Research Paper

Abstract:

People have always been under the impression that child led the most innocent and happy lives but they refuse to see that not all children enjoy this great life of happiness that they assume. This paper addresses the correlation between violent offenders and their traumatic events in childhood. These events in their early stages of youth can also serve as the reasons to why they became such violent criminals. The few of many emotions and factors that impact the mental state of mind will be discussed in this paper. These violent offenders need to be assisted in counseling and possibly psychiatric help instead of serving time in prison.

Innocence, purity, ignorance, enthusiastic, outgoing, obedience, are the words that one may use to describe children. Is it possible that there may be an alternate side of these children’s lives that people may not see or refuse to accept? Is there a darker more vile side hidden inside themselves or is it just a deranged, mentally they adopted due to certain events in their experience. In society, there are numerous crimes being committed by violent offenders. Some may start committing violent unlawful acts when they are young and progress in violence as they get older. The most common solution that one may think of is harsh punishments and imprisonment. However, what people fail to understand is that these children who commit such murders are also victims themselves due to various unpleasant experiences in their childhood. Jail and harsh punishments are not the way to deter murders and other gruesome crimes from occurring. Violent offenders need to be placed in a facility for psychiatric treatment and counseling. Criminals commit heinous acts as a result of prior harsh experiences they underwent in their childhood.

One’s behavior in adolescence can influence a child’s tendency to commit crimes at a young age or even later in their life. According to Kenny and Press, children who commit crimes often have signs of aggression or violent behavior at a younger age. They discussed how during the early stages of adolescence, many children experience different classifications or levels of violent behavior which correlates to the tendency to commit crimes. (Kenny, Press 2006) This behavior may go on to effect their childhood at first then continue on in their life. This constant aggressive behavior leads to these children committing crimes because they feel that there is nothing wrong with their actions since they are so accustomed to it. They will not feel remorse because no one has showed them that these acts of aggression are not acceptable at times. This shows how violent behavior in the early stages of their life greatly relates to children who commit crimes. Depending on the levels of aggression and violent behavior it may also be a characteristic of another reason, psychopathy, that young offenders commit crimes.

Another reason that impact a criminal’s heinous behavior are because of the fact that they are defined as psychopaths. Young offenders who are diagnosed as psychopaths or have psychopathic tendencies are the ones who usually commit crimes as they reach adulthood. According to Giuseppe “Psychopathy is a complex personality disorder, characterizing individuals with emotional deficits who lack a regard for social norms, empathy, and remorse” (Giuseppe 2013). Many of the violent offenders are categorized as psychopaths and they have no regard for other people’s feelings nor do they seem to have feelings. They are able to murder another person and not be able to feel ashamed about it. They have no feelings and they are not concerned about other people. Many children show signs of psychopathic behaviors and that can lead them to committing violent crimes since they possess no empathy for others. There are studies composed to prove that psychopathy in childhood usually possess an increase of violence in their life as they mature with age.

A study was done and it consisted of comparing young offenders that were referred to a Youth Forensic Psychiatric Services for assessment and their level of psychopathy to the risk of violence that occurs in their young adulthood. They were able to record the amount of violence in their adulthood because the experimenter was able to keep up with the subjects’ lives for 10 years. The researchers used a Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL: YV) and found that adolescents with high PCL: YV scores were the ones with high risk to violence in adulthood and the ones who scored low on the PCL: YV had low risk to violence (Gretton, Catchpole 2004). Children or young offenders with high PCL: YV suggests that they are more likely to expose themselves to violence and commit crimes according to the study. Children have developed these psychopathic tendencies since an early age and most parents may be oblivious to the signs from their behaviors. Since these behaviors are not being emphasized as wrong actions, children may feel that they violent actions they are committing are normal (Muller 2015).  For example, if a child takes pleasure in hurting animals and no one punishes him or her telling them it is wrong to do such a thing then they will feel not view the act of hurting animals as something wrong or unacceptable. They will not develop any remorse because they feel like what they are doing is normal and okay. This discussion illustrates how psychopathy can lead to violent offences in youth or adulthood as children do not yet know how to distinguish right from wrong.

