In looking back at all the writing that I've done, all the papers that I've had to read, and all the processes I've been taught, I often times feel as though my works are a combination of every element or writing that I've encountered. With each paper I've composed, I've had to emulate the style of one author or another. In one such paper, the paper I sent in to the office of admissions at the University of Tulsa, I choose to write in the style that Jonathan Swift used when he wrote A Modest Proposal. Writing a satirical essay proved to be quite entertaining as I was allowed more freedom to write something more flavorful than other essays I had to write. Now in college, however, I find the essays I"m to read and then write about are very interesting, providing me with much fodder to load into the cannon of creative writing. The two essays included in this portfolio are examples of such writing, both delving into ideas of psychology within simple advertisements and showing my skills as a writer through critical analysis.
The first essay I have chosen to put into my portfolio concerns the ideas of Susan Bordo and her approach to advertising and the stabilization of certain trends between traditional male and female roles. Bordo's basic idea is that advertisements make concrete the roles of males and females through the depictions of how one should eat, indulge, desire food, etc. My angle on this subject was that advertising not only sold a product, but a lifestyle as well. During the actual composing of the paper, I thought of many possibilities, but never wrote them down on paper. When I was ready to write everything down, I sat at my computer and began to type. Using only ideas, and not having a full rough draft in front of me, I was amazed at myself when I was finished. Usually I would have had a complete rough draft and would have only added things to the final draft that I had looked over during the first draft.
