Order? Order. Hmm. This prompt requires some thought.
In high school, I had a teacher who took immense pleasure in declaring "I don't know." At times, he would actually answer a few questions, but I think he achieved a strange, non-narcotic nirvana by denying any semblance of logocentric certainty. He drove me up the wall.
As I continue to stew over this question of order, which I'm sure I'm overanalyzing, a little angel with a harp is whispering, "Try, Meta-Michael. Just give this prompt a try. You never know what you'll discover while trying." On the other shoulder, a little man in business suit is whispering, "Just say you don't know. Just give up. Listen to me, kid, and we'll go places."
I usually listen to the guy in the business suit. But his suit is so last season, so this time, I think I'm going to give the angel-guy a chance. I'll try.
I agree with the previous posts published on the blog. Order in an essay is generally set forth by a thesis statement, and the ensuing paragraphs are structured based on a chronology or on a hierarchy of importance. Of course, not every essay needs a thesis, but a rational ordering of either time or importance, I think, is convention. Just about everything else in the western world revolves around these two orderings, and if art is a reflection of reality, then writing naturally reflects either a chronology or a hierarchy of importance. We eventually learn to sense these things subconsciously.
Additionally, no matter the audience or subject matter, all pieces of writing, I think, include some kind of introduction. An introduction serves as a portal into the rest of the piece, orienting the readers in their fictionalized roles. All writing also includes a conclusion in some form, which serves as a threshold to ease readers back into the reality.
In the tutoring center, I can tell if students' papers are ordered if students can explain how their paper is ordered. Is there a thesis? Are there body paragraphs that support that thesis? Is there an introduction and a conclusion? But then again...
Ah, heck. Maybe I don't know after all.
In high school, I had a teacher who took immense pleasure in declaring "I don't know." At times, he would actually answer a few questions, but I think he achieved a strange, non-narcotic nirvana by denying any semblance of logocentric certainty. He drove me up the wall.
As I continue to stew over this question of order, which I'm sure I'm overanalyzing, a little angel with a harp is whispering, "Try, Meta-Michael. Just give this prompt a try. You never know what you'll discover while trying." On the other shoulder, a little man in business suit is whispering, "Just say you don't know. Just give up. Listen to me, kid, and we'll go places."
I usually listen to the guy in the business suit. But his suit is so last season, so this time, I think I'm going to give the angel-guy a chance. I'll try.
I agree with the previous posts published on the blog. Order in an essay is generally set forth by a thesis statement, and the ensuing paragraphs are structured based on a chronology or on a hierarchy of importance. Of course, not every essay needs a thesis, but a rational ordering of either time or importance, I think, is convention. Just about everything else in the western world revolves around these two orderings, and if art is a reflection of reality, then writing naturally reflects either a chronology or a hierarchy of importance. We eventually learn to sense these things subconsciously.
Additionally, no matter the audience or subject matter, all pieces of writing, I think, include some kind of introduction. An introduction serves as a portal into the rest of the piece, orienting the readers in their fictionalized roles. All writing also includes a conclusion in some form, which serves as a threshold to ease readers back into the reality.
In the tutoring center, I can tell if students' papers are ordered if students can explain how their paper is ordered. Is there a thesis? Are there body paragraphs that support that thesis? Is there an introduction and a conclusion? But then again...
Ah, heck. Maybe I don't know after all.
posted by Michael Madson at 8:57 PM
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