 Childhood trauma has a large impact on violent offenders. Robertson and Burton stated that “Violent offenders reported significantly greater frequency of physical or sexual abuse score a higher total score on the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire than nonviolent offenders.” (Robertson, Burton 2010) This shows that violent offenders, tend to have past experiences during their childhood, tainted with abuse and violence. Some of them may have experienced sexual abuse from someone in their family and that abuse could result in confusion and anger in the child. This anger will then cause them to feel hatred towards people. The person who abused them may be someone who the child is supposed to confide in so they could easily be a parent or relative. Since the abuser could be someone close to the child, they will feel helpless from the abuse since they are unable to tell others about this terrible experience.  Enduring this sexual abuse may become a stressor for most of these offenders. This stressor will then cause offenders to resort to violent behaviors that will led to harmful outcomes like imprisonment. Childhood experiences, especially the ones that can serve as stressors have great impact on a person’s life as they mature with age, causing them to be a violent offender.

Neglect and disregard of a child from a family member can also result in the child using violence to cope with issues regarding family relationships as they grow older. Not every child receives the attention and care that they deserve. Some parents may not be the best role models for their children and may even participate in illegal activities like drug abuse. They may not provide the most stable living environment for their children to mature in. Sometimes these unfit parents are selfish and sole care for themselves instead of the well-being of their child. These scenarios can lead to unwanted results in children’s emotions.

Muller (2015) Children who have severe attachment problems (which often result from unreliable and ineffective caregiving), and a history of abuse may develop very aggressive behaviors. They can also have trouble controlling emotions, which can lead to impulsive, violent outbursts directed at themselves or others. (Muller 2015)

This shows that if a child does not receive the right care or attention, they may develop emotional problems as they grow older. Children will eventually feel resentment and anger towards people. They will not be able to cope with their negative feelings because there was no one in their childhood to guide them. Being that they are not able to control their emotions, it will lead to violence. They may feel like violence is a way of expressing their inner emotions or outbursts. This shows that neglect from family members can cause violent crimes committed by children as they get older.

In scenarios where children experienced a rough childhood and had difficulty coping with emotions, led to increased amounts of exposure to violent behavior. Bruce and Laporte explain that criminals that had a childhood trauma were more likely to engage in violent acts than those who do not possess a traumatic childhood. They also found results that suggest offenders who reported possessing antisocial behavior or conduct from childhood, are the ones at elevated risk of engaging in violent behaviors. (Bruce, Laporte 2015) This proves that there is a correlation between rough adolescent life and violent behavior. These children with antisocial behaviors withdraw themselves from any social activity and make sure to keep their feelings unnoticeable. Behaviors like this will eventually turn into habits and become what is normal to these children. They will feel like they are unable to speak to others or reveal their true emotions and feelings because they can only trust themselves. When they feel this way, they will turn to violent activities or actions because that is how they will relieve their stressful feelings inside. Antisocial behaviors in childhood have a big impact on violent offenders.

Many factors impact a development of a violent offender. What is most crucial is how they grew up and the actions that they made habits until they are older. Their behavior in childhood can be the reason for a violent offender. The amount of aggression they project in childhood or the amount of violent behavior they possess, if they were showing psychopathic tendencies, experiencing traumatic events like physical or sexual abuse can harm their emotions at a young age, and neglect from someone they are suppose to trust can cause these children to lose control of their emotions and resort to violence. All of these reasons can influence a child and cause them a lot of damage emotionally. With this emotional damage, these children will grow up to be violent offenders who have no regard for others. They will commit violent crimes because that is what they feel is right since that is all they knew from childhood experiences. These violent offenders need counseling to help mend these psychological issues that they have been allowing to impact their decisions in life.

           

  

References

Gretton, H. M., Hare, R. D., & Catchpole, R. H. (2004). Psychopathy and Offending From      

Adolescence to Adulthood: A 10-Year Follow-Up. Journal Of Consulting And Clinical Psychology, 72(4), 636-645. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.72.4.636

Giuseppe, C., Adriano, S., & Vincenzo, C. (2013, July 1). Traumatic experiences in childhood

and psychopathy: A study on a sample of violent offenders from Italy. Retrieved May 4, 2015, from

http://www.academia.edu/5489808/Traumatic_experiences_in_childhood_and_psychopathy_a_study_on_a_sample_of_violent_offenders_from_Italy

Kenny, D. T., & Press, A. L. (2006). Violence classifications and their impact on observed

relationships  with key factors in young offenders. Psychology, Public Policy, And Law, 12(1), 86-105. doi:10.1037/1076-8971.12.1.86

Muller, R. (2015, February 5). Children Who Kill Are Often Victims Too. Retrieved May 4,

2015, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/talking-about-trauma/201502/children-who-kill-are-often-victims-too

Robertson, C. B., & Burton, D. L. (2010). An Exploration of Differences in Childhood

Maltreatment between Violent and Non-Violent Male Delinquents. Journal Of Child & Adolescent Trauma, 3(4), 319-329. doi:10.1080/19361521.2010.523065

Research Outline

Title: Victim or Criminal?

