"Not all who wander are aimless. Especially not those who seek truth beyond tradition, beyond definition, beyond the image (Mona Lisa Smile)." Experiencing life as no one before you has, beyond the tradition, can lead to new insight. Where would science be if no one did new experiments? Where would clothing by without creative designers? Why, then, do students feel the need to be kept in a little box when writing? The perfect essay may wander in what seems to be an aimless, yet intriguing, way for a majority of the piece before coming to a complicated point that ties everything together. This idea is especially shown through One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Ken Kesey was high when he wrote parts of the novel, but everything came to focus in the end. Students need to feel free to play with writing styles so that they may come up with their own unique style. It must be incredibly boring to read the same formatted paper over and over again- introduction, thesis, support paragraphs one, two, three, conclusion. What if my paper started with a story, then had supporting paragraph number one, which leads into my thesis, loops around to supporting paragraph number three.... That would be much more interesting.
Writing shouldn’t be confined to a dusty room with grammar text books lined up neatly along the wall. Writing should be an energetic playground with interesting wording. Why experiment with illegal substances when you can experiment with writing styles?
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I absolutely agree that writing should be free and should come from the writer’s heart. I know that personally, I have lost my interest in writing creatively because it just isn’t fun anymore. I feel that being confined to the traditional essay format has made writing more a chore rather than expressing one’s ideas through exciting diction. This year, I have tried to become more experimental with my writing, but I haven’t followed through with it entirely. I like to read the stories in Mirror on America because they are each unique in their own writing style. The essays are so intriguing because the writers’ achieve a natural writing ability that is reflected in their non-traditional essay formats. I believe that high school students would write better if they don’t follow the traditional essay format. I think it is important for a high school to find their natural writing ability before they reach the college level.
I love that movie.
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