Thursday, October 25, 2012
Reaction to first timed essay graf#19
I struggled on which two of our three dogs to write about. I decided I would go with the oldest and youngest. They also seem to have the most diverse personalities. In any case, I'm excited my essay was accepted and I can move on to the next. The one issue I have is trying to out think the teacher, and I must admit either he senses it and goes in the opposite direction each time anticipating my motive, or it's just bad luck on my part. I am talking about how I started graf's 2 and 3 with the word, Gracie. Then, when I started graf 4 I said to myself, I bet he will critique me for starting every paragraph with Gracie, I better change it up at least once and start this paragraph with Oscar, (you know for contrast) and wouldn't you know it, it was clearly not the choice I should have made. This ranks right up there with changing your answer on a test. All in a days writing though, it left me smiling.
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True, you will get teachers who fuss about repetitive sentence patterns ('I went to the store. I bought a soda. I came home.') But that's nothing I worry about teaching college (there was a time I taught reading and writing to second graders!)
ReplyDeleteAnd there will be times it simply does not matter what order the material comes in.
Sometimes the material drives the organization--and then the teacher better get out of the way. Remember your cause essay?
But in a piece like this where it's an assignment that does not demand to be written the way that cause essay did, well, the writer can't fall back on passion the way you did in that essay. She has to count on solid organization and careful fitting together of the pieces. It's (sadly) all a little mechanical and when I get a piece that rises above those mechanical formulas, like the piece on your son, I'm pleased to see them.
But no one can just order up something above and beyond.
So, yes, in a piece like that contrast essay, keep a consistent pattern unless you have good reason to think you can break the rules and get away with it.