Thesis: Children who commit crimes often correlated with violent childhoods or psychopathy.

Body paragraph 1: One’s childhood can influence a child’s tendency to commit crimes at a young age or even later in their life. According to Kenny and Press, children who commit crimes often have signs of aggression or violent behavior at a younger age. They discussed how during childhood, many children experience different classifications or levels of violent behavior which correlates to the tendency to commit crimes. This behavior may go on to effect their childhood at first then continue on in their life. This constant aggressive behavior leads to these children committing crimes because they feel that there is nothing wrong with their actions since they are so accustomed to it. They will not feel remorse because no one has showed them that these acts of aggression are not acceptable at times. This shows how violent behavior in childhood greatly relates to children who commit crimes.

Body paragraph 2: Young offenders who are diagnosed psychopaths or have psychopathic tendencies are the ones who usually commit crimes as they reach adulthood.  A study was done and it consisted of comparing young offenders that were referred to a Youth Forensic Psychiatric Services for assessment and their level of psychopathy to the risk of violence that occurs in their young adulthood. They were able to record the amount of violence in their adulthood because they kept up with the subjects’ lives for 10 years. The researchers used a Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL: YV) and found that the adolescence with high PCL: YV scores were the ones with high risk to violence in adulthood and the ones who scored low on the PCL: YV had low risk to violence (Gretton, Catchpole 2004). Children or young offenders with high PCL: YV suggests that they are more likely to expose themselves to violence or commit violence according to the study. This shows how there is a relationship between crimes and the mentality of young adolescences.

Body paragraph 3: Childhood trauma has a large impact on violent offenders. Robertson and Burton stated that “Violent offenders reported significantly greater frequency of physical neglect and sexual abuse and a higher total score on the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire than nonviolent offenders.” (Robertson, Burton 2010) Childhood experiences especially ones that can serve as stressors have great impact on a person’s life later on causing them to be a violent offender.

Body paragraph 4: Children who experienced a rough childhood increases exposure to violent behavior. Bruce and Laporte explain how they found that criminals that had a childhood trauma were more likely to engage in violent acts than those who do not possess a traumatic childhood. This proves that there is a correlation between rough adolescent life and violent behavior.      

           

Annotated Bibliography

Kenny, D. T., & Press, A. L. (2006). Violence classifications and their impact on observed relationships  with key factors in young offenders. Psychology, Public Policy, And Law, 12(1), 86-105. doi:10.1037/1076-8971.12.1.86

This academic journal explains how young offenders like children or even young teens usually start their violent behavior when they were younger. It discusses how during their childhood, many children experience different classifications of violent behavior, which carries on as they grow older. Children are then categorized into different classifications or levels of violence. This psychopathic behavior of some children is the fundamental reason that causes the future violent criminal acts they commit. This supports my thesis on how there is a correlation between violence childhoods leading to these children committing violent acts later on in life.

By utilizing this article, I can further develop my thesis with details from this article. Since the article classifies these children into different groups of violent behavior, it shows the relationship between a violent childhood and the gruesome crimes these children tend to commit as they grow older. These different classifications allow people to see how important and essential one’s childhood life can affect their future. It shows how the way a person was raise can completely impact how they mentally think and use their thoughts toward their actions. This article will allow me to build on my thesis and provide supporting evidence.

Gretton, H. M., Hare, R. D., & Catchpole, R. H. (2004). Psychopathy and Offending From Adolescence to Adulthood: A 10-Year Follow-Up. Journal Of Consulting And Clinical Psychology, 72(4), 636-645. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.72.4.636

This article discusses the study they carried out on adolescence to young adults to prove that psychopathy in children can led to a greater chance of them to committing more aggressive and violent acts in life. Children who are psychopaths will have no remorse or guilt; they do not feel empathy nor can they maintain a long lasting relationship with others. These children are detached from their parents and from emotions. They tend to be antisocial and that is one of the most important factors to understanding how psychopathy relates to the violence in their behavior or personality. The way children develop is how they will learn to act in situations they encounter on their own.

