Tovar 1

Evelyn Tovar

Professor Julie Baker

ENGL 1301-181

12 October 2023

Week 7 Discussion

An individual that I consider to have style is my English literature teacher from high

school, Mr. Ricardo Aguilar. His writing style can be described as articulate, clarifying, and very

embellished. I found his style appealing because of the level of description and eloquence in his

prose and vocabulary. He can handle the balance between flowery writing and functional writing.

His inclinations towards a broad, explicative vernacular considerably contributed to his

respective writing style. On social media, particularly Instagram posts, he tends to utilize a

mixture of casual and friendly phrases that appeal to his followers. Additionally, he habitually

enjoys implementing emojis in his captions to effectively convey emotion. His social media style

moderately aligns with his traditional writing style, in the sense that he tends to maintain a

friendly tone in his writing, especially if the topic calls for it. Contrastingly, his vocabulary in

typical writing differs from his social media style because it tends to have a more expressive

vocabulary. Similarly, my writing style leans toward being descriptive. Further, when writing, I

have a straight-to-the-point manner due to the impact the academic conventions of science have

had on my style of writing. The lab reports I have written for my biology lab course can nearly

sum up my style with the exclusion of an expressive terminology. In a sense, the lab reports can

encapsulate how I tend to use passive voice; however, a restrictive vocabulary does not allow my

voice to be properly heard. My lab reports are written in a formal, informative, and assertive

manner.
 Tovar 2

Sontag implements the sentence, "First, because to write is to practice, with particular

intensity and attentiveness, the art of reading," to epitomize the concept that one cannot write

without employing the art of reading. For instance, as one writes, one has to reread what they

have written as well to analyze whether they have successfully formulated a sentence or

paragraph that nearly perfectly encapsulates the point they endeavor to convey. Elements such as

vocabulary, tone, phrasing, etc. are examined and nitpicked as one rereads. If the author is not

satisfied with what they read, they go back and rewrite it only to reread what they wrote,

illustrating the limitless correlation between writing and reading. Additionally, Sontag states,

"Like reading, rapturous reading, writing fiction - inhabiting other selves - feels like losing

yourself, too," to express how one can be engrossed during the writing process. For instance, I

tend to lose myself when writing; however, my level of captivation depends heavily on the topic.

To illustrate, I tend to be highly enraptured while writing fiction, yet I find analytical writing a

bit more tedious. Writing about fiction allows my imagination and creativity to flow, whereas

analytic writing makes me continuously question whether I am efficiently getting my point

across.