Jennifer Bagsby

English 111-13

May 5, 1998

Writing a paper is like a sailing ship at sea. I am the Captain and my crew consists of my paper, pen, grammar manual, and dictionary. Before leaving shore, I chart my course, thinking about what I want to write. After I have charted my course, I leave shore and begin to write. At first, everything goes well and I reach my first check point, the introduction.

The boat begins to rock, and I wonder what is going on; then I realize that I have an error in comma usage. I call upon one of my crew, the grammar manual, and fix the problem. All is well again and the ship is steady.

Then, I begin to write the body of my paper. As I write, the boat begins to rock again, and I don’t really give it much thought, after all I have a deadline to meet. However, because I neglect to check what is causing the rocking, it gets worse. The rocking becomes so violent that the ship begins to leak. Oh no, we,re taking on water. I call upon my crew again; it’s time for an emergency meeting. First, I call upon the grammar manual. It seems that comma usage and verb agreement, have poked holes in the paper. It may be too late to save the ship. Next, I call upon the dictionary. How many spelling errors? Twenty! At first, I am angry and look for someone to blame. I find the guilty party: the pen. The anger I feel controls my actions, and I throw the pen overboard. After realizing what I have done, I throw out a life-saver and pick the pen up off the floor. Then I begin to patch the holes that the crew has found.

But now I am seasick and don’t know if I can go on. My stomach is tied in knots from the wealth of emotion I am feeling. Doubts begin to fill my mind; what if I don’t make it to the final check- point on time? However, I gather my strength and begin to sail again. The words flow from my pen in a poetic fashion. Wow I can do this; this ship will not sink. Finally, I reach my next check- point, the conclusion; it seems to be safe to continue sailing so I continue to write.

However, the ship sails into a fog and it is hard to navigate. The boat rocks and creaks and crashes against misspelled words and incorrect grammar. I need my crew more at this point than I ever have before. My grammar manual is like a compass guiding me through the pea-soup fog. My dictionary is the look out man at the front of the ship, warning me of any misspelled word that may lead me off course. Eventually the fog clears and slowly appears the sun, meaning that the end of my paper is near. But is the paper good enough? Had I reached my next check- point? I read over the paper and decide to sail to the next check -point, proof reading.

It is time for a final meeting. First, I call upon the grammar manual; it seems that there are still a few leaks in the ship because of comma usage. As a result, I correct the mistakes, which patches the holes and fixes the leaks. Then, I call upon my dictionary; it seems that some spelling errors have the ship off course. As a result, I fix the misspelled words and get the ship back on course.

After the meeting, the ship is in good shape so I begin to rewrite the paper. My pen moves quickly and gives no complaint of running out of ink. While writing the final draft the tension starts to mount. Will I make the final checkpoint on time?

Finally, I am finished and the voyage is over. It is time to report to the Admiral, my instructor, to find out if my boat is sea worthy. I turn in my paper and anxiously wait for the Admiral to finish inspecting the ship. He hands my paper back and I quickly turn it over to see what he has decided. Yes, A+ this ship will sail again.

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