This is a relevant source because it deeply explains the behaviors and traits of young children who are seen as psychopaths. It can allow me to tie this information or evidence to my thesis, saying that psychopaths are more likely to commit violent crimes since they have no knowledge or experience of emotions like remorse or shame. They will not feel bad for committing the violent crimes that they do since they will not feel bad for their victims. They may not even care what is right or wrong, they have only known of the aggressive behaviors of themselves.

Tate, D. C., Reppucci, N. D., & Mulvey, E. P. (1995). Violent juvenile delinquents: Treatment effectiveness and implications for future action. American Psychologist, 50(9), 777-781. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.50.9.777

This article suggests the ways to treating juvenile delinquents and what are the effective ways for future crimes. They acknowledge the fact that placing them in jails where they receive harsh punishments are not quite as effective as actually trying to treat them. The article explains there should be interventions and other important ways for treatment.

This article will help the part of my thesis about how placing young offenders in jails with harsh punishments will not be effective. It supports my claim that these offenders should be treated like patients and receives the mental help or guidance they need to become better.

Howard, J., Lennings, C. J., & Copeland, J. (2003). Suicidal behavior in a young offender population. Crisis: The Journal Of Crisis Intervention And Suicide Prevention, 24(3), 98-104. doi:10.1027//0227-5910.24.3.98

This article states some important details about young offenders and how the numerous problems that they tend to posses. They have increased psychopathology and psycho social stresses. This causes them to use drugs as a way to ignore their real problems. By doing this, it allows violence into their lives. This violence can be towards others or even themselves. There needs to be more support and planning going towards helping these troubled young offenders.

This article suggests the problems that young offenders are often facing and it helps to prove how much those problems can cause them to commit crimes that will land them in prison. Although it mainly speaks about suicide, some details can contribute to developing and supporting my thesis.

Research Proposal

Victim or Criminal?

            Innocence, purity, ignorance, enthusiastic, outgoing, obedience, are the words that one may use to describe children. Is it possible that there may be an alternate side of these children that people may not see or refuse to accept? Is there a darker more vile side hidden inside themselves or is it just a deranged, mentally they adopted due to certain events in their experience. In society, there are numerous crimes being committed by young children. Some are so young that one may be dismayed by the age of these children. The most common solution that one may think of is harsh punishments and imprison them. However, what people fail to understand is that these children who commit these murders are also victims themselves. Jail and harsh punishments are not the way to deter murders and other gruesome crimes from occurring. By placing them in prison does not assist people or the police in understanding the root of the problem, the child may repeat the crime, and there is no real treatment being administered to achieve the ultimate successful solution.

            This topic is significant because people must be knowledgeable about why these children are committing these crimes and find a way to prevent it. These children should not all be seen as victims but they should not also be assumed as a criminal who is in the right state of mind and committed a vicious crime. If the police or people in the criminal justice system understand the psychology of young adolescence’s minds that commit the crime or have the tendency to be extremely violent, they just may be able to deter these crimes from occurring as often as they do. When they achieve that knowledge, then this society will in all become a better and safer place for all its inhabitants.

            Using the academic resources, there will be articles related to psychology and children behavior that will help in this particular topic. Also there may be news articles on child murders and their point of views on this issue of whether they should be seen as victims or as criminals. Muller states “The public and the media called for justice, seeking harsh punishment and life imprisonment for the murder of a child.” (Muller 2015) Here is the opinion of what the public thinks and they feel that there needs to be justice and by justice it means life imprisonment of these children who murdered other children. Many other articles and academic journals will allow a deeper and more enhanced paper about the topic of child murderers.

Literary Analysis

With the Help of Literacy

            Is it possible for one to imagine the world he or she lives in without literacy? Can one imagine not being able to read the words around them and not being able to express themselves in writing? What kind of emotions would that inability to read and write stir up inside oneself, would one feel frustration or anger? Illiteracy causes ignorance of the issues present in a society. Therefore, literacy is important. The majority of society today is literate, and writers compose beautiful pieces of literature for numerous purposes to convey significant messages to their audiences. The purpose and what message they are trying to convey to readers through their writing is most essential. Malcolm X is one of those people. He describes in his writing how he self-educated himself in prison. In his narrative, Malcolm X illustrates his deep appreciation of literacy and emphasizes its significance in life.

