After speaking with Professor McCoy in regards to her comments on my first essay, she asked that I blog about where I learned how to be “wordy.” I was quite confused by what she meant by “wordy” but then again that is how I was previously trained – and to think that being “wordy” is bad makes me a little more conscious of how I am writing. Similar to the interdisciplinarity we might find looking into the pages and structure of a dictionary, the way in which we craft our own pieces of writing depend on our interdisciplinary realm that has shaped the way in which we do everyday tasks.
For example, when I was in first grade I was very well known for using exclamation points when writing (I was normally very excited about either what we were learning or about writing in general). After being reprimanded for doing so, I almost never use exclamation points. When in middle school I learned how to craft an essay or a long-answer question because the only time we really had to write essays were for state tests. As I moved to high school, I learned the “5 paragraph cookie cutter essay” structure. The type of essay that I was then told never to ever use at all costs in college. While in high school, every discipline had their own take on how to structure an essay. Science teachers said that we had to be very clear and descriptive in our writing. Social Studies teachers told us we had to prove that we knew the material we were working with in our writing (including background knowledge, dates, names, places). In Math we were told to be short and to the point. In English we were told to be lengthy, argumentative, and authoritative when we write. All these different disciplines teaching us how to write in their own certain ways – telling us to adapt to each discipline’s requirements/preferences in writing.
So then I get to college and I’m instructed to forget everything I’ve ever been taught because we are taught to write in order to suit state tests. At my community college I found an English professor who I thought to be one of the best professors I had ever had. He was so different than any other English teacher I had ever had – he had challenged me through writing and perspectives on the world in ways I had never been asked to consider before. I signed up for every class he offered in order to fulfill my English Concentration requirement for the remaining time there and in my own opinion – I became a much better writer. During my second year at the college he assisted me and encouraged me to present my research I had conducted for one of his classes at an event called “Scholar’s Day.” Me. The girl who doesn’t talk in class. Asked to speak in front of the college and judges. I was eventually convinced – extremely nervous but convinced. I had to establish authority through writing, which is where I think I might have gotten my “wordiness” from. Since that presentation, I felt a sort of confidence in the discipline more than ever -I began to talk in classes, no longer 100% fearful of the judgements from those around me. Throughout all the different disciplines that took part in my writing, I believe that I was taught if you are “wordy” you are speaking intelligently and craft-fully. I know as a college student that we as students have to be able to adapt to the different preferences of different professors in order to succeed in their classes. I’ve come to think there is no “right” way to craft an essay but only many different ways that professors choose bits and pieces that they emphasize in particular. We have to adapt to their preferences in order to succeed because if we don’t write in the particular way that they like, we will not do well. After graduating from my community college, I’ve wondered whether or not it matters if you write well or not. What determines if you are a good writer? Other than being able to craft an argument, the only parameters to be successful are those set by the professor you have to please. The different characteristics of writing that we think so highly of in one professor’s class can mean nothing in another professor’s class. I thought at one time that I was a good writer – people asked me to edit their essays, to give them feedback. And now I’m afraid that none of that really matters because there isn’t a true “good” or “perfect” way in which to write. Just a way to please whoever you’re writing for.