Posts under ‘Samples of great writing’

If there’s one subject that I never had an interest for its Philosophy. Baruch requires us to take it so I finally got around to it this winter intersession. You know what? Surprisingly, I really enjoyed it. The class I took was Logic, and one of the things that I’ve learned is how manipulative language [...]

“Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” – I always wonder how people come up with such quotes- I love this quote I think it’s so true. I’ve tried several times to start off papers using this quote just because I like it so much but it never really meshed in well.

The following I think is a fantastic piece of writing.  Everytime I read it over I wish that it was I who experienced Hendrix myself.  The language and references the author uses (e.g. eroticism and references to other greats) makes me feel I missed one of the most significant experiences in human history, perhaps I [...]

I just randomly came across this quote by Oliver Wendell Holmes. I think it pretty much says it all on the power of word choice in our writing. We can consider it good advice from a good writer
“A word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanged; it is the skin [...]

I was trying to come up with some notable funny books that I’ve read latey and the only one that comes to mind is Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris. I think for anyone that’s a fan of The Office will like this book. It satires those mundane daily rountines and occasions [...]

I can’t believe no one’s posted some Vonnegut! This book is one of the few I’ve read that have literally made me laugh out loud. It made for a few awkward moments on the subway… but it was SO worth it!
Trout did another thing which some people might have considered eccentric: he called mirrors leaks. It amused [...]

This is an excerpt from “The Writing Class” by Jincy Willett which is, in my opinion, a great example of humor writing. I especially like Amy’s sarcastic observations and commentaries that she keeps to herself, of course.

Amy focused on the first name, which was, of course, surreal. “Tiny Arena?” Amy had long ago learned, from [...]

Hell’s Kitchen wasn’t a bit like I expected. Sam Pratt had made it sound like I’d have to brave a gauntlet of knife-wielding crack addicts every night, but this turned out to be  typical bit of New York bravado. New Yorkers, I discovered, pride themselves on their city’s image as lawless wilderness and like nothing [...]

By Shel Silverstein
Once I spoke the language of the flowers,
Once I understood each word the caterpillar said,
Once I smiled in secret at the gossip of the starlings,
And shared a conversation with the housefly
in my bed.
Once I heard and answered all the questions
of the crickets,
And joined the crying of each falling dying
flake of snow,
Once I spoke [...]

This is one of my favorite books of all time. It’s so relatable on so many levels, there are so many subtle lessons in it; each time I read it (I’ve read it at least 20 times) I realize things that I didn’t realize the previous time..This is one of my favorite paragraphs..I’m not sure why..
 
“This [...]