Genesis of the Written Word
I started writing seriously because a teacher thought I could. Not that writing requires formal permission of any kind, but that's just the way it worked out for me: a teacher allowed me to write and so I did.
I had written a description of Autumn (you know the type where one reflects on the falling leaves, the sunsets, and the changing colors. All of which really isn't Fall at all, but that's how I described it as a 6th grader.) and had taken the bold move to ask my all-knowing Language Arts teacher her opinion of what I had written. What she said changed my mind forever.
"I think it might work as a poem."
That's it: eight words, twenty four letters, a few connected syllables that changed my perspective on writing.
Certainly, I had written many descriptions before, and had also written those cutesy poems where one looks for words that rhyme with "big" or "fat" but what my language arts teacher did was to offer me a glimpse into the real writing that is available for each of us but is not always seen from the surface.
From that experience I wrote many bad poems, which of course I was extremely proud of because how many true middle school poets are there in the world? And eventually I came to reaize that worthwhile writing requires work, time, and real effort to produce.
But of course I didn't come to realize this by osmosis. I had several teachers who encouraged my writing, however horrible it must of been, and, I'm not totally proud of this, I was very persistent in seeking out readers and listeners.
Unfortunately, I don't think all students have had this type of positive exposure to writing. Often, it seems, students are simply thrown into this world with no guide, and are told to produce a piece of writing as foreign to the student as the jungles of Congo. That, I think, is the biggest problem I see most college writers facing.
So, how are we to change this confusing and unknown view of the world? By, giving students a positive experience with writing. I know that sounds overly simplified, but I think sometimes we over estimate the power of a good experience. Perhaps one good experience might have the power to deride the apprehensions about writing enough for some good persistence to seep in.
I had written a description of Autumn (you know the type where one reflects on the falling leaves, the sunsets, and the changing colors. All of which really isn't Fall at all, but that's how I described it as a 6th grader.) and had taken the bold move to ask my all-knowing Language Arts teacher her opinion of what I had written. What she said changed my mind forever.
"I think it might work as a poem."
That's it: eight words, twenty four letters, a few connected syllables that changed my perspective on writing.
Certainly, I had written many descriptions before, and had also written those cutesy poems where one looks for words that rhyme with "big" or "fat" but what my language arts teacher did was to offer me a glimpse into the real writing that is available for each of us but is not always seen from the surface.
From that experience I wrote many bad poems, which of course I was extremely proud of because how many true middle school poets are there in the world? And eventually I came to reaize that worthwhile writing requires work, time, and real effort to produce.
But of course I didn't come to realize this by osmosis. I had several teachers who encouraged my writing, however horrible it must of been, and, I'm not totally proud of this, I was very persistent in seeking out readers and listeners.
Unfortunately, I don't think all students have had this type of positive exposure to writing. Often, it seems, students are simply thrown into this world with no guide, and are told to produce a piece of writing as foreign to the student as the jungles of Congo. That, I think, is the biggest problem I see most college writers facing.
So, how are we to change this confusing and unknown view of the world? By, giving students a positive experience with writing. I know that sounds overly simplified, but I think sometimes we over estimate the power of a good experience. Perhaps one good experience might have the power to deride the apprehensions about writing enough for some good persistence to seep in.
posted by Anonymous at 11:42 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home