Your essay must be five paragraphs. The thesis must be at the end of the introduction paragraph. It must be one sentence long, and you must list the exact literary devices the author uses that you will argue about. Each paragraph should be 3-5 sentences. Do not use first-person pronouns. Stick to the strictly academic. Stick to the familiar, the formulaic, the reasonable, the assured.
Don’t go above and beyond boundaries. Don’t use “I think” or “maybe,” but don’t speak with too much confidence. Don’t acknowledge what you don’t know.
If there’s one thing this class has taught me, it’s that you should know the rules front and back so you know when and how to properly break them. Writing isn’t formulaic. Even the stuffiest academic essay in existence is an act of self-expression.
I learned the formula and followed it well. It got me a 5 on the AP Literature and Composition Exam. But it didn’t teach me confidence in my writing. It didn’t make me a more creative writer. My best writing comes from when I don’t stress too much about staying within the lines, when I let my mind simply put words on the page. This class taught me the importance of voice. Your essays won’t be remembered for their one-page theses, but for their voice, how you communicated ideas.
I’m not saying you should write an essay with no thesis or paragraphs that are ten pages long. The Writing Center consultant in me would ache. But… don’t be too hard on yourself, okay? Write for you. Write what sounds like you. Be creative, explore, try things. Yes, essays should be professional, but if it isn’t you, then what’s the point?
Emily,
I enjoyed your usage of the paragraph color blocking and how the blocks were grey when mentioning the academic way we are taught to write but then once talking about your voice and self-expression within academic papers, it gets more colorful. It is an excellent nod to self-expression. There is a nice voice style, like, yes, this is a PSA to everyone, but it also seems like you’re talking to your past self (who got a 5 on the AP Lit Exam). Overall it is a very comforting post. I also liked how you used contractions. I think that really demonstrates breaking the most basic rules of academic writing, making the shift from the first paragraph to the rest of the essay more apparent.
The beginning of this blog post gave me all of the anxiety that comes with reading essay instructions, but I like how you shifted away from that idea and talked about what an essay actually should be. I also like your usage of gray blocks for the essay instructions at the beginning and then the multicolored blocks for the rest. This post reassured me a lot. I’ve been anxious about my last essay for this class, and this post honestly made me feel better about what I’ve written so far. This blog wonderfully gives writing advice to all of its readers that could be very helpful to them. Nice job!
I loved that you included pastels in the background of your writing to signify the transition from the bleak formulaic style of writing to creative writing. Your post made me reflect more concretely on my writing. I usually write my thoughts and then forcefully morphe them to meet the prompt. I never considered how the base of even the most critical papers is creative and expressive. Conversely, I personally enjoy having a guided prompt because I tend to go askew.