Michael Della Croce
College Writing
8/28/07
Exercise 1.1


An occasion in which writing helped me to accomplish something important would be when I wrote an essay in order to get a scholarship from the Sons of Italy organization. I had heard about it from both the organization and my parents, and I decided that this would help me in paying for my college experience. I was also interested in the rich history and culture of Italians and I wanted to let the organization know just how great we were, and how much we contributed to the world in the past, present, and how we will in the future. The essay was to be about why I am proud to be Italian, and what it means to me to be Italian.
I began first by talking about the ancient Romans, and how they helped shape the future with their innovations and discoveries. From both conquest and exploration they made the map of the world and it’s boundaries. I connected with this the fact that since I was also Italian I could also accomplish great feats. I wrote that this was one of the reasons why I was proud to be Italian. To me being Italian meant so many things. I wrote that I have the blood of a conqueror, lover, artist, cook, scientist….etc. There was just so much to talk about. I talked about the many hardships that we faced when coming to America, how we tolerated them, and finally overcame most of them. To this day there are still stereotypes being portrayed, and Italians are still being made fun of, but I wrote that this would not effect us as we are a resilient people. I used persuasive writing and emphasized the good aspects of Italians rather than the bad. I did not mention gangsters, or Italy’s involvement in World War Two as that would prove to dishearten my audience and I would lose favor with them.
Through writing I was able to more easily describe how I felt about my culture. My goal was to prove to the organization that I was proud to be an Italian, and to also make them proud of themselves. Writing in this way not only helped me to win my scholarship, but it also made me appreciate just how great my culture really is. My writing accomplished what I strived for , and to me writing is a very valuable tool to express one’s opinion, to make a point, or to just show your appreciation for your heritage.