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Posts by PurpleBook
Joined: Sep 6, 2010
Last Post: Sep 12, 2010
Threads: 1
Posts: 8  
From: Singapore

Displayed posts: 9
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PurpleBook   
Sep 6, 2010
Writing Feedback / Essay- Fatigue (after a full marathon) [8]

Hey I am new here, and I'd like to improve on my writing skills.
I hope you guys can critique my essay. Thank you! :D

Title: Fatigue

Fatigue. It shouldn't have hit me this time, this is the most crucial part of it all. This was the last stretch of the entire route. My determination was empowering, engulfing the last piece of thought in my head. My head was calm, yet exhaustion was surging up from my legs. My legs had not stopped taking wide strides and pulling itself back. Like an automated machine, since the dawn of the day. My breathing was hard, but constant.

I was running through the dense forest, with less defined path under my foot, having to worry if I was still on track. Yet, I sprinted on the interminable forest. I was afraid that the pursuer would get to me soon.

Suddenly, the Sun was fully blanketed by the overhead sheet of greenery. What that was left for me was the tiny shots of light that managed to cram through the small gaps between the leaves, to reach to the undergrowth. I glanced around my surroundings to see the menacing trees, they all looked like they held daggers behind their backs. The hostility of the forest sent shivers down my spine, I was even more determined to get out of here. My breathing became shorter, but my pace was still the same, despite the weariness that was fighting to beat my determination.

Out of the blue, a shrill scream sliced through the silence of the forest. I took a panicked, large leap, thereby tiring myself. My heart was shocked by the sudden action, that it was pumping so much faster. My breathing started becoming inconsistent, I felt the enervation of my legs. I stumbled on my foot, almost falling over. Clearly, I had forgotten that monkeys inhabited the forest.

Then, I heard it, what I feared the most. It had to reach me when I was most vulnerable, when tiredness was starting to take control. I heard footsteps from behind me. My pursuers would arrive, but I would not give up.

Chains seemed to hug ankles as lactic acid built up in my thigh muscle, I struggled to stretch my legs forward. My entire concentration was on battling the lethargy, my greatest antagonist. Meanwhile, the footsteps got louder and closer. He was accelerating, getting faster and closer.

What were my chances? If only this would end right after this turn.

My body twisted at an angle to make a swift turn which I barely managed. The forest fell open with a surge of blinding ray. I saw a line, the line. I took a few determined steps, as I felt the presence of my opponent right behind me. I stepped on a rock that rolled out of my footing, I fell forward. Almost flew. Then, fatigue had overwhelmed me. I could no longer move. I was left sprawling on the scorching earth.

I heaved really shortly. Darkness descended, my head was spinning. Every detail of the moment was so prominent. My throat was so dry. My legs were so numb. My heart was hurting so bad. The gasps around me were so lame. He was inching closer, he dashed passed me. Finally, I heard the emcee,"The winner of the race has emerged.." The rest was unheard as I fell into a coma.

The next time I woke up, I found a strap hung around my neck, hooked to it was a gold medal. I had won the 42.195 kilometers, full marathon.

567words
PurpleBook   
Sep 6, 2010
Writing Feedback / Essay- Fatigue (after a full marathon) [8]

but.. i guess there are quiet a lot of grammar errors
that is.. too much run-on sentences

in some aspect, i seems like you deliberately wrote it like that.. (im not sure..:) )

Ohyea!
Run-on sentences! My teacher have warned me about it before!
Thanks for pointing that out!

567 words seem ok

But I actually exceeded the word limit. I'll be taking my GCE O levels,
the word limit for essays is actually 500. I realised I am always exceeding it ~_~

Anyway, thank you so much,
your comments mean a lot to me!

:D
PurpleBook   
Sep 6, 2010
Undergraduate / "I may be a Korean by birth"- significant experience and its impact on you-Common App [8]

Wow, I think it was an impressive essay. Considering that you are not a native english speaker, I think the essay was generally well-written. The content relates well to the question. However, there were several grammatical errors and also some sentence constructions that seemed inappropriate to me. Perhaps you have yet to reread and edit it?

Para1:

In my life, there is one unforgettable experience that I consider truly priceless.

In my life, there was one unforgettable experience..
( The experience was in the past)

Para2:

The principal even cooked barbeques for the students. You would never see that happen in Korea.

The principal even barbequed for the students.
(The term barbecue refers to the meat being roasted. So it doesn't make sense to say 'cooked, roasted meat'.)

Para4:

That two-month stay in Australia, totally transformed my thinking about "foreigners." I realized how terribly wrong and prejudicial I had been about others.

"Foreigners" and ' others', did you mean only Caucasians? I feel that you should be specific here. Because, from this context, I think it could only be referring to Caucasians.

My Australian experience had been so positive that I now had a burning desire to see more of the world and interact with other nationalities and cultures.

My experience in Australia had been so positive that I now have ..

To be frank, I am only a secondary school student, myself. So the feedbacks I gave may not be entirely accurate.

Anyway, I am pretty touched by these 2 lines:

burning desire to see more of the world and interact with other nationalities and cultures.

I may be a Korean by birth but I now feel I am really a citizen of the world.

