Page 52 - Wordsmith A Guide to College Writing

2 .) In this prewriting, Carla did not worry about grammar or spelling.
Instead, she focused on gathering ideas.

Roles, roles. I have many roles in life. I am a student, a worker, a

mother, a daughter, a friend. And I have roles within those roles.

With my daughter I am a teacher, a doctor, a disciplinarian, a

playmate. With my mother I am sometimes child, sometimes adult. At

work I feel competent and at school I often feel lost. As a modern
woman I have to do it all, work, school, motherhood, the whole bit

and still stay sane. It’s juggling roles that gives me such

headaches. I get so stressed sometimes when I have to study for a

test and I am beat from working all day and Alisa needs her bath and

a story. There is so much to say I don’t know where to start. And
what about the emotions connected with all that. Sometimes I am

happy, sometimes I am too tired to feel anything, sometimes I am

proud of all I do and sometimes I could just cry from exhaustion and

frustration. I don’t know what else to say and I don’t feel any

closer to getting an essay written. I am afraid this is not working
for me.

Later, Carla followed up her invisible writing by brainstorming,

focusing on her role as a mother.

Role—Mother

Everything I do is for Alisa spending time with her

school making sure she knows her grandparents,

work has a family connection

reading to her working hard so her future can be secure