Malcolm X’s narrative explained how he was able to turn his life around and pursue a life involving reading after being influenced by a specific person in prison. He made use of the time that he was locked up and turned it into something he can gain from. Everything started with him envying a man name Bimbi in the prison for his knowledge and being able to control his conversations that made Malcolm want to learn how to read. Malcolm felt that by being able to control conversations he had with who he wanted to, it signifies a form of power he can possess. He wants to be heard and verbalize what he wants with whomever he desired and in his eyes, Bimbi is able to because he was knowledgeable and Malcolm was not. Because Malcom wanted to “emulate” Bimbi in the way that he could also feel knowledgeable and control his own conversations, he wanted to educate himself on words. (X, M p. 1) People may have been the start of Malcolm having the desire to learn to read, but there were also personal and emotional factors that led him to where he is today.

Emotions and how Malcolm views himself or wanted to be view as played a significant role in leading Malcolm to start his path on reading. His strong desire to be heard but being unable to articulate his words and feelings to Mr. Elijah Muhammad on paper caused great frustration to Malcolm. He was not concerned with solely just speaking and conveying his feelings through verbal speech but he wanted to be able to write letters that contained his emotions. His emotions also contributed in a different way to his desire to begin reading. Malcom states “In the streets, I had been the most articulate hustler out there – I had commanded attention when I said something. But now, trying to write simple English, I not only wasn’t articulate, I wasn’t even functional.” (X, M p. 1) Malcolm X’s emotions and pride also led him to want to become literate. Since he was used to being respected and known in the streets he longs for that same type of status. Because his pride seems to be extremely important, his desire to learn to read increased even more. Since he is in a normal society where people are literate, he feels small and unrecognized because of his illiteracy which will cause him to change his act in prison. Due to these emotional factors, Malcolm will start his journey on enhancing his limited vocabulary using the resources that are available to him in prison.

Malcolm utilized a dictionary that was available in prison and he was determined to enhance his vocabulary which will then expand his knowledge on the issues around him. He copied word from word from the dictionary and started working on his penmanship. Every day he would copy page from page and began learning these words and what they mean. (X, M p.1)  This shows that Malcolm knew he must start somewhere with words and learning them would eventually lead him to be able to read a book. As he gradually learned numerous words from the dictionary, he developed a stronger and more sophisticated vocabulary. Because of this enhanced vocabulary, he was on his path of being a literate person and he was able to read books and witness these extravagant words in context. Malcolm begins to read several books and as he did it allowed him to become less ignorant and more cognizant of the society he was living in. By learning to read and write in prison, Malcolm was able to learn and finally understand the truths of slavery. He is no longer ignorant of the issues regarding slavery and the south; he is finally knowledgeable enough to form his own ideas and views on the issue. Malcolm stated “I never will forget how shocked I was when I began reading about slavery's total horror. It made such an impact upon me that it later became one of my favorite subjects.” (X, M p.4) This shows that if Malcolm never learned to read or write he would have been completely oblivious about the horrors of slavery and its impact on the African American people. Now that he has educated himself of the accounts of slavery all over, he is able to act on what he believes, because he is able to use the words he learned to read which allowed him to be able to understand the world around him.

Malcolm X was able to develop a passion for reading after comprehending the interesting topics that appealed to him in the books he read. He stated that “Every night at about ten P.M. I would be outraged with the "lights out." Fortunately, right outside my door was a corridor light that cast a glow into my room. The glow was enough to read by… So when "lights out" came, I would sit on the floor where I could continue reading” (X, M p. 3). By doing this, Malcolm is risking his life in a way because the guards may come around and find him reading instead of sleep. This also proves how determined he is to continue reading and educating himself, because he now realizes the importance of being able to read. The more novels Malcolm started to read, the more his infatuation with books grew. By reading he is dealing with his troubles of being in prison. He is turning this horrible event of being in prison into a positive and commendable situation because he takes the advantage of the resources like the dictionary and books in prison. These actions committed by Malcolm is allowing him to escape the harsh reality of prison and it also enables him to discover his potential life purpose.

