_____Connotation is the set of associations implied by a word in addition to its literal meaning. At the beginning of the year, one of our first assignments of English class was to choose a word and explain its connotation to us in a free-write. I really liked this assignment, because it allows a lot of creativity. I chose the word "Border" and wrote about my experience at a writing workshop in University of Virginia last summer. This assignment satisfies writing standard 2.1 Write fictional or (auto)biographical narratives. The free-write satisfies the standard because I narrate the events and my feelings stimulated by them in details.

_____I think this piece of writing shows my growth not only as a writer, but also as a person. Virginia is a very different place from San Francisco in terms of economic and demographic diversity. As a recent immigrant to the United States who've been living in San Francisco for almost two years, I did experience some sort of cultural shock when I was in Virginia. For instance, even though I live in San Francisco, I still speak Chinese everyday with my family and friends. It was the first time that I'd never spoken any Chinese with people around me. It was not an easy experience for me to write about. To me, it is like exposing my fears and weaknesses as an immigrant. As a writer, I grew because I was able to articulate myself and put my thoughts into words. As a person, I grew, because I confronted my weaknesses.

Want to read my connotation free-write?