1) I found the personal essay very difficult to write, because I don't feel that anything especially significant and "deep" has happened in my life. Looking at the sample essays also didn't help, because it just made me try to write like them - which just made me not able to find a good topic to write about. Anyway, I think the genre has some strengths, especially when you are trying to convey a very abstract notion. The form tries to ground abstract in something tangible by telling it in the shell of a short story. However, I still prefer to write in fiction, as you are not constrained by factual matters. I also find it quite difficult to write about myself directly. With fiction, I can write about myself through the actions/persona of an imaginary character... I don't reallly know. Basically, I had trouble finding a topic to write my personal essay on, and I didn't experience this problem when writing fiction.

2) Reading is important to the writer because otherwise, you would have nowhere to take ideas from. Reading other people's work helps set a standard for you to aspire to and even surpass one day. It can also give you new writing ideas and copy... Reading improves your writing because you get used to good writing conventions, and it improves your mind to read critically and to write critically. Basically, reading helps you inprove your writing, because after studying the way another author achieves an effect, you will also learn how to achieve that effect - but not by duplicating. So...to sum it up. Reading is ingesting in, and writing is regurgitating all that you've breathed in.

3) And so ends the class of creative writing. There have been good....and bad times... but it's all good. My favourite piece I wrote in this class was my first short story. I am actually quite proud my idea...since at first I didn't think it would work. But, it did work out pretty well. So, since i liked writing the first short story most, that makes my favorite genre: FICTION!!! This is just because I found it the easiest to write due to the very wide style of writing it encompasses. I enjoyed the freedom to write about whatever. The hardest piece to write for me was the personal essay, since I had absolutely no inspiration or previous experience in writing anything like a personal essay. All the essays I have written in the past have been to analyze another piece of writing. I honestly can't analyze myself. The piece I wrote that I don't really care for was my play. I just kind of goofed around on it, and wrote about a communist revolution taking place in China, with pirates and a clone of Mao Zedong... good stuff! I will definatley used my acquired communist powers in other forms of writing, and try to convert as many people to its cause!

4) I don't really feel like doing the quiz - I'm too busy play flash flash revolution online.

5) I don't know the disney reference. I don't remember much from the disney movies I have seen.