Literacy allows and assists one in finding their voice which will lead them to a successful path in life. Malcolm X was able to become a disciple of Elijah Muhammad and then a powerful leader of black America because of the fact that he was literate. The journal “Nowadays, Even the Illiterates Read and Write” states that “Attainment of high levels of literacy is likely to be related to the nature of employment and the chances for a family to live in dignity in a given society.” (Berliner p. 351)This shows how important it is to be literate because it can help one attain to a higher level in life than if they were illiterate. Looking at Malcolm X’s position after being able to read and write, he became someone respected by many who had similar views as him. He also proved that by being literate you can move from a tough position to a good one. Malcolm became a leader despite the fact that he went to prison in his younger days. He was able to achieve what he wanted because of the two most essential skills discussed in his narrative, and that was reading and writing.

            Malcolm X’s narrative also shows how important literacy can be in order to converse with people not only verbally but on paper. While he was in prison, the only way to really communicate with others is through letters. It frustrated Malcolm because at first he did not know how to read or write enough to compose a letter expressing himself to Mr. Elijah Muhammad. (X, M p.1) After the determination of trying to learn and reading numerous books, he finally was able to compose letters filled with his feelings and thoughts to the people he wanted. He stated “Mr. Muhammad, to whom I was writing daily, had no idea of what a new world had opened up to me through my efforts to document his teachings in books.” (X, M p.6) Just like Malcolm, anyone is able to converse verbally with another person, but to put those words down on paper is another skill. By possessing those skills, one can not only write letters but basically express themselves or their inner thoughts in any way. That is why being literate is important because when one is unable to see another but they still want to be able to communicate with them, writing is the best way. The piece “Being Literate” by John T. Guthrie states “We all communicate our feelings, hopes, ideas, and failures with other people... For most of us, this occurs through conversation, in talking with our friends, families, therapists, ourselves. But it is the person who can communicate through the medium of print, as well as conversation, whom we call literate.”(Guthrie p.451) This illustrates how being literate means being able to communicate with words on paper and not just by speaking because anyone can physically speak to one another. Placing thoughts and ideas in print, or being literate is an important skill that one must possess in life and that was what Malcolm X’s narrative was trying to convey to its readers.

            The most important idea that Malcolm X was trying to convey through his narrative was that being literate is extremely important. . By being literate, one can become more cognizant of the society they live in, discover their own voice which can lead to success, and be able to speak through just a pen and paper. Possessing the skill of reading and writing can open up many different paths for a person which proves that literacy is indeed an essential skill to possess in life.

           

References

Berliner, D. C. (1996). Research in the Teaching of English. Nowadays, Even the Illiterates Read and Write , 344-351.

Guthrie, J. T. (1979). Journal of Reading. Being Literate , 450-452.

X, M. (n.d.). Learning to Read .

       

Literacy Narrative

In my eyes, writing has always been such a nuisance. Every time a teacher would say the words “So you have your essays to write coming up...” I feel such a troublesome and displeasing feeling taking over my body. I have always had this unpleasant feeling because I knew I could not write a good essay. The thought of the process of me even starting to brainstorm aggravates me because I have difficulties focusing on something that does not please me at all. However, the discomforting feelings and thoughts started to change as I slowly learned to tackle the ways to construct a well written essay through help from school and through reading many books.

            When I was in elementary school, I used to enjoy reading books especially the ones my mother would purchase for me. I would also read books from the classroom library and sometimes take them home. I remember asking my mom for money to purchase books from the scholastic book orders they used to have in school. It was like a magazine with a few pages showing the variety of books one can buy. The last page contain empty boxes next to each and every book shown in the previous pages so the person can check off the boxes next to the desired books’ titles. The money is then given to the teacher in an envelope along with the page of the list of books the student wanted. She would then order the desired books of every student and in a few weeks, the order would come in. I used to get so excited when the teacher would say “the book orders came in today class.” The feeling of having new books excited me. That meant more new unread adventures for me at night before I go to bed. There were books like Magic Tree House, Junie B. Jones, and my favorite, Goosebumps. My love and passion for books as a child helped me discover and further develop my skills in writing in my elementary school days.

