Not panic, motivation (for students at two schools)

We are less than 48 hours to deadline. At two schools, students are working with metaphors and similes and analogies but in the contexts of  different autobiographical projects, bolstered with some research. Some of you are writing research autobiography; others are writing creativity autobiography. You are using the third person, as a creative stretch. You are probing three to four incidents. And you are linking these disparate events with a figure of speech.

Here are some bright thoughts that came rolling through on a final exam 11 years ago. Obviously, you don't want to copy these, but they are presented here to get your metaphorical brain rolling.

• "When writing, the ideas come and go like the hot water in the campus showers. Sometimes they leave you feeling great and other times, frustrated."

• "Developing a piece of writing is like plopping a drop of food coloring into a glass of water. In the beginning, it's dense and dull; it soon begins to swirl and develop, finally coming to an integrated color that one can be happy with but can easily be changed to preference."

• "Writing is like eating chocolate. Sometimes it's great. Sometimes it makes you sick."

• "Writing is like building a house by yourself -- very difficult."

• "My writing is like a tadpole. It has not yet fully developed but has the potential to grow."

• "My writing process has been like a bumpy road that eventually got paved."

• "Watching someone learn to write is like watching a baby learn to walk."

• "My journey with words has been like eating an apple. I had to dig my teeth into the thick skin but eventually chewed my way through to the core."

P.S. This is a blog. Although it may appear very informal, there is a precise way of citing it -- thanks to the sharp minds on the citation and bibliographic committees at APA, MLA, and so on. These are real people who really think of the implications of citation -- as we should.

See if you can find "how to cite a blog" in your paper handbook or via OWL at Purdue and add it to your knowledge! Or, if you are really tired, google "how to cite a blog" -- but be careful that what you get is correct. Know who wrote it, when, where, for what purpose, and so on.