The Writing Process

I thought I had a pretty good grasp on The Death of Ivan Ilych, but the writing process really helped me understand "A Clean Well-Lighted Place". One of the common themes I had a hard time writing about was, youth's inability to relate to the old and dying. There were examples but not much to write on, so at first it was the weakest part of my paper because I had so few examples and not much analysis. During the drafting process, I organized the basis of what I wanted to say and not much else. When I draft I scratch the surface, during the editing portion is when I really begin to write.  After I got the concept of what I wanted to say, I focused on articulating my argument and that's when I did in-depth analysis.

I tried to draw on past experiences when I wrote on the theme of youth and the elderly. Ultimately it became the strongest part of my paper. The group editing sessions provided an objective critique which is crucial and difficult for me to do. It's tough for me to get a perspective different from my own especially when it comes to writing. What I usually do is put the paper down for a few days, preferably a week, then reread it and that's when I can spot mistakes or ambiguities. Since we're on a more condensed schedule there's no time for that which was why the peer editing came in handy. Someone pointed out a glaring mistake during the first session which helped me understand the story better.

The revision part really helped me grasp the material. I had to think critically about everything I wrote and how it related to my thesis. I kept that focus throughout the paper. I was surprised at how many lessons and themes both stories touched on. There is an overall message but there are many subtle anecdotes in both stories. In the end I had trouble deciding what to keep and what to delete.