Saelua 1

Lexi Saelua
Miller
AP Language and Composition
2 June 2014
Why I Write
Third grade is when I officially started writing and testing my literacy skills; however, I
became immersed in reading first at around the age of five. That was when I realized that I
wanted to write, possibly become an author, or at least have the skills of attracting a reader and
engrossing him or her in a writing piece of mine. School lead me to writing because I soon
learned that I was better at writing than I was at verbal communication. Soon enough, I became
fascinated with learning about the logistics of writing and how to look, sound, and feel like
writer material.
I recall writing fictional narratives in third grade concerning the fantasy world-- the world
I created in my mind. As a child I would read numerous books which inspired me to continue
writing. Furthermore, I began to exhibit a large amount of interest in the subject, English.
Additionally, in seventh grade my English teacher, Mr. Orth, inspired me to improve my
writing skills and use them not only as a weapon, but as keys to open doors that I call
opportunities. As I started the transition from middle school to high school, I learned that I had a
passion for writing and wanted to continue mastering these skills by enrolling in accelerated
English classes. When I was enrolled in these accelerated English classes, I hung onto almost
every word that my teachers spoke. They taught me specific rules of writing and each day I
improved by following the precedents of writing a good essay or short story. The next year of
accelerated English we, the students, went more in depth with specific details such as

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punctuation, subject-verb agreement, and confusing word pairs. That helped me view the rules
of English more clearly and comprehend them easily.
Moreover, I studied the following as well: an assortment of vocabulary, grammar, and a
range of sentence structures. All of the above lead to my desire of perfecting each and every
detail to help readers imagine exactly what I conjured up in my thoughts and to feel the emotions
I feel as I write. In order to do that, one has to have a motive or motives. There are four motives
behind writing.
The first motive is sheer egoism. Sheer egoism is when one writes in order to be
acknowledged. I use this method because, I admit, I love the attention, especially credibility.
This motive is like a confidence boost for all writers and each writer uses this motive whether
they know it or not. Sheer egoism is recognition. Recognition is the path to possible fame.
Most of us, if not all, want that.
Aesthetic enthusiasm is the second motive. This motive is described to be the passion
and infatuation one has for writing. These are the people that want to explore the different
depths of writing and its styles. I contribute to this motive. When one is interested in English,
consistently writing is automatic.
Another motive is historical impulse; it is the attraction to factual statements and
expository pieces. It also has to do with the past and the events in the past that impacted the
present and future. It is rare for me to be motivated by historical impulse. As much as I love
history, I am not a fan of writing expository essays.
The last motive is political purpose. This motive is used to convince others what society
should be like and strive for that certain goal. It is the motive that is used to mold society into
what one desires it to look like. I am motivated by political purpose because we live in a world

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of racism, sexism, and prejudice. Ignorance needs to decrease and people need to expand their
horizons in order to see that good can dominate bad.
As a writer, I idolize Maya Angelous writing because it contains power and inspiration
that others can feed off of. In her poem Still I Rise, the negativity that others manifest can not
touch her for she does not give up. Anger, hate, and fear do not overcome her because just like
hopes springing high, still [shell] rise (Angelou). She shows that peoples inputs are
unnecessary because, either way, she will continue to rise above. I admire her confidence and
determination in order to succeed in life.
At that moment, reality hit me. I yearn to be a sensational, indomitable writer like Maya
Angelou and George Orwell. There is no better way to communicate than to write what I am
passionate about and let it be known to society. I hope that one day my writing will be superior
and be as famous as Maya Angelous. I want to write to make a difference and to let my voice be
heard on and off paper.

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