Blog #5:

1. Originally, I was unsure what American Icon I was going to choose. I knew that I wanted to write about something that meant a lot to me--something like music or the ocean--but I didn't know anything that was iconic and encompassed all of my passions. However, when I thought about it for a considerable amount of time, I knew that the driving force of my life was what caused and (yeah, I'm gonna say it) allowed me to pursue my dreams. God created everything and, yes, allowed me to come into existence; he even gave me free will. Jesus Christ sacrificed himself so that I could know God and the truth--a chance at salvation. The Spirit (God's power) has helped guide my life and decisions. I enjoy all of nature--the waves of the ocean, the smell of the forest before dawn, the feel of the night chill on my skin--and all of it was created by God. I love music, and songs of praise and poetry are used to worship the Lord. What better icon could I choose than the Bible--which is a collection of God's inspired Word, telling all about his works, glory, mercy, grace, judgement, and love; a testament to Christ's life and sacrifice; a guidebook that contains the morals I live by? Because of this opportunity to use the Bible as my American Icon (yes, it is important to America), I have been able to witness God and his Son before the world. It isn't always easy being a Christian when many look down upon and even condemn Christianity, but this is a chance to tell others about how I feel Christ and God in every day of my life. It's uplifting, encouraging--Christians can make it too without leaving behind their identity.
2. "Make Meaning Early" has been the most helpful writing tip for me because I am prone to make never-ending sentences that run on and on, and even though they are coherent, they are not as succinct and concise as they could be (especially since you have to figure out where to put all the commas,,,).
3. Randy told me that I should show progression and character development in my Artist's Statement, but that has been difficult because there has never been a time I did not believe--only times that my faith was confirmed. The only times this character (me) develops is when I have realized how amazing and true the Bible, God, Jesus, the Spirit, and the truth are. It could be considered a gradual change from what could be called blind faith to full knowledge that all I knew to be true is true.
4. The Loop has probably been hardest for me because in nonfiction I usually introduce everything in the intro, drive it home in the body, and tell everybody that I've been proved right in the outro. I still face that dilemma when it's not creative writing.
5. I am curently working on a new intro (since the first one told all, which I guess is too much), so I'm going for a vignette sort of thing that talks about my wonder with God's creation (with nature I feel closer to God):

Hundreds of stars look down on a warm summer night. The smell of salt and fresh kelp wafts in occasionally off the surface of the ocean, which is a black hole that stretches into the distance towards the nonexistant horizon, where sky and sea become one. The soft roar of small waves breaking on the sand, on each other, is the only sound besides the muted voices of the bright city that rises from the shore. The warm waters of the Pacific wash over me and I feel freedom, release from school, work, conflict--the world. And most of all, I feel close to nature, and even closer to God, the creator of life, the world, the universe. I imagine the vastness of earth in the daytime, at anytime, and think of the first verse of the inspired Word of God (the Bible):
"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."

1. Does this pull the reader into the story/paper...do they, at least, want to hear more?
2. Is it a personal enough general experience to make it mean/contribute something to my Artist's Statement?
3. Does this paragraph alone give you an idea of what my American Icon is?