a basis for comparison. It was a reality
check of sorts for me as far as pursuing some creative writing lifestyle. These people
who are my peers and I felt they equaled me if not exceeded me in writing ability. This
was both good and bad. It was good in so much as I gained new insights into different
styles that I myself could use, for example: A fractured timeline.
It was bad in so much as I have found two things in my life that I pride myself on:
The quality of my friendships and my writing ability. The problem arises that if I have
no exceptional writing ability I have no innate natural abilities and as such can only go so
far in any sort of career, which is bad.
However, I do believe that this was a very worthwhile experience for everyone
involved and a good use of class time.