Nature

I agree with almost everything Emerson has to say in his essay Nature. I don't believe in the spirit of nature as literally as Emerson may have however i believe in the idea of a universal connection. It is true that we are all part of the same universe "soul." He also says he believes in immortal beauty of nature. I would agree and add to this that nature is a part of the universe and therefore everything is forever.

"Most persons do not see the sun." Emerson goes on in his essay to talk of how as we grow older some of us loose our ability to see nature for the beauty it is. It is important for me to leave the city sometimes and be in nature as far away from my normal life as i can be. I have not done this for over a year now. Emerson's statement made me realize that i was forgetting the importance and beauty of nature. we are surrounded by nature at all times but we have trouble looking right at it.

Essay Writing

My writing has improved and so has my ability to write faster. I have always been meticulous with my writing and I still am today however I have learned some techniques that speed up the process for me. One thing I have learned to do is to write what I have to say without worrying about the order of how I say it. This does not mean my writing does not have structure. What I mean is when I write a sentence and realize it might be better fitting somewhere else I put it off to the bottom of the paragraph and I save it until I realize where it should go. Every time I write an essay I first make an outline. This is another thing I have leaned to do. It’s much harder for me to write a solid essay without outlining what I’m going to say first. It also saves me time.
During my freshman year I would often spend too much time writing essays. I now can write much longer pieces in far less time. I’m still not fast but I’m fast compared to my speed two years ago. Most of my improvement is attributed to experience but the techniques I use have also helped. The last essay I wrote was on John Proctor from The Crucible. My first step when writing this essay was to formulate a thesis and choose three subtopics to support the thesis. I wrote these topics out in an outline and then moved on to finding quotes. As you know we had to use two or more quotes from the play as concrete details that would support one or more of our subtopics. I like to find quotes before writing I can write more fluidly. Next I write out my concrete details on my outline. When I have made it to this stage I began writing. Commentary usually comes to my mind quite easily and so once I have finished my outline I have finished the majority of my work. I am still meticulous however I have learned to only spend my time on what matters.