Journal Entry #2

I believe the people of Shenandoah National Park are most certainly writers, for they write letters in order to get their messages across. I do not think the casual manner or misspellings in some of the letters make the authors any less of writers. These people are writing in order to receive clarification or to explain their positions, and I believe that makes them writers. These letters were a direct way for the people of the park to communicate with the park officials, and this form of writing would eventually get the people the clarification they so desperately needed. The reader can observe the different styles of the writers in each letter. For example, Dennis Corbin seems to write in a less formal (or less educated) style, including many spelling and grammatical errors, while John T. Nicholson has a polished writing style and includes many complimentary phrases such as “I hope this may please your honor” and “I believe your generous heart will do all it can...”

In order for a person to count as being a writer, I believe they need words, a way to display those words, and most importantly, a writing style. It is important for writers to have some way to display their writing so they can read over it whenever they wish and so other writers can read over it and maybe expand off of that specific writing. To be a writer, a person has to have a certain writing style. Nothing crazy, just something that makes their way of writing unique and identifiable. Without writing styles, no one would have a favorite author, blogger, or tweeter, for all these writings would just blend together.