I think you have a fair chance of getting enrolled into the University if you presented this essay. This is definitely better than the personal statement I had sent to the college that have already accepted me. :D All the best to you! Thanks for your comments on my essay! :D
PurpleBook   
Sep 7, 2010
Writing Feedback / Climate changes is a threat to our planet, but there is not enough political pressure [2]

Your essay showed that you indeed had knowledge on global warming.
But I felt that you could have talked about the negative effects of global warming before going on to talk about reasons for global warming and measures to be taken to counter to global warming.

Global warming is a serious problem for coming generation.

Explain why is it a serious problem.

I thought the reasons you have stated were good. But you could have linked some together:

There is a number of reasons behind the changing climate. Namely the over-exploitation of natural resources such as petroluem for the increasing number of vehicles on the roads; deforestation to meet the demands of the ever-rising human population. Such activities increases the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, thereby increasing the global temperature..

Furthermore, industries wastage of acids and chemicals is very harmful for water creatures as well as human and environment.

If your topic is Climate changes, I fail to see the linkage between this line and the topic. Harmful, in what way? Does it cause climatic changes?

Emm, I think your measures to control climatic changes could've been more general instead of only focusing all the responsibilities on the government. So perhaps:

World organisations such as the United Nations can come to hold campaigns.. Countries to sign agreements to limit greenhouse gas admissions.. Other than the bans and agreements, that are only 'hard' measures to stop the alteration of climates by man, man needs to know the negative impacts of climatic changes so as to truly sense the need to control the climatic changes and thus to come up with even more productive ways of countering to that change. Education is the key to that..

I thought your essay was good already,
I just wanted to share my ideas too :D
I hope it did some help :]

Do retaliate if what I wrote seem to have some inaccuracies.
Its all about learning!
Thankyou!
PurpleBook   
Sep 7, 2010
Writing Feedback / If we were to admit one more student to the class of 2012, why that student should be [4]

I agree with muroslav. I'll help to edit your writing, hopefully I have not misinterpreted what you meant so as to change the meaning..

HavingI have a B.E Comp degree with versatile experience of 5 years. As after completeingcompleting my degree, I wasbecame a computer teacher in a institute, simutaneously I was takinggained the knowledge of computer hardware,.then I started developing interest in technical field,. later on I upgraded myself to higher technology Iand started dealing with servers & did, I achieved the SUN Solaris certification and cleared the same with, clearing it with good marksresults .

After working in the technical field for longer period ...

This portion is way too long and confusing. You should break it down into shorter sentences. Maybe something like this:
After working in the technical field for a long period of time, and having dealt with many senior person of high authorities, I realized that I can challenge myself to greater heights. If I, a married woman, can work in a men-oriented field; taking up the challenging tasks and completing them within the requested timeframe, then I should be able to accomplish even more. I should try to get a higher position since I have the caliber.

All my dreamswill be achieved&and my hardwork will be completed through a good B school & I know it is none other than ISB. As ISB dont look only for the candidates who are book worm but the candidates who can prove themself & who has positive attitude & confidence in themself. My hardwork would be worthwhile if only I get admitted to ISB.

Hope it helped :]
All the best to you
PurpleBook   
Sep 9, 2010
Student Talk / How can I contribute to this awesome website? [40]

Yea!
I am relatively new to this website and I really enjoy
posting up my essay; reading the comments; learning from the comments;
reading others' essay; doing my best to help; and having your comments appreciated.
So many people here are genuinely trying their best to help despite our limited abilities,
this is what that makes this site awesome!

I thought about writing this on my own post, but I think the EF can make a difference by increasing the incentive to correct someone else's essay.

Wow this is a great idea! It would make this site even better!

:D
PurpleBook   
Sep 9, 2010
Writing Feedback / Essay- Fatigue (after a full marathon) [8]

Yep, this is a run on sentence. You can fix it with a semi-colon.

OMG I just went to thefreedictionary.com and learnt that there's a difference between comma and semi-colon! For years I have thought that they were the same!

=X Thanks!

Wow, it was a race!! I love how you made it seem like it was a chase in a horror movie... very good.
This has great description, and it really creates an experience for the reader.

OMG! I am really glad you think so! Thanks! xD
This booasted my confidence for my writing skills a lot!

Add a sentence to the end of that first paragraph to establish a theme for the essay. Don't just end it with "...but constant" --- you can add another sentence to hint at what is to come, and intrigue the reader.

I thought that the theme was clear from the first word in my essay 'Fatigue'. But now that you've suggested it, yea I think it sounds good. :D Hmm.. How about:

I was dogged to endure any form of pain; overcome any obstacle that shall come my way.

Use this to convey some truth about work, play, life, psychology, or your personality... use this great story to illustrate some truth. You can do that with a thesis sentence that establishes a theme at the end of paragraph 1 and then a bit of discussion in a conclusion paragraph that you tack on to the end. Not necessary, just an option for you...

Yes, sounds good to me. I used to do it very often, and I seem to have forgotten that technique.
Thanks! I'll do it the next time I write an essay! :D

But I've this concern:

You are missing an opportunity.

I did not miss any opportunity. ~,~ Was there any part of my essay that was confusing? Or is the opprtunity you were referring to this:

What were my chances? If only this would end right after this turn.

My body twisted at an angle to make a swift turn which I barely managed. The forest fell open with a surge of blinding ray. I saw a line, the line.

I still had my chance. Because it was ending right after the turn. Also, I won the race in the end.
Is it hard to get this? Should I have made it simpler?
Please let me know how you feel

Your other comments have also been taken note of.
Thanks a lot! :D
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