            Reading books allowed me to develop skills and use them towards writing. The more books read, means the more one’s vocabulary can be enhanced. All the new almost foreign like words whose definitions were unknown, I used a dictionary and looked them up. Next time I encounter these same words I at least have an idea of what they mean. Since reading deepens a person’s vocabulary, it allows them to become better writers.  Reading also helps with being creative because it allows one to witness how descriptive words can make such a difference in a story or even just a sentence. It demonstrates how different people or authors structure their writing. These skills helped me in my writing because it allowed me to choose from a variety of vocabulary words and use it in a descriptive way. Reading paved the road to writing, especially since it gave me a sense of how sentences or words should be structured and used. Even with these new skills, writing only gets more complicated as I got older. The next few years would require new skills and lessons on how to write.

            Junior high school came; there were many new harder assignments. We began to write essays in many different classes. I used to just start writing whatever I thought made sense without ever editing or reading it over later. My thoughts were not organized because I did not know what or how to organize my writing. Another issue was starting off the introductions of many essays. There would be an essay prompt or question and I used to be so disorganized that I would include ideas that were supposed to be in the body paragraphs in my introduction. Some teachers just assumed everyone knew how to write and never really explained in detail how to approach and begin an essay.

            One of my teachers in the 6^th grade started helping me with my writing. If I recall correctly, I did not do so great on one of my writing assignments and there was an after school program kind of like extended day. It meant that after the regular school day hours were over you would stay for a little longer to work on this you need help with. I decided to stay and ask for help with my writing because I want to be like the other students and get a high grade on my writing. Her name was Ms. Herman and she helped me with my writing skills. We would do multiple choice questions and she would change the question around to make it an extended response one. She said I should start off with a general statement in my introduction when writing. She suggested that I ponder about what I would like to discuss in my body paragraphs and just include the ideas in my introduction. That made sense and I just kept writing some practice introductions and she would read them over and give me advice and what I need to improve or change. Even though it was a few days after school for less than 2 hours, it really helped my writing more than before and helped build my confidence.

            Soon after the skills I have accumulated in 6^th grade, I used them to better my writing. There were still so many other factors missing that would improve my writing. I always thought that my writing was better but as I started writing more essays in high school, I realized that there is still more to improve on. There was a college now class in my high school for communications and I took that class. I was taught many more helpful ways to embellish my writing. I learned that outlining my ideas helps me keep track of my main points and exactly what I will discuss in further detail in my essay. This helped me keep a well structured piece of writing and cause my ideas to flow in a good sequence. Even though that communications class is to help with giving speeches and presentations, the writing is what really sets the structure for a good speech. A good well done outline is what will allow you to present a good speech. Taking this class was beneficial in the way that I finally used the lessons I learned from that class to developing my future essays.

            I felt like I came a long way from when I first started writing for assignments that were due in school. Even though I know that I can still improve in many ways and that there may be more to learn, it feels good to have a structure or foundation to writing. My experience with writing was never really a good one and I probably will never have a passion for writing but at least I am able to use the skills like how to start off my introductions, outlining the body paragraphs and my essay, and etc I learned to write a good piece of literature. From my 6^th grade teacher Ms.Herman to my communications class in high school, I am able to write papers for my current classes in college. Writing is still not such a pleasurable activity, but I am able to do it with less trouble and annoyance compared to in the past where I was such a lost writer.

JOURNAL 10

At first just thinking about having to compose any form of essay or even simply a paragraph of my thoughts onto paper just gave me anxiety. I never had an interest in writing because I am never able to organize my thoughts into a well structured form. Writing was not something I considered freeing or a form of helping me express myself. It always just makes me feel agitated and annoyed because I need to find the best way to form my jumbled thoughts. Throughout the course of this semester, I have learned numerous skills to apply in my writing.

As the semester went on, many lessons in class made writing easier for me. The class discussions on the issues that we, the class had while working on the different assignments helped me in improving my writing. It is helpful to talk about all the different problems everyone has and coming up with solutions. It feels comforting to know that other students may also have the same difficulties that I may be experiencing too. The free writing in the beginning of class also allowed me to just put down all the random thoughts I had on the specific topic that we were discussing. I enjoyed sharing what my obstacles or issues were in completing certain essays assigned over the course.  

I feel that my relationship with writing has become much easier and less stressful. I have learned a lot from how to organize my body paragraphs to focusing on one main idea to how to properly cite in APA format. This semester in this specific class has helped me in improving my writing. Although I still enjoy the little writing assignments like the journals over the essays that we are assigned, it was an insightful semester because of all the new skills I have learned from my professor and my peers to utilize in my writing.