How are the people of the Shenandoah National Park writers?
Or not writers?Who counts as being a writer? What does it mean to be a
writer?
You don’t necessarily have to be
published to be a writer to be considered a writer, but you should have some consistency
of writing in your life. People who write in journals daily, write poems to
show others, short stories (etc.) could be considered writers. The people of
the Shenandoah National Park were being portrayed as writers when they wrote
each letter to the Chief Ranger simply because of the fact that they were taking
their feelings and concerns and writing then down on paper, but for them to
self identify as writers, to me, wouldn’t be correct. For example we’ve all
participated in a sport at some point in our lives but we all don’t consider
ourselves to be athletes. The people of the park were able to convey what they
needed to threw the letters, but due to their lack of grammar, improper use of
the language and poor vocabulary it is clear that writing was not consistent in
their life. Writers should be able to
transfer their thoughts, feelings, and concerns onto paper in a more powerful
and universal way than just speaking it. Its an art that is practiced and
consistent in life, to become better at, and the people of the park were just
writing a letter to try and fix problems that were happening to themselves and
their lives.
I agree with your definition of a writer, and especially your example of an athlete. I also can identify with the fact that writing is an art, and a profession not so easily earned by just putting words on paper and calling oneself a writer. However, I think that it was good that you included the perspective on the opposite spectrum: that these people could in a sense be considered writers by